Howard Jones, Dream into Action 14

"Like to Get to Know You Well" was actually a stand-alone single released in 1984, only later included on the US version of Dream into Action, and as a CD bonus track for the UK edition. Some may also remember it from the soundtrack to Better Off Dead, one of my favorite 1980's screwball comedies. 

It serves as an ideal ending point to these little reflections, because it so perfectly exemplifies that signature HoJo optimism. I have rarely found anything to come close without falling into a fake sentimentalism, and I suspect it is precisely because Jones so deeply means the message that he can come off as genuine. 

The record was "dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games", yet I remember being disappointed with the 1984 event in Los Angeles. This probably had more to do with the fact that I was growing up, and I was finally noticing all the shiftiness in the marketing, but my special disappointment with the nasty way the media covered Zola Budd, one of my heroes, left an especially bad taste in my mouth. 

And still, Jones would surely tell me to respond to the bitterness with all the more love, and to offer total friendship, however great the distance between us. That is why his positivity has remained a beacon in my life now for over two decades. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWLnCPDCbQ0&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=27 

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqF1P8Khnmw&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=28 

Howard Jones, "Like to Get to Know You Well" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
So we can be one
We can be one together

Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
So we can be one
We can be one together

Together we can cast away the fear
Together we can wipe away the tear
Together we can strip down the barriers
And be one

Don't wanna talk about the weather
Don't wanna talk about the news
Just wanna get to the real you inside

Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
So we can be one
We can be one together

Don't you think now is the time
We should be feelin'
Just wanna simply say
Won't let you slip away

People wanna talk about the future
Don't wanna linger on the past
Just wanna reach to the real you inside
Forget cold glances and rejections
Leave the things that separate
Build on a trust that we can stand on

Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
So we can be one
We can be one together

Finding all are insecure
Opening the same door
Leaving out a stubborn pride
Seeing from another side

Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
Like to get to know you well
So we can be one
We can be one together

Jones continued on a major label for a number of years after this, and he found a niche in a more "adult contemporary" market as his fans grew up. I still bought his albums, and listened to all the songs, but the old magic wasn't quite there for me anymore, and so I wasn't surprised when he finally went into a sort of semi-retirement after his contract expired. 

I do, however, cherish two special tracks from this time, of the sort only Jones could pull off, that played a role in the courtship of my wife, and so I value them almost as much as the first two albums: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWPhbwYQlB0 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql9IC5T1Awo 

Only recently, I was pleased to hear one of Jones' occasional self-produced projects, and I came across a song that brought me all the way back to the beginning, proof that the man had never lost it, and, more importantly, that the spark of joy was still alive inside of me. Mr. Jones had played a major part in making sure the fire never died. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj6eAOQHzxs 

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=uNeCjE2PO1c&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=25

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ey1suVCQY&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&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  

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 12

This is, in hindsight, one of Jones' most powerful songs, a perfect example of how an album track, with no possibility of becoming a sellable single, can truly allow an artist to shine. I suspect it was deliberately written to be the closer, and it serves that role brilliantly. I regularly walk away from it with a restored sense of meaning and purpose. 

I have always been eager to share the music I love with those who aren't "fans" (as much as I dislike that term), but this was another of those tunes that would usually fall on deaf ears. It's certainly a bit too slow and serious for any easy listening, and many people would brush it off as "Howard doing his Buddhist thing again." 

Now while his particular faith is clearly evident here, I would argue that the theme is common to all "wisdom traditions", and fits just as well in the context of the Gospels, the Bhagavad Gita, or the dialogues of Plato. For all the peculiarities of this or that culture, truth is ultimately something Universal. A fear of death and an attachment to worldly diversions, which hinder us from becoming who we were meant to be, is a mighty obstacle for anyone who struggles with being human. 

I would also argue that it is quite a "countercultural" message as well, not in the shallow sense of angrily condemning institutions and sticking it to the man, but as a genuine calling to reflect on life's priorities. Despite their many charms, the 1980's had a nasty streak of cold materialism and cynicism to them, and a song like this was the perfect antidote for me. 

