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Jacob's Ladder (Huey Lewis and the News song)

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For other songs of the same name, see Jacob's Ladder (disambiguation).

"Jacob's Ladder"
Single by Huey Lewis and the News
from the album Fore!
B-side"The Heart of Rock & Roll" (live)
ReleasedJanuary 1987
GenreRock
Length3:33
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)Bruce Hornsby, John Hornsby
Producer(s)Huey Lewis and the News
Huey Lewis and the News singles chronology
"Hip to Be Square"
(1986) 		"Jacob's Ladder"
(1987) 		"I Know What I Like"
(1987)

"Jacob's Ladder" is a song written by Bruce Hornsby and his brother John Hornsby and recorded by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News. The song spent one week at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1987, becoming the band's third and final number-one hit.

Writing and recording

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Set in Birmingham, Alabama, the song marries the Biblical image of Jacob's Ladder to someone who rejects proselytizing evangelists (first, an obese street preacher, followed by a televangelist claiming to need money or be forced off the airwaves) and is instead struggling to get through life one day at a time:

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, rung by rung, climbing Jacob's ladder.

The song was given by Hornsby[clarification needed] to his friend Lewis and it appeared on the group's 1986 album Fore!. The song was originally meant for an album for Hornsby that Lewis was producing.[1] Hornsby did not like the version his band played but suggested that Lewis play it that way for his upcoming album.[1] It was the third single released from the album, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a week in March 1987.[2]

Critical reception

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Billboard magazine wrote that the song is "insightful" and "wrestles with spiritual issues."[3] Cash Box praised the "soaring chorus" and "powerful arrangement."[4]

Music video

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A music video was filmed of the band performing the song in a live concert shot at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena on December 31, 1986.[citation needed]

Later versions

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Bruce Hornsby later recorded his own rendition of the song for his 1988 album, Scenes from the Southside. It became part of his concert repertoire as well; a live bluegrass-influenced version (very different from the version on Scenes from the Southside) appears on the 2006 album Intersections (1985–2005), which Hornsby performed with his brother John.

Charts

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Question of the Week". Hueylewisandthenews.com. August 25, 2013. Archived from the original on August 31, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Huey Lewis the News Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  3. ^ "Reviews". Billboard. December 27, 1986. p. 81. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. January 17, 1987. p. 9. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0784." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  7. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 8033." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  8. ^ "Huey Lewis and the News – Jacob's Ladder". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  9. ^ "Huey Lewis the News Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  10. ^ "Huey Lewis the News Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Huey Lewis and the News – Jacob's Ladder" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  12. ^ "1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 99, no. 52. December 26, 1987. p. Y-22.
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