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

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1521









Released: 1985
Length: 3:51
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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 (67)add comment
Hearing this I reflect on how fun it might be to hear Thomas Dolby right about now.
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. 
 Rockit999 wrote:

Great production, still sounds fresh today.



Thank you Ruper Hine. (wo btw past away in 2020)
 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. 
I just can't believe they wrote out all of the "Whoa whoa whoa-oh-oh whoa-whoa whoa-oh-oh" chorus's!!  
Don't deny who you were because of who you are now, is how I try to reason it all out musically.
i absolutely love this song. thank you so much for bringing it back to my life. 
GREAT TUNE!  Thanx RP!
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! 
 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
I was so critic with him  in those days... now im old and think ..wow ! i could  dance  this with all my retired  friends.  
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.
 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!   
A solid 8.
Howard Jones is, imho, supremely underrated.
This song shares genes with Owner of a Lonely heart
 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! 🤣
Not with Liz Truss in charge - things can only get worse 
For me, this typifies everything that was wrong with music in the 80s.
Seen Howard a few times in recent years and he only gets better,
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.
I keep mixing Nik Kershaw and Sir Howard Jones
Great production, still sounds fresh today.
My first Compact Disc, purchased along with my first CD player from J&R in Manhattan.
Sounds a tad Peter Gabriel, vocally, on this track
Such an awesome throwback...
Never forgiven him for having the audacity to cover I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World) 


 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!
This is the kind of stuff that gave the 80's a bad name.
"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.
 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.
Would be happy to never hear Jones ever again but a co-worker just posted this 1985 clip worth watching... 
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.
 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!
This song always makes me feel better about life. We can do this. 
I like this more now than I did at the time - 7 up to 8 for me
A clear Rupert Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) production.
memories of live aid
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.
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!!
Great nostalgia.  Good song, too.  Would like to hear more from this album and the one after, if possible.
Now you are talkin....love this!  Perfect 80's sound!
I gave this a 7, because it is indeed Quite Likable.
Maybe it was Nick Kershaw actually now I come to think of it
I recall this guy bought a girl out of a coma with the power of song (not this one).
 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!!
Had a bit of a crush on Mr Jones way back when, and played this album to death.  Smashin' to hear him on RP!
 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....
@BillG

You might need to update the wikipedia entry to:


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

I like that this song came out right when I was graduating high school - very fitting. I was very  hopeful about my future!
There are soooooo many better HoJo songs to play.
Very Duran Duran-esque! Forgot that it was Howard Jones.
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.  
Nice to hear Howard Jones again, I had this on tape.....feeling old !
Howard Jones fits right in, imho- thanks! Could we also hear "What is Love" please?
THIS is why RP is on all day every day.   Funny and fun!
Did *not* expect to hear Howard Jones on RP!  Not one of my fave 80s track but I appreciate the curve ball Bill {#Laughing}
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} 
It has a good 80's vibe!    7!
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!!
Love love love HJ! "like to Get to Know you Well" is my fav of his.
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:
Once again proves that the 80s were a total musical wasteland. I would prefer to forget that entire decade.
Kyewwwl! :D