The stock market isn't important. Political posturing isn't important. The rat race at the office isn't important. Love and understanding are important. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaXHcRiJp_I&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=23

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb3Ywb03ajI&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=24

Howard Jones, "Hunger for the Flesh" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Spare a thought for the souls
Who cannot leave this earth
The attachments bind so tightly, not a chance
Not a chance of a new birth

The river gently beckons
But the answer is no
Gripping their illusions
They cannot let them go

Hunger for the flesh
Leads them to a weaker heart
Mortals who imprison themselves
Let them have a new start

Wishing to hold onto life and all its games
Singing their lament song
Holding back the change

They came here for to dance
To learn and not to cling
Holding onto life
As if it were the important thing

Hunger for the flesh
Hunger for security
Caught up in the mesh
Caught up for eternity

Hunger for the flesh
Hunger for security
Caught up in the mesh
Caught up for eternity

The river gently beckons
But the answer is no
Gripping their illusions
They cannot let them go

Hunger for the flesh
Leads them to a weaker heart
Mortals who imprison themselves
Let them have a new start
Let them have a new start

Hunger for the flesh
Hunger for security
Caught up in the mesh
Caught up for eternity

Hunger for the flesh
Hunger for security
Caught up in the mesh
Holding back the change 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 11

There is something about the sound of this track that represents everything I loved about the early 1980's, even as the period was quite frustrating for me in so many other ways. The message of the lyrics, however, did not really sink in for me until a good decade later. It took me some time to appreciate how difficult it can be to think for ourselves, and how easily we define our own identities through others. 

It is good to have teachers, mentors, even heroes and gurus, and indeed, we can hardly walk through this world without being moved and inspired, for better or for worse, by the example of our fellows. And yet there is also the danger zone, where we stop doing the work for ourselves and we start hitching a free ride. It feels so much easier to follow, and there is a misleading security in becoming a yes-man. 

So many of my generation were convinced that we were going our own way, while we were really just jumping on the bandwagon of the latest fad. We see it in religion, in politics, and in any sort of ideology, for as long as the image appears fresh and edgy, we will settle for the same old stale conformities. 

Even when I tried to separate myself from the herd, I found that I was only following the next herd over. I would allow myself to be pushed back and forth by pretentious writers, raging militants, and crazed zealots. While it all seemed so radical, it ended up as a complete surrender of the self. 

There needs to come a point where you take what you need, and you leave the rest, when all the guidance is just a preparation for taking that first step alone. The partisan lets others do his reasoning for him, while the brave soul finally strikes out on his own. Yes, it can be quite frightening, though it is also supremely liberating. 

I strive to learn from everyone, but my judgments must ultimately be my own. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyidfP4K6VQ&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=21

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXGR5Mc2zmY&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=22

Howard Jones, "Why Look for the Key?" from Dream into Action (1985) 

And they made this secret pact 
His knowledge would be tapped 
The link was based on a respect 
On their lives they would reflect 

A perfect state of non-attachment 
Was striven for and claimed as fact 
The younger grew and learnt his lesson well 
All his ideals were intact 

Why look for the key in another? 
The answer lay in his own heart 
Won't find yourself in some other 
It always was there right at the start 

But power it corrupted 
That's where attachment starts 
The power had erupted 
The spell will crack 

As each mental bond was broken 
Strength grew in the young man's heart 
What began as love, not passion 
Had left a seed in his heart 

Why look for the key in another? 
The answer lay in his own heart 
Won't find yourself in some other 
It always was there right at the start 

Why look for the key in another? 
The answer lay in his own heart 
Won't find yourself in some other 
It always was there right at the start 

Why look for the key in another? 
Won't find yourself in some other 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 10

Once again, I cannot fathom what goes on in the heads of record executives, much as I cannot unravel the mind of the politician or of the lawyer, but I can only wonder if they have some knack for discerning what will "sell" in a certain market, so they are constantly rearranging and tweaking other people's work. 

