Whether they are in a band or perform as a solo musician, artists usually don’t finish their careers where they started as they develop their skills over time. Understanding the dynamics of songwriting also takes time. In a recent conversation with My Global Mind magazine, Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain discussed how he evolved as a songwriter during his long stint with the band.
“What I was missing early on in my career was just the lyrics, and when I met Steve, he helped me, I helped him,” Cain explained, sharing how Steve Perry had helped him develop his songwriting skills during his early days in Journey. “John Waite helped me. Michael Bolton and I had good stuff, and even Peter Frampton and I did good stuff, but when you get to that confident place, there isn’t any fear that you’re not going to get it.”
The musician continued, “So that you’re not going to get alright. Never be afraid of a song or lyric or, ‘I won’t get this.’ No, it will come, but again it takes patience, and sometimes it is a long time. I remember writing ‘Only the Young.’ It took me four weeks till I finally figured out what that song was. It was just Steve Perry doodling on a mic, and I’m like, ‘What is he saying? What is this song?’”
“It finally hit me, ‘Only the young can say they are free to fly away,” Cain said, recalling how he had finally written the lyrics for the band’s 1985 release ‘Only the Young.’ The keyboardist noted, “Boom. I called Steve, ‘I got it, come over.’ ‘Hear the thunder of their cry/Ahead of their time/They wonder why.’”
Jonathan Cain lastly added, “It’s like ‘Come on,’ and it’s just going, ‘Pour it out.’ I think a song title is the key to unlocking that feeling. That feeling, whatever that song is, without a good title, without a definite something, there’s no foundation. So, I’m a title guy. Give me a great title, and I’ll run with it.”
After years of acquiring songwriting experience in Journey and his solo career, Cain has concluded that coming up with a good title forms the basis of a song. It helps him pour out what’s in his heart more easily. The keyboardist also admitted that working with Steve Perry, Michael Bolton, and John Waite improved him as a songwriter and taught him what to look for in the process.
