Tear Jerker / Journey (Band)

• "Open Arms", where the singer, having separated from and then gotten back together with his lover, begs them to stay because he never wants to feel that loss again.
• "Separate Ways". If you interpret the lyrics of the song, you can tell that it's sung by someone who has been dumped because his/her partner has found someone new, and yet this someone sings that s/he will always be open to the partner's return, despite the thin chance of that happening. Try listening to it when you've just been dumped yourself, and chances are the waterworks will flow.
• "Send Her My Love" covers a similarly bittersweet ground as "Faithfully" does (lovers separated by the singer's life on the road), but this leans far heavier on the bitter side. Where the latter has a hopeful tone because of how the lovers stay together in spite of the hardships keeping them apart, in this song they've been forced to break it off seemingly for good but neither ever stopped loving the other, driving home the longing and heartache in a very painful way:
  She needed so much more, than I could give
  I knew our love could not pretend,
  Broken hearts can always mend...
• About the song "Only the Young", the first individual outside the band to hear the song was sixteen-year-old Kenny Sykaluk of Rocky River, Ohio, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. His mother wrote a letter to the band telling them about her son's terminal condition, and how big a fan he was of Journey. The band flew to his hospital bedside in Cleveland, Ohio at the request of the Make a Wish Foundation. Along with a Walkman containing the new track, the band also brought Kenny a football helmet signed by the San Francisco 49ers and an autographed Journey platinum record award. The experience of playing the song for Kenny left Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain deeply affected. Perry said, "As soon as I walked out of the hospital room I lost it. Nurses had to take me to a room by myself." On the band's episode of VH1's Behind the Music, Cain broke down in tears recalling the event, remarking that "children should not have to live with that kind of pain". Kenny died the next day, with the Walkman still in his hand. The song brought life into perspective for the band and left them humbled. Neal Schon said that Kenny's death affected Journey by making them re-evaluate the issues that were causing friction inside the band itself. They used the song as their opener for the Raised on Radio Tour in Kenny's honor.
  • This becomes a major Tear Jerker once you find out/know that Jonathan Cain was one of the smallest survivors of the Our Lady of the Angels Catholic school fire, which killed 92 children and 3 nuns who were teachers at the school.