While Human's Lib had appeared in the US with few changes, there was probably more hope that custom-fitting Dream into Action to American tastes would increase sales. The sequencing was altered, and then two songs on the UK version were completely removed, to be replaced by two "safer" tracks, one that had already scored big in Europe as a single the previous year ("Like to Get to Know You Well"), and another that flirted with some elements of the new craze in rap music ("Bounce Right Back"). 

It's a shame US audiences couldn't hear "Specialty" or "Why Look for the Key?" without buying imports or listening to alternative radio stations, since both tunes are wonderful examples of Jones' unique skill for combining catchy new wave synth-pop with sincere and genuinely meaningful lyrics. Both were eventually tacked on to the end of the CD release in later years, when time limitations were less of a problem. 

The musical contrast between the frantic verse and the more soothing chorus admittedly made the song "undanceable" for most, yet it reflects how we fuss so much over fitting in, when the solution lies in finding peace through inner self-acceptance. The cynics may say the message is trite, while I would humbly suggest that it only becomes vapid in the hands of those who don't really mean it, because they are desperately afraid to simply be themselves, on their own terms. 

I can't tell you how often the words from the chorus have given me a remarkable, almost superhuman, strength, and made it possible for me to respond with love when I am so tempted to lash out with jealousy and resentment. The message is hardly complex, though it really needs to sink in to the core of the soul to become truly effective. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2udI33nu_QA&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=19

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWSS__0gEFQ&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=20

Howard Jones, "Specialty" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Don't chop off his head 
To make yourself look tall 
Don't tear a strip off 
To make yourself feel wonderful 
Who wants to compare 
As if this was a competition? 
Leave that to teachers at school 
Must preserve their tradition 

'Bout time you realised
You are a specialty
There is no one like you
Spend your life worrying
'Bout what you could have been
Can't you like being you? 

Don't need a scalp 
Don't need to be a juror 
Take care of yourself 
No need to feel so insecure 
Waste of energy 
To prove a holier than him 
Waste of energy 
To find out who commits what sin 

'Bout time you realised 
You are a specialty 
There is no one like you 
Spend your life worrying 
'Bout what you could have been
Can't you like being you? . . . 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 9

In the 1980's, most young people, especially those who had a special attachment to more "alternative" music, would still think in terms of the "album" format. If you liked an artist enough and had the cash at hand to buy a new LP, it was therefore quite common for your friends to ask you to play it for them, or even (gasp!) to copy it onto a cassette. 

Unsurprisingly, I became known as the local "HoJo guy", and when Dream into Action first appeared, I was briefly popular because I had a copy of the record. If I placed it on a turntable, a small group might gather to hear what all the fuss was about. 

Some would wander off after the first few tracks, though a good number were curious enough to listen to songs they would likely never get to hear on the radio. Yet interestingly enough, as soon as we got to "Elegy", I can recall only one person who didn't make his excuses. Though I sadly didn't appreciate it at the time, it turned out that he was one of the most thoughtful and compassionate friends I would ever have. 

Now what was is it about this particular song that was unappealing to them? It is rather slow, mind you, and there is not a beat in sight. Is the cello too artsy, perhaps? If I pressed the point, I was told it was too "depressing", which is odd, given how the purpose of the song is to combat melancholy, and that most of the "New Wave" music my peers liked was usually quite dark and somber. 

I can only wonder if the lyrics had a way of making people feel uncomfortable; I know they certainly put me on the spot, helping me to recognize how easily I get caught up in pseudo-romantic self-pity. It's one thing for me wallow in it, an odd sort of comfort that comes from finding nobility in suffering, but what challenged me was the demand, loving yet firm, to just get over myself. Life is meant to be good, and all the artificial divisions need not get in the way of finding purpose and joy. 

