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Howard Jones — Things Can Only Get Better
Album: Dream Into Action
Avg rating:
6.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1543









Released: 1985
Length: 3:51
Plays (last 30 days): 2
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We're not scared to lose it all
Security throw through the wall
Future dreams we have to realize
A thousand skeptic hands
Won't keep us from the things we plan
Unless we're clinging to the things we prize

And do you feel scared, I do
But I won't stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better

Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)
Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)

Treating today as though it was
The last, the final show
Get to sixty and feel no regret
It may take a little time
A lonely path, an uphill climb
Success or failure will not alter it

And do you feel scared, I do
And I won't stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better

Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)
Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)

And do you feel scared, I do
And I won't stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better
Ah!

Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)
Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)

Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa oh-oh-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)
Whoa whoa whoa-whoa oh-oh-oh
(Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh)
Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh
Comments (68)add comment
Such a great track. I too used to think this type of music had no credibility. Now i realise what a great time the 80's was for pop music. 
Posted 3 weeks ago by samueljhoney    [ Reply ]
Hearing this I reflect on how fun it might be to hear Thomas Dolby right about now.
Posted 3 months ago by ick    [ Reply ]
This album is perhaps the single biggest media influence in my life. Owned it at 15, played it to death on every medium known. Still listen to it on new vinyl. 

Adore this man and the profound effect he's had on me. In my personal pantheon he's the left hand. Iconoclastic love. 
Posted 5 months ago by BWGunner    [ Reply ]
 Rockit999 wrote:

Great production, still sounds fresh today.



Thank you Ruper Hine. (wo btw past away in 2020)
Posted 6 months ago by TheKing2    [ Reply ]
 SnapDragon66 wrote:

For me, this typifies everything that was wrong with music in the 80s.


Bah! Exactly opposite. THIS is what made the 80's so unique. 
Posted 11 months ago by BCarn    [ Reply ]
I just can't believe they wrote out all of the "Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh" chorus's!!  
Posted 1 year ago by Cyndeeb    [ Reply ]
Don't deny who you were because of who you are now, is how I try to reason it all out musically.
Posted 1 year ago by GingerandMe    [ Reply ]
i absolutely love this song. thank you so much for bringing it back to my life. 
Posted 1 year ago by lily34    [ Reply ]
GREAT TUNE!  Thanx RP!
Posted 1 year ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
Saw Howard live on his debut US tour back in the early 80's at a small club in D.C., The Bayou. I love that first album. Wore it out. Then I saw him for the tour for this album. This time it was a full stage presentation with full band. This show was now outside at a huge shed, Merriweather Post Pavilion, with 16,000 fans, not 350! His stuff always sounds fresh and brings back some great memories when I was young and single! 
Posted 1 year ago by tripp1    [ Reply ]
 enkomao wrote:
I was so critic with him  in those days... now im old and think ..wow ! i could  dance  this with all my retired  friends.  

I second that, as  long as i don’t hear blinded me with science, will be okay
Posted 1 year ago by jp33442    [ Reply ]
I was so critic with him  in those days... now im old and think ..wow ! i could  dance  this with all my retired  friends.  
Posted 1 year ago by enkomao    [ Reply ]
Now THIS is what I want to hear in a Friday night set.  Five songs back was Patty Griffin "Luminous Places" and I was worried this was heading into a depressing night on RP.
Posted 1 year ago by timmus    [ Reply ]
 DigitalJer wrote:

A solid 8.
Howard Jones is, imho, supremely underrated.




I Agree!!  GREAT TUNE!!    PS: When he was young, he looked like Stan Laurel, now he looks like Oliver Hardy  LOL!   
Posted 1 year ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
A solid 8.
Howard Jones is, imho, supremely underrated.
Posted 2 years ago by DigitalJer    [ Reply ]
This song shares genes with Owner of a Lonely heart
Posted 2 years ago by TheKing2    [ Reply ]
 SnapDragon66 wrote:

For me, this typifies everything that was wrong with music in the 80s.



Nah, this way you always know when a song was recorded! Doesn't get more '80s than '85! 🤣
Posted 2 years ago by bimmerfan739    [ Reply ]
Not with Liz Truss in charge - things can only get worse 
Posted 2 years ago by Bernie_the_Bolt    [ Reply ]
For me, this typifies everything that was wrong with music in the 80s.
Posted 2 years ago by SnapDragon66    [ Reply ]
Seen Howard a few times in recent years and he only gets better,
Posted 2 years ago by pennstatejimboh    [ Reply ]
Woah! That's a lot of "whoa"s!

