About The Song
“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” burst onto U.S. radio in early 1983 as the lead single from Journey’s eighth studio album, Frontiers. Written by Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain and produced by Kevin Elson with Mike “Clay” Stone, it landed like a gauntlet: pounding drums, a minor-key synth riff that sounds like a siren, and Perry’s tenor cutting straight through the mix. The single arrived weeks before the album’s February 1983 release, setting the tone for one of the band’s biggest commercial eras.
The song’s spark was personal and close at hand. Perry and Cain have said they were watching relationships around the band and crew fray under the pressure of constant touring; the idea of two people trying to move on—and the stubborn pull that remains—gave them the lyrical frame. Musically they aimed for confrontation: a chiseled verse built on pulsing keyboards and a guitar figure from Neal Schon that answers like a second voice, before the chorus opens into widescreen catharsis.
Recorded in 1982 during the Frontiers sessions, the cut showcases Journey’s classic lineup—Perry (lead vocals), Schon (guitars), Cain (keyboards), Ross Valory (bass), and Steve Smith (drums). Elson and Stone keep the production dry and forceful: drums forward, synths and rhythm guitar interlocked, and a bright, singing lead tone for Schon’s break. It’s a blueprint for ’80s arena rock that still feels immediate on modern speakers.
Lyrically, “Separate Ways” is disarmingly direct. There’s no florid metaphor—just plain speech about the ache that lingers when a couple calls it quits, capped by the pledge “someday love will find you.” Perry’s phrasing is the secret weapon: he leans on long vowels, then snaps consonants like drum hits, turning simple language into an anthem. The backing vocals—stacked and slightly delayed—give the refrain its lift without softening its bite.
On the charts, the single delivered. In the United States it climbed to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 1 on the publication’s Mainstream Rock (then “Top Tracks”) chart, spending multiple weeks among the format’s leaders. It also became a Top-10 hit in Canada and was a staple on rock stations across North America throughout 1983, helping push Frontiers to multi-platinum status.
The video became a story of its own—and a piece of pop-culture lore. Shot on a riverside/wharf set with the band miming “air” instruments (including Cain’s keytar and Schon’s unplugged guitar), it ran in heavy rotation on MTV. Critics later roasted the concept, but the clip’s rough-and-ready bravado only amplified the song’s reach; for millions, those dockside images are inseparable from the synth stab that opens the track.
“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” has proved unusually durable. It anchors Journey compilations and live sets, underscores countless sports montages, and returns to the zeitgeist every few years through films, TV, and remixes. Heard today, it still hits like a first chapter and a final word at once: the sound of a band at full force and a chorus built to outlast the moment that inspired it.
Video
Lyric
Here we stand
Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two
Sleepless nights, losing ground
I’m reachin’ for you, you, you
Feelin’ that it’s gone
Can change your mind
If we can’t go on
To survive the tide, love divides
Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you
One night will remind you
How we touched and went our separate ways
If he ever hurts you
True love won’t desert you
You know I still love you
Though we touched and went our separate ways
Troubled times
Caught between confusion and pain, pain, pain
Distant eyes
Promises we made were in vain, in vain, in vain
If you must go, I wish you love
You’ll never walk alone
Take care, my love
Miss you, love
Someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you
One night will remind you
How we touched and went our separate ways
If he ever hurts you
True love won’t desert you
You know I still love you
Though we touched and went our separate ways
No, someday love will find you
Break those chains that bind you
One night will remind you
If he ever hurts you
True love won’t desert you
You know I still love you
I still love you, girl
I really love you, girl
And if he ever hurts you
True love won’t desert you
No, no