Depeche Mode, or the Smiths, or Killing Joke also spoke of misery, though they didn't really offer you the option of finding some peace of mind through all the hardships, now did they? Once again, I am grateful to Mr. Jones for pointing to all that is true, good, and beautiful in our shared human condition. It's no surprise the critics didn't like him. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azYNzMeKAtw&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=17

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Mn6Erj_IE&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=18

Howard Jones, "Elegy" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Please don't look at me this way 

I am from the same seed as you 
Take me back to the womb 
I am weary of this life 

Don't believe in my eyes 
Don't believe in my mind 
Don't believe in right or wrong 
Don't believe in cruel and kind 

But all this talk is only poetry 
Only as true as we would believe 
We must live to fight the negative 
Not to court the self in defeat oh oh oh oh
In defeat oh oh oh oh 

Oh the pain of life is sweet 
Is it wrong to long for death? 
Must I cling to the thrills of life? 
Ash to ash and dust to dust 

But all this talk is only poetry 
Only as true as we would believe 
We must live to fight the negative 
Not to court the self in defeat oh oh oh oh 
In defeat oh oh oh oh 

You have looked at me this way 
We are all from the same seed 
Take us forward through the tomb 
There's no finish to a life 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 8

Here is another one of Jones' poppier songs that has philosophical roots. In this case, the inspiration came from the Tao Te Ching of Lao Tzu. 

Here is the original text, from Chapter 20 (Legge translation): 

When we renounce learning we have no troubles.
The ready 'yes,' and flattering 'yea'—
Small is the difference they display.
But mark their issues, good and ill—
What space the gulf between shall fill? 

What all men fear is indeed to be feared; but how wide and without end is the range of questions asking to be discussed! 

The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence. I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. 

The multitude of men all have enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. 

Ordinary men look bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to rest. 

All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull and incapable, like a rude borderer. Thus I alone am different from other men, but I value the nursing-mother, the Tao. 

When this tune first appeared, I knew very little about Taoism, and that was probably a good thing, since I was given the opportunity to reflect on its meaning without any intellectual baggage. Assumptions will trip us up, and the way things initially appear is not always the way they truly are. 

I know many "westerners" who like to represent "eastern" traditions as if they are somehow more mystically profound because they are wrapped up in cryptic paradoxes, and yet there is never any contradiction in humbly learning how things that at one time seemed opposed can ultimately be united under a higher understanding. 

Yes, there is a difference between up and down, yes and no, or here and there, though the contrast between them begins to become less and less significant as the order of the whole is gradually revealed.  

Observe those who are caught in the rut of established rules and narrow fashions, and they will look so successful and confident, while they are actually quite lost regarding who they are and why they are here. If you, in turn, seek to discover what is behind all the flashy images, you will come across as quite hopeless and pathetic. 

No matter. You are slowly but surely discovering that there is no need for conflict, how to flow with Nature instead of fighting against her, and why all things are reducible to the One. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz8UjZ6ucKM&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=15

And the song itself:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjmbwJowE70&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=16

Howard Jones, "Is There a Difference?" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Is there a difference between yes and no? 

Is there a difference between up and down? 
Must I fear what others fear? 
What nonsense 

Some people are content 
Enjoying things that belong to tradition 
With the seasons they cast their lot 
Without a question 

Other men are clear and bright and solid 
Other men are sharp and clever and jolly 
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh oh wo 

Is there a difference between high and low? 
Is there a difference between then and now? 
Do we have to live in pain and fear? 
What nonsense 

People are drifting like the waves on the sea 
Without direction like the restless wind 
Not knowing forward not knowing back 
Just existing 

Other men are strong and full of courage 
Other men are witty and full of knowledge 
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh wo 

Other men are clear and bright and solid 
I alone am drifting on the sea 
Other men are sharp and clever and jolly 
Restless like the wind 
And we go wo oh oh wo oh oh wo 

Is there a difference 
Is there really a difference
Yes and no? 
Is there a difference
Up and down? 
Is there a difference
High and low? 
Is there a difference
Then and now? 
Is there a difference . . . 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 7

Even in the early 1980's, I was equally entranced and suspicious of new technology. I suppose I was already reflecting, in however crude a manner, about what made us human, and what either assisted us or hindered us in the exercise of that humanity.  