I have loved Howard Jones ever since I heard "Those Who Move Clouds" playing in an AMC theater as a young teen. Somehow I figured out who the artist was, before Shazam, and have grooved to his sounds ever since. He's a great person and musician. His streaming performance during quarantine was right on time as me and a good friend watched it on a TV outside on his deck, maintaining our 6 feet of social distancing. Now I've had Covid twice... but I digress.
Posted 2 years ago by pennstatejimboh    [ Reply ]
I keep mixing Nik Kershaw and Sir Howard Jones
Posted 2 years ago by TheKing2    [ Reply ]
Great production, still sounds fresh today.
Posted 2 years ago by Rockit999    [ Reply ]
My first Compact Disc, purchased along with my first CD player from J&R in Manhattan.
Posted 2 years ago by firefly6    [ Reply ]
Sounds a tad Peter Gabriel, vocally, on this track
Posted 2 years ago by CCSandman    [ Reply ]
Such an awesome throwback...
Posted 2 years ago by vandal    [ Reply ]
Never forgiven him for having the audacity to cover I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World) 


Posted 2 years ago by eamon3    [ Reply ]
 Will62 wrote:

Back in the day when I swaggered with youthful arrogance, I abhorred Howard Jones, classifying him as a phony, poppy prat. None of the earthy anger directed at conservative overlords evident in the music of Paul Weller, Billy Bragg et al (it needs to be said, I still love the music from these and others).
Gazing nowadays at the navel located in my rather portly midriff, comfy in a recliner on my back patio, gazing out at my accumulated accoutrements after 40 years of graft. I find a whole lot more depth to Jones' music than I was willing to admit back then. This is a great example of that. Clever by half and it does have a certain anthemic feel. Bloody great sport RP!!



Huzzah!
Posted 3 years ago by jwolf8609    [ Reply ]
This is the kind of stuff that gave the 80's a bad name.
Posted 3 years ago by MinMan    [ Reply ]
"Treating today as though it was
The last, the final show
Get to sixty and feel no regret
It may take a little time
A lonely path, an uphill climb
Success or failure will not alter it"

Howard is 66 in 2021. Hope he's lived up to his ideals of 36 years ago.
Posted 3 years ago by dray2009    [ Reply ]
 Will62 wrote:

Back in the day when I swaggered with youthful arrogance, I abhorred Howard Jones, classifying him as a phony, poppy prat. None of the earthy anger directed at conservative overlords evident in the music of Paul Weller, Billy Bragg et al (it needs to be said, I still love the music from these and others).
Gazing nowadays at the navel located in my rather portly midriff, comfy in a recliner on my back patio, gazing out at my accumulated accoutrements after 40 years of graft. I find a whole lot more depth to Jones' music than I was willing to admit back then. This is a great example of that. Clever by half and it does have a certain anthemic feel. Bloody great sport RP!!




I relate.  Nick Kershaw is the most surprising one.
Posted 3 years ago by MattRudely    [ Reply ]
Would be happy to never hear Jones ever again but a co-worker just posted this 1985 clip worth watching... 
Posted 3 years ago by RabbitEars    [ Reply ]
All the more amazing song given that Howard Jones plays most of the instruments himself. Never thought of it as funk until rehearing it here. There's a great funk bottom to it, to my ears, anyway.
Posted 4 years ago by tinypriest    [ Reply ]
 misfitz wrote:
This song always makes me feel better about life. We can do this. 
 
I just realized the lyric is a play on "Things can always get worse". Glass-half-full kind of song, vs. glass-half-empty!
Posted 4 years ago by tinypriest    [ Reply ]
This song always makes me feel better about life. We can do this. 
Posted 4 years ago by misfitz    [ Reply ]
I like this more now than I did at the time - 7 up to 8 for me
Posted 4 years ago by Jakethemuss    [ Reply ]
A clear Rupert Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) production.
Posted 4 years ago by TheKing2    [ Reply ]
memories of live aid
Posted 4 years ago by ecojot    [ Reply ]
Sound quality-wise this sounds way better than I remember it. No longer has that 80s harshness so perhaps it's been remastered somewhere along the line. Good stuff.
Posted 4 years ago by siqbal    [ Reply ]
Back in the day when I swaggered with youthful arrogance, I abhorred Howard Jones, classifying him as a phony, poppy prat. None of the earthy anger directed at conservative overlords evident in the music of Paul Weller, Billy Bragg et al (it needs to be said, I still love the music from these and others).
Gazing nowadays at the navel located in my rather portly midriff, comfy in a recliner on my back patio, gazing out at my accumulated accoutrements after 40 years of graft. I find a whole lot more depth to Jones' music than I was willing to admit back then. This is a great example of that. Clever by half and it does have a certain anthemic feel. Bloody great sport RP!!
Posted 4 years ago by Will62    [ Reply ]
Great nostalgia.  Good song, too.  Would like to hear more from this album and the one after, if possible.
Posted 4 years ago by SpencerAR    [ Reply ]
Now you are talkin....love this!  Perfect 80's sound!
Posted 4 years ago by AhhtheMusic    [ Reply ]
I gave this a 7, because it is indeed Quite Likable.
Posted 5 years ago by ckevin63    [ Reply ]
Maybe it was Nick Kershaw actually now I come to think of it
Posted 5 years ago by Jakethemuss    [ Reply ]
I recall this guy bought a girl out of a coma with the power of song (not this one).
Posted 5 years ago by Jakethemuss    [ Reply ]
 DavidS_UK wrote:

