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

{{For|other songs of the same name|Jacob's Ladder (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Jacob's Ladder

| cover = Jacob's Ladder Single.JPG

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Huey Lewis and the News

| album = Fore!

| B-side = "The Heart of Rock & Roll" (live)

| released = January 1987

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = Rock

| length = 3:33

| label = Chrysalis

| writer = Bruce Hornsby, John Hornsby

| producer = Huey Lewis and the News

| prev_title = Hip to Be Square

| prev_year = 1986

| next_title = I Know What I Like

| next_year = 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

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{{Clarify|date=February 2025|reason=Bruce or John?}} 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.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130831015940/http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038|title=Question of the Week|date=August 25, 2013|archive-date=August 31, 2013|url=http://www.hueylewisandthenews.com/wp/?page_id=1038|website=Hueylewisandthenews.com}} Hornsby did not like the version his band played but suggested that Lewis play it that way for his upcoming album. It was the third single released from the album, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for a week in March 1987.

Critical reception

Billboard magazine wrote that the song is "insightful" and "wrestles with spiritual issues."{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|date=December 27, 1986|accessdate=August 7, 2022|page=81|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiQEAAAAMBAJ&q=reviews|title=Reviews}} Cash Box praised the "soaring chorus" and "powerful arrangement."{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1987/CB-1987-01-17.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=January 17, 1987|accessdate=August 8, 2022|page=9}}

Music video

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|date=November 2020}}

Later versions

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

=Weekly charts=

scope="row"\|Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book\|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992\|last=Kent\|first=David\|author-link=David Kent (historian)\|publisher=Australian Chart Book\|location=St Ives, NSW\|year=1993\|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} \|48
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1987) !Peak position
{{single chart\|Canadatopsingles\|16\|chartid=0784\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}
{{single chart\|Canadaadultcontemporary\|2\|chartid=8033\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}
{{single chart\|New Zealand\|50\|artist=Huey Lewis and the News\|song=Jacob's Ladder\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}
{{single chart\|Billboardhot100\|1\|artist=Huey Lewis the News\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025\|refname="hot100"}}
{{single chart\|Billboardadultcontemporary\|17\|artist=Huey Lewis the News\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}
{{single chart\|Billboardmainstreamrock\|10\|artist=Huey Lewis the News\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}
{{single chart\|West Germany\|65\|artist=Huey Lewis and the News\|song=Jacob's Ladder\|songid=8198\|rowheader=true\|access-date=February 14, 2025}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !Chart (1987) !Position
scope="row"\|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine \|title=1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles \|magazine=Billboard \|volume=99 \|issue=52 \|page=Y-22 \|date=December 26, 1987}} \|41

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

!Chart (1987)

!Position

scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite magazine |title=1987 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles |magazine=Billboard |volume=99 |issue=52 |page=Y-22 |date=December 26, 1987}}

|41