It took me a little while before I did too. Those songs we wrote truly were treasures in jars of clay. It was how much Steve and I were blessed, and how Journey had been blessed for many years. It wasn’t about our amazing talents or how hard we worked. I understood what Steve Perry was talking about, especially since I had come to realize I had spent my life making music for my father-and he was no longer here. This all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. He had sung all those songs to her, yet ultimately it was somebody else who wanted his attention and thanks. I think he had finally come to realize how blessed he truly was, and it wasn’t because of his precious mother. It’s his “Where have you been, Steve?” song. In so many ways, that was Steve Perry’s life story right there. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” One of the last songs we wrote for the new album was the title song “Trial by Fire.” Perry said he wanted to write a song about the “jars of clay” passage in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 4:6–7: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. As I sang it, I thought of Steve’s wonderful mother. I witnessed this hope firsthand when I performed “When I Think of You” at a funeral for a friend from church. Yet I choose to reflect on the majesty of the song, how it put some hope into the world, as did many of our other tunes. I can focus on the fact that even though it’s one of my favorite ballads, it was never performed live with Steve. We wrote “When I Think of You” about the passing of Steve’s mother, and I couldn’t help but think of my father as we worked on it.
Bad English spelled the end with Waite, as Trial by Fire did with Steve Perry. When Steve Perry needed a break from Journey after Raised on Radio, there was unfinished business between him and me, just as there had been between John Waite and me. So many of these musical pieces have stood the test of time. Pieces of us put into melodies and threaded together by expressions of love and longing and hurt. There are many “what ifs” and “should’ve beens” when one looks back on the days in Journey when we waited for word from our lead singer, but there are also the songs we had created. I try to do the latter, especially when it pertains to those to whom I’ve been closest.
You can let the dark mistakes and misfortunes cover the bright moments and miracles, or you can let the colors emerge and brilliantly cover the old. There are two ways to look back on the canvas of your life. Editor’s note: Taken from Jonathan Caine’s new memoir, Don’t Stop Believin’, this post captures Jonathan’s reflections about former lead singer and co-song writer Steve Perry, with whom he wrote many of Journey’s iconic hits.