Howard Jones, Dream into Action 13

"Bounce Right Back" was included in the US version of the album, but it was not on the original UK release, and it had first been the b-side for "Like to Get to Know You Well". More on that one next. 

I was originally torn about this track, as I appreciated the usual Howard Jones wisdom, while also being suspicious of what appeared to be an attempt at channeling the "faux rap" that was so popular in the mid 1980's. I fear the tune has not aged very well, much like "Rapture" by Blondie. I now find it to be rather amusing musically, while still packing a good philosophical punch. 

Nevertheless, who else but Jones could get away with a song about minding our words, about thinking carefully before we open our mouths? I once described it as Sesame Street for mopey and angry teenagers. It is a critical life lesson, and I shamefully think of all the horrible things I have said without being conscious of their effects. 

I naturally feel hurt when someone else makes a joke at my expense, or insults me, or gossips about me behind my back, so why would I ever wish such pain upon another? Sometimes it comes from being careless, a sort of nervous reaction, and sometimes it comes from nothing more than malice, a brutal attempt at believing that one offense can somehow cancel out another. 

I suspect we all know that feeling when we have just spoken in passion, and we realize the horrible mistake we have just made. In some cases, the damage is irrevocable. I once angrily told a friend that he was a waste of life, and our relationship never healed. Years later, someone told me to go kill myself, and to this day she can't look me in the eye. 

I am wary of spouting the usual phrases, like "what comes around goes around", or "karma's a bitch", but the simple fact is that the Providence ruling this world has made it so we always get what we deserve. Speech has great power, for it expresses who we are. A day does not pass without me regretting things said in haste or in hatred. I start again the next morning, hoping I can manage to show love instead of spite. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTBtVF8A9Y&list=OLAK5uy_ksRpFrEL_onEROgkryRFr4rhIUu3vYyZc&index=25

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ey1suVCQY&list=OLAK5uy_ksRpFrEL_onEROgkryRFr4rhIUu3vYyZc&index=26

Howard Jones, "Bounce Right Back" from Dream into Action (1985) 

I was walking down the street

With my old friend Luke
And the strangest thing we saw
There was a flash like dynamite
And we fell down to the floor
And as we looked up this weird dude stood
I guess he was standing about four feet five
With a nonchalance and a joie de vivre
His face was grinning from side to side 

Well he said button up and tighten your lip
Keep a check on what you say
Those crazy words you fling from your mouth
Are gonna bounce back on you some day 

Now several years pass
I thought nothing more
It was down to a nine to five grind
I was shuffling round to my old friend's house
I had party on my mind
While chatting this chick
A gorilla muscled in
A brace of henchmen right behind
My blood boiled hard
I'll give you a piece of my mind
And this guy appeared by our side
Don't you know what he said

Well he said button up and tighten your lip
Keep a check on what you say
Those crazy words you fling from your mouth
Are gonna bounce back on you some day 

I was walking down the street with my old friend Luke
We were getting into a bit of a heavy scene
He say yes and I say no
He says what do you mean
I pulled my piece and he pulled his
We stared each other right in the eye
There was a flash like dynamite
And this guy appeared by our side

Don't you know what he said

Well he said button up and tighten your lip
Keep a check on what you say
Those crazy words you fling from your mouth
Are gonna bounce back on you some day