Back then, our elders complained about too much television, and what few will remember is how the Sony Walkman was criticized for isolating us from the people around us. The more things change, the more they stay the same, for now we might observe the role of the cellphone and the internet in replacing the world of the real with the world of the artificial. 

My geeky friends and I would write programs in BASIC on the school's Apple II's, and we would speculate wildly about whether computers would someday take over the world. Our obsession with the film Terminator certainly didn't help. It might seem silly now, and yet we are still struggling with precisely those questions. 

I listened to this track with those concerns in mind, and long before I heard that the song was based on a dream Howard Jones had, I felt it had a certain nightmarish quality. 

As I grow older, I find that it makes little difference whether the technology involves banging together two rocks or constructing an android: whatever the tools at hand, how will a man choose to employ those tools? 

Robots and so-called "artificial intelligence" aren't the problem—the presence or absence of wisdom and love in how we live is most assuredly the problem. A machine made to mimic a man will only be as good as the virtues of its creator. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPMeMQ_RtAo&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=13

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7T6JdF2Jmc&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=14

Howard Jones, "Automaton" from Dream into Action (1985) 

He arrived on the scene 
With no past and no future 
He seemed to know your dreams 
Replace tears with laughter 

Street corner whispers 
Would mention his name 
Selfish? Benevolent? 
What was his game? 

Some say he's perfect 
Some say a spy 
A hidden power 
They all wonder why 
The rumors mounted 
But still no fact 
I need to find out 
Some say perfect hidden power 
We all wonder why 

Questions unanswered 
Suspicion alerted 
I went round to his place 
It felt quite deserted 
I climbed the stairs to where 
His body lay without motion 
No spirit lives in there 
The cord had been broken 

His skin was reptile 
No life in there 
Not young not old 
A long hollow glare 
His breath had stopped 
No hearts beat there 
Is this a man? 
Should I believe hidden power? 
They all wondered why 

My attention was caught 
By a sound from the door 
Panic gripped the mind 
What lay in store? 
A being stared at me 
Benevolent, not cold 
Automaton—He is controlled 

His skin was reptile. . . . 

Automaton—No life in there 
No past and no future 
Is this a man? 
Automaton—No life in there 
No past and not future 
Is this a man?  

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 6

I was so taken by the music to this song, especially the arrangement and instrumentation, that I shamefully admit it took me a few listens to realize it was about the sins of the meat industry. 

This is neither the time nor the place to argue all the pros and cons of vegetarianism. My own view, as usual, tends to annoy both sides, since I have an aversion to any tribal allegiance at the expense of a shared humanity. 

Yet what Mr. Jones managed to do was to make me think with him, and it is rare for a musician, or any public figure, to manage that. When someone talks down to us, it can only breed fear and resentment. 

As much as I can enjoy a good steak, the rarer the better, I do know that simply reducing any value to my immediate pleasure is hardly a moral stand. 

Now I might further insist that my body needs the meat, and offer all sorts of evidence from biology or history, and yet I see, time and time again, those around me who live in health and vitality on a diet that excludes meat completely. 

Yes, it does seem rather odd that we write cutesy children's stories about the very animals we put on our dinner plates. Douglas Adams understood this with one of his best bits in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, the "Dish of the Day". 

Isn't is perfectly natural for creatures to die and to be consumed by other creatures? Certainly. But that does not mean Nature intends for us to be cruel, and I can use no other word to describe the way most of the food industry treats its livestock. Thought the animal may not understand it, we should know better. 

You tell me you didn't personally slaughter the beast? Perhaps that is something you could take upon yourself, and see how you would manage it. In any event, a participation, however seemingly remote, does not remove our accountability. In paying money for it, we play our own parts. 

I once saw the inside of a corporate slaughterhouse, and only my weekly visits to a state prison were more disturbing to me. I don't have to call it murder to find it abhorrent.  I contrast it with the way my uncle snared a rabbit, then quickly and quietly dispatched it before I even noticed what he had done. 