Probably one of the best tracks from one of the more mediocre of the new wavy synch pop 80s folks, ironically he seems to have preserved a veneer of acceptability that definitely is greater than his originality or creativity.  Still nice to hear that blast from the past, but I hope the frequency is one HJ track a year....
 
My perv mind saw the last line as "one HJ a year" and I was like "NO, more!" lol
As a kid in the 80s I was playing with my parents LPs from the 60s & 70s, so this sounds familiar yet I don't recognize it....a lot of 80s tunes are like that for me...I'll call it a 6 though....Long Live RP!!
Posted 5 years ago by lizardking    [ Reply ]
Had a bit of a crush on Mr Jones way back when, and played this album to death.  Smashin' to hear him on RP!
Posted 5 years ago by SpinyNorma    [ Reply ]
 Stratocaster wrote:
Very Duran Duran-esque! Forgot that it was Howard Jones.
 
Probably one of the best tracks from one of the more mediocre of the new wavy synch pop 80s folks, ironically he seems to have preserved a veneer of acceptability that definitely is greater than his originality or creativity.  Still nice to hear that blast from the past, but I hope the frequency is one HJ track a year....
Posted 5 years ago by DavidS_UK    [ Reply ]
@BillG

You might need to update the wikipedia entry to:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Jones_(English_musician)
Posted 5 years ago by t0m5k1    [ Reply ]
One of the more creative of the 80's artists. Still sounds good after all these years.
Posted 5 years ago by Asa001    [ Reply ]
Things can only get better - too true - next song please!
Posted 6 years ago by Stephen_Phillips    [ Reply ]
Whoa there Howey.....Nice 80's cheddar.

Posted 6 years ago by Rockit9    [ Reply ]
I like that this song came out right when I was graduating high school - very fitting. I was very  hopeful about my future!
Posted 6 years ago by Alexandra    [ Reply ]
There are soooooo many better HoJo songs to play.
Posted 6 years ago by Larrygrrl    [ Reply ]
Very Duran Duran-esque! Forgot that it was Howard Jones.
Posted 6 years ago by Stratocaster    [ Reply ]
Worked in Top 40 radio when this was a monster hit. We played this too much.  Enough time has passed that it is now just a pleasant memory. Plus, he stopped in once to our station and couldn't have been nicer.  
Posted 6 years ago by roadie    [ Reply ]
Nice to hear Howard Jones again, I had this on tape.....feeling old !
Posted 8 years ago by Kevwedge    [ Reply ]
Howard Jones fits right in, imho- thanks! Could we also hear "What is Love" please?
Posted 8 years ago by jmkate    [ Reply ]
THIS is why RP is on all day every day.   Funny and fun!
Posted 8 years ago by pwilborn    [ Reply ]
Did *not* expect to hear Howard Jones on RP!  Not one of my fave 80s track but I appreciate the curve ball Bill {#Laughing}
Posted 8 years ago by siqbal    [ Reply ]
never liked this when I heard it on the radio—hearing it again for the first time in more than 20 years I hear nothing that will change my mind. the worst of the 80's!

                                {#Nyah}{#Nyah}{#Nyah} 
Posted 9 years ago by gregskrtic    [ Reply ]
It has a good 80's vibe!    7!
Posted 9 years ago by fitmartin    [ Reply ]
I never thought I'd hear this on RP - I wore out the cassette of this album when it first came out. More Howard Jones please!!
Posted 9 years ago by planet_lizard    [ Reply ]
Love love love HJ! "like to Get to Know you Well" is my fav of his.
Posted 9 years ago by jocelynsart    [ Reply ]
Some months ago I had a period of playing old records from the 80\'s. It brought up fine memories at first, but quickly I got so bored, so bored... One reason can be that there too many commercial radio stations nowadays that kind of lives on giving people \"that 30\'s nostalgic feeling\". :oops:
Posted 21 years ago by saeys    [ Reply ]
Once again proves that the 80s were a total musical wasteland. I would prefer to forget that entire decade.
Posted 22 years ago by Leslie    [ Reply ]
Kyewwwl! :D
Posted 22 years ago by Cagey    [ Reply ]