Over Thirty Five Years Ago How One Song Changed Journey

[turbinetree]

"Only the Young" became an inspirational touchstone, a homecoming spark, then an in-concert triumph. But first, it got left off one of Journey's biggest albums.

"It was actually written for the Frontiers record," Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain told WCSX in 2018. "And some people, when we put the album together, thought it didn't work on the album and they wanted to put some other song in place of it. And I was kinda like opposed to it and I got outvoted, and it just sat on the shelf there in the vaults."

The first person outside of Journey's inner circle to hear the still-unreleased song was Kenny Sykaluk, a 16-year-old Ohio native battling a terminal illness. His mother had written the Make a Wish Foundation in the hopes they could visit Sykaluk.

"Back in 1983, when Make a Wish first began, one of the boys who was sick wanted to meet Journey," Cain told One One 7 in 2013. "He was in a cystic-fibrosis clinic in Cleveland, and we went off to see him. We had no idea how bad he was, but he was dying."

They brought an autographed platinum-album award, a football helmet signed by the San Francisco 49ers, and a Walkman. Inside the Walkman was a cassette recording of "Only the Young."

"Slipping the headphones over Kenny's ears, we watched as the kid began to listen to our unreleased song," Cain said in 2018's Don't Stop Believin': The Man, the Band, and the Song that Inspired Generations. "While the tune played, Kenny looked up and his eyes got huge."

Written by Cain, ex-frontman Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, "Only the Young" eventually saw release, eventually became a hit, eventually turned into a concert staple. But in that moment, it became Sykaluk's song.

"As soon as I stepped out of that hospital room, I lost it," Perry said in the liner notes to the Time3 box set. "Nurses had to take me to a room by myself."



Read More: 35 Years Ago: How a Leftover Song Changed Journey Forever | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/journey-only-the-young/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

[Skittles]

1. that song is so haunting

[turbinetree]

2. Agreed .......................

[ancianita]

3. Hoping that wildfire takes off soon

[paleotn]

4. Wonderful story. 35 years...ugh!

I've always though it was one of Journey's best on the sound track of my college years. Back when I had a full head of hair and not a clue where I was headed. Now I know what an impact that one song had on a young man's life. Incredible.

[turbinetree]

5. Agreed .......................

[Hekate]

6. KnR