Enough of that. It's a great song, in a style that only the early 80's could produce, and it manages to inspire meaningful thought at the same time. That piano riff has been dancing around in my head now for over twenty years! 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM8RKr2p0ko&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=11

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqAhBjAkRPo&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=12

Howard Jones, "Assault and Battery" from Dream into Action (1985) 

The lives were taken 

For feasts at the table 
A life of misery 
Ending with a shock 

Brutal murder (brutal murder) 
All hands to the slaughter 
Mass torture 
All hands to the knife 

And I can hear the screams 
With the knife, the jolt, the wring 
They must follow in our dreams 
Carrying a twisted sting 

Children's stories with their farmyard favourites 
At the table in a different disguise 

Don't talk to me of health 
Or something someone else will do 
We're talking about the act 
Of taking life for me and you 

And I hear their screams . . . 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 5

The UK and US versions of the album diverge quite significantly from this point on, and though I now follow the UK sequencing, I remain so attached to my old US vinyl copy that I will still automatically hear the next song in my head as soon as the previous one is coming to a close. That is how powerful old habits can be! 

"Look Mama" was also released as a single in the UK, reaching #10, but it was somehow not deemed suitable for radio promotion by the suits in the US. I can only speculate that this is because it is about something as mundane as a mother and her son, not about brooding romance, angry protest, or cosmic musings. Given the basic innocence and sincerity of his music, it's a wonder Jones ever found any label support in America at all. . . 

Here is yet another example of a song that changes with the years, by which I really mean that it is the same old song, though I have slowly but surely changed my own thinking about its meaning. 

I dare you to find me a teenager who doesn't feel like his parents are stifling him. This is only natural, and the young soul is quite right to seek greater self-discovery and self-expression. Jones apparently didn't write this about his own mother, and was instead moved by the many letters he received from his young fans. 

As the years have passed, I still see the importance of letting people find their own way, yet I am also acutely aware of how foolish and reckless youth can be, so the demands sound a little bittersweet to me. I suppose, however, that if children never made their many horrific blunders, they would never manage to become adults. 

The errors are in themselves a necessary part of the growth, and they must serve as painful opportunities for a richer awareness. Mum and Dad must trust that they have given their best, and let the little bird fly on his own. 

It's ultimately a variation of Stoic Wisdom #37: a man can only make, or break, himself. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwaNkI_Vvg&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=9

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7kBThjwQ1c&list=OLAK5uy_ksRpFrEL_onEROgkryRFr4rhIUu3vYyZc&index=10 

Howard Jones, "Look Mama" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Honey, I think Audrey's a little mature for you
No I don't think she's mature I think she's nice 
Hey mom when are we going? 

Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 
Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 

Don't wrap me up in cotton wool 
You can't treat me like a fool 
Anyway if I was, you gotta let me be one 
OK give me your advice 
It's not my fault if I can't be wise 
Show me a person who hasn't been done 

Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 
Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 

Don't try to stick your rules on me 
I wasn't born as a carbon copy 
I came out of you 
But don't think that you own me 
I have my respect for you 
I won't try to change the things you do 
Give me a break 
Let me learn it my way 

You think you know more than me 
Experience hasn't set you free 

Look mama I Love you 
Look mama, look, look mama, look 
Look mama I Love you 
Loom mama, look, look mama, look 

I gotta make my own mistakes 
Why can't you treat me like a friend? 

Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 
Look mama I Love you 
But you gotta let me live my life 

Look mama I Love you 
Look mama, look, look mama, look 
Look mama, look 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 4

It's funny how our own particular perspectives will shape how we read a poem or hear a song,  especially when it turns out the artist was coming from a somewhat different direction. 

"No One Is to Blame" took on a certain meaning for me when I first heard it, since at the time I found myself struggling with resentments about not getting what I wanted, and so I focused in on the chorus to remind me that finding fault and pointing fingers never solve anything. That remains a lifelong battle for me! 

