About The Song
“Any Way You Want It” hit U.S. radio in February 1980 as the lead single from Journey’s sixth album, Departure. Produced by Geoff Workman and Kevin Elson and cut at The Automatt in San Francisco, it opens the LP with a burst of lean, hard-rock energy—chiming guitars, a lockstep rhythm section, and Steve Perry’s tenor riding on top. As a calling card for the new decade, it sharpened the band’s shift from jam-leaning roots to a punchy, radio-ready attack.
The song’s spark came on the road. While touring with Thin Lizzy in 1979, Perry and Neal Schon absorbed Phil Lynott’s call-and-response approach—voice answers guitar, then guitar answers voice—and folded that idea into the song’s architecture. Perry later described “Any Way You Want It” as a direct outgrowth of hanging with Lynott: a give-and-take design you can hear in the tight verse/lick exchanges that drive the record.
On the studio take, the arrangement is all forward motion. Schon’s clipped figures set the pace; Steve Smith’s drums punch in short, smart bursts; and Gregg Rolie’s keys add a unique grain. Rolie initially tried Mellotron, but a finicky unit led Workman to double it with organ in the mix—creating the distinctive background bed beneath the chorus. The result is a bright, dry sound built for both AM countdowns and arena PA systems.
Lyrically, the track is pure invitation. Perry plays host and conspirator, promising a night tailored to the listener’s desire. There’s no grand metaphor—just kinetic, second-person lines that fit the riff’s cadence and make the chorus feel inevitable the moment it lands. It’s a masterclass in economy: a few crisp images, a hook that repeats without wearing out its welcome, and a performance that sells the fun without strain.
Radio moved quickly. “Any Way You Want It” became Journey’s biggest single to date, peaking at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the Canadian Top Singles chart as well. The 7-inch carried “When You’re Alone (It Ain’t Easy)” on the B-side in the U.S. and Japan, with alternate live flips on some UK 12-inch issues—configurations that helped the cut travel across formats and markets in spring 1980.
Contemporary trades heard the same punch fans did. Cash Box praised the “short, smart drum shots and quick, choppy guitar licks,” and Record World singled out the “soaring hook and guitar break.” Those notices framed the single not just as a crowd-pleaser but as a blueprint for how Journey would balance muscle and melody through the early ’80s.
“Any Way You Want It” has stayed central to the band’s identity. It anchors Journey live releases from Captured to Live in Houston 1981, and its original 1980 video—directed by Kim Paul Friedman—keeps popping up in retrospectives. Heard today, the record still sounds like ignition: a tight riff, a confident voice, and a chorus built to make a big room feel close.
Video
Lyric
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
She loves to laugh
She loves to sing
She does everything
She loves to move
She loves to groove
She loves the lovin’ things
Ooh, all night, all night
Oh, every night
So hold tight, hold tight
Ooh baby, hold tight
Oh, she said
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
She said, any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
I was alone
I never knew
What good love could do
Ooh, then we touched
Then we sang
About the lovin’ things
Ooh, all night, all night
Oh, every night
So hold tight, hold tight
Ooh baby, hold tight
Oh, she said
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
I said, any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
She said ohh, hold on, hold on, hold on
Oh, she said any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
She said any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
Any way you want it
Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it