Years later, I heard Jones explaining the origin of the song, and how it actually arose as a sort of homage to fidelity. We may feel certain attractions or urges, for which we shouldn't blame ourselves, which are distinct from acting on those attractions or urges. 

Indeed, emotions are tricky things, and while my struggle to practice Stoic values has taught me a bit about how to manage and direct my passions, they will often act as if they have a mind of their own. An impressions may come or it may go, but what matters is what I am going to choose to do with it. It's a bit like that old Cherokee story about having two wolves inside of you, and deciding which one you're going to feed. 

After this song was released as a single, Jones was at the height of his popularity in the USA. I have mixed feelings about the re-recording, as I prefer the more sparse and haunting sound of the original album version, and I have always felt that the influence of Phil Collins, though it helped the release in the charts, was a bit of a sellout. But that is just a matter of my preference, and I understand how intensely the studios will pressure an artist to sell a product. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnWmRRL6hsQ&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=8

And the song itself. The first is the album version (straight from vinyl!): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pK0qSSqL2E

The second is the singe version, with Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals, and produced by Hugh Padgham. There is marked difference here from the sound that Rupert Hine contributed to Jones' music: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pekhxxngQ3s&list=OLAK5uy_ksRpFrEL_onEROgkryRFr4rhIUu3vYyZc&index=8 

Howard Jones, "No One Is to Blame" from Dream into Action (1985) 

You can look at the menu, but you just can't eat
You can feel the cushions, but you can't have a seat
You can dip your foot in the pool, but you can't have a swim
You can feel the punishment, but you can't commit the sin

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her, and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can build a mansion, but you just can't live in it
You're the fastest runner but you're not allowed to win
Some break the rules, and let you count the cost
The insecurity is the thing that won't get lost

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

You can see the summit but you can't reach it
It's the last piece of the puzzle but you just can't make it fit
Doctor says you're cured but you still feel the pain
Aspirations in the clouds but your hopes go down the drain

And you want her, and she wants you
We want everyone
And you want her, and she wants you
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame

No one ever is to blame
No one ever is to blame

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 3

In the 1980's, it was still fairly common for the record labels to release different versions of albums for different markets, sometimes resulting in quite distinct "products". Accordingly, this was also a golden age for the import collectors, and I particularly remember UK copies selling in the USA for ridiculous prices. Globalization had not yet fully set in! 

Other artists received far more radical makeovers to help them sell in certain regions, but even Howard Jones got a dose of the treatment on his second album. The title and the cover art remained the same, though the suits couldn't help changing the listing and the order of the tracks. 

Track three was "Dream into Action" in the UK, but "No One Is to Blame" in the USA. It was clear that the latter, a slower ballad, was being eyed for success in America, but more on that later . . . 

"Dream into Action" was, in contrast, a more "traditional" Jones composition, complete with industrial clanging noises and an upbeat message about living in harmony. I didn't pay it terribly much attention at first, and yet I can now, many years later, say that it has rather sneakily played a huge part in forming my own attitudes about the many unfortunate divisions in human life. 

I have come to call it tribalism, or the love of any sort of –ism, where we feel better about ourselves when we choose to find someone else to hate. There is usually little thought involved in the matter, and it tends to derive from envy and resentment. Learn to tame that desire with understanding, and you in turn learn to overcome the division. 

Stop imagining it. Start doing it. 

Thanks to folks like Mr. Jones, I am no longer ashamed to proudly proclaim the essential unity of the human condition. I may now quote Marcus Aurelius about our "social nature", but it was Jones who gave me that first push. Thank you. It means people laugh at me quite often, and I am then able to smile in return. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ODyxF5mEs&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=5

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgsZ3zSe5B0&list=OLAK5uy_mN2Ly6tKSy0y1d0klY_kza9FHOfbzzJ5E&index=6

Howard Jones, "Dream into Action" from Dream into Action (1985) 

Between every man there is a division
Nobody ever seems to get it right
Even between friends there is a long gap
One of them makes a mistake, there is a fight 

Whatever you do you have the benefit of the doubt
Whatever I do please understand
Whatever we do let's make a pledge to put it right
So we can end the rule of the division

Putting the dream into action, into action
Putting the dream into action, into action

Whatever you like to do then let that be my pleasure
Whatever you like to say I'll try to understand 

Whatever you do you have the benefit of the doubt
Whatever I do please understand
Whatever we do let's make a pledge to put it right
So we can end the rule of the division

Putting the dream into action into action

You are strong
We are strong
You feel it
We feel it
You are strong
We are strong
You are action

Putting the dream into action . . . 

Howard Jones, Dream into Action 2

"Life in One Day" was the second single from the album in the USA, though it was the third in the UK, following "Look Mama". 

Lyrically and musically, It reminds me of "New Song", both upbeat and uptempo, and I imagine that may have been part of the intent. Howard Jones was always walking a precarious line between following his own muse and playing to the market, which reflects the many struggles we all face about maintaining integrity while working in the world. 

The story has it that Jones and Rupert Hine, back for a second run as producer, played a first mix of the album to the suits at the record label, and they were met with the usual response. Indeed, I think most every musician who gets a recording contract has heard some variation of it: 

"Where are the hits? This album doesn't have enough hits!" 

While the true artist is focused on producing a work of beauty and meaning, management is really in it to make some money, Now these two things don't necessarily have to be in conflict with one another, and I believe Jones is living proof of that, but a man can never really serve two masters. I suspect I would throw up my hands in despair, so I admire Jones for giving it his best. 

Under pressure to provide at least one more track suitable for radio airplay, Jones locked himself in a room for the weekend to write "Life in One Day". He has mentioned many times how there is a certain irony here, a song about taking it easy on yourself produced in a frantic rush to manufacture a marketable product. It isn't easy coming up with a three or four minute tune that's both smart and catchy. 

Why must I always be so busy? Why does everything have to be done now, or even yesterday? Why am I measuring the success of my life by how much noise I make? 

"Life in One Day" is a wonderful relief from the constant demand to do more and more, a little reminder that I don't have to run in the rate race. Let me find the joy in this moment, some peace in appreciating the little things, which actually turn out to be the big things. I will do the most good by fixing myself, not by trying to fix the rest of the world. 

Most attempts at "uplifting" songs from the 1980's fell into saccharine platitudes about "holding hands with the children to reach for the future" or whatnot. At least Jones kept it simple and humble. Less is more. Quality over quantity. All in due time. Slow and steady wins the race. 

—5/2007 

A few words of commentary from Howard Jones: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkLFhKozGbA

And the song itself: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkh1_Zpq8mQ

I swear I remember a music video for this song, though I now cannot find a copy of it anywhere. Perhaps it is caught up in some copyright issues? 

Howard Jones, "Life in One Day" from Dream into Action (1985) 

The old man said to me 
Said don't always take life so seriously 
Play the flute 
And dance and sing your song 

Try and enjoy the here and now 
The future will take care of itself somehow 
The grass is never greener over there 
Time will wear away the stone 
Gets the hereditary bone 

Don't try to live your life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away 
Don't try to live your life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away 

The old man said to me 
Said you can't change the world single-handedly  
Raise a glass enjoy the scenery 
Pretend the water is champagne 
And fill my glass again and again 
While the wolves are gathering round your door 
Time will wear away the stone 
Gets the hereditary bone 

Don't try to live your life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away 
Don't try to live your life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away 

The old man said to me 
Said don't always take life so seriously 
Play the flute 
And dance and sing your song 

Try and enjoy the here and now 
The future will take care of itself somehow 
The grass is never greener over there 
Time will wear away the stone 
Gets the hereditary bone 

I tried to live my life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away 

I bit off more than I can chew 
Only so much you can do 

Wolves are gathering round my door 
Ask them in and invite some more 

I tried to live my life in one day 
Don't go speed your time away