"America and Europe also saw Heading For The Light sink without a trace as a single." "In Headed For The Light, [sic] the [Volume One] LP takes a welcome turn toward spiritual strength." "A song which would have fit comfortably onto Cloud Nine, the effervescent Heading For The Light was penned by George and Jeff. Another contender for single release, it did become available in that format as a 12-inch and CD single in Germany, where it was backed by Rattled and Last Night. All tracks were the standard LP versions." "20 February [1989]: The Traveling Wilburys single End Of The Line c/w Congratulations is released in America. [...] End Of The Line c/w Congratulations by the Traveling Wilburys was issued in Britain on Wilbury W 7637 on 20 February 1989 and in America on Wilbury 7-27637 on 23 January 1989. [...] End Of The Line was issued in February 1989 with an extended mix of End Of The Line, plus Congratulations." "George Harrison produced his most uplifting account of his spiritual search with this upbeat rocker, similar in construction to All Those Years Ago but far better. On Cloud Nine he had matured sufficiently to mask his meditative musings with lyrical ambiguity. Heading for the Light, on the other hand, is quite explicit in its meaning, but so spirited that most listeners wouldn't have cared. Surrounded by riffing guitars, Jim Horn's rock 'n' roll sax, and an ethereal Orbison backup vocal, Harrison recounts his travails as a star, ennui of fame and fortune ('nothing more than time on my hands'), and the ups and downs of his career ('my hands were tied, jokers and fools on either side'). As he had cautioned himself years before on The Lord Loves the One, transformation can only come from within. That is why on Heading for the Light he sings of the world remaining the same as he gets back on the road to enlightenment. The message was constant; it was only the medium that had changed. Still, this would have been a worthy Cloud Nine track. All the Wilburys' songs were credited to 'the group,' but this song [Heading For the Light] was actually written by Harrison and Lynne. [...] But unlike on the first album, there's no Heading for the Light or Handle with Care, no obvious Harrisongs [on Vol. 3]. [...] Both Harrison and Dylan benefited from the looser images the venture fabricated and, from a songwriting stance, Heading for the Light and New Blue Moon were welcome additions to the Harrison canon." "On the more serious side of things, George Harrison and Tom Petty each turn in one of the best songs of their careers with Heading for the Light and End of the Line respectively" "Heading for the Light is an upbeat number which bears testimony to the vocal harmonies of the Beatles in their early career." "Heading For The Light and End Of The Line were mainly the work of George." "...the cosmic yearning of George Harrison (Heading For The Light)..." "Heading For The Light is a spiritual quest that is vintage Harrison." "Harrisons songs Hndle with Care, Heading for the Light, and End of the Line dont fit quite as well in the concept, but theyre the best and catchiest tracks on the album, radiating the joy of a man back in a band for the first time in 17 years."Traveling Wilburys - Heading For The Light [Album Version] Details
"Next comes Heading For The Light, evidently by George and Jeff, with a tempo similar to George's 1981 hit All Those Years Ago, brought to a climax with more excellent sax playing."
John Van Der Kiste (Early 1989 - Face The Music fanzine #5)
Andrew Whiteside (1989 - Face The Music fanzine #6)
Editor's Note: This implies that there was some sort of American release of this song as a single (stock or promo), but that is not true. At best, it was a #7 hit on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Ellis Amburn (1990 Dark Star: The Roy Orbison Story)
Chip Madinger and Mark Easter (October 2000 - Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Beatles Compendium)
Bill Harry (2003 - The George Harrison Encyclopedia)
Simon Leng (April 1, 2006 - While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison)
Philip J. Reed (June 19, 2007 - noisetosignal.org)
Brendan Keane (June 28, 2007 - Wexford Echo)
John Van der Kiste (August 2015 - Jeff Lynne: Electric Light Orchestra - Before and After)
Jim Beviglia (October 18, 2015 - American Songwriter)
Martin Chilton (October 17, 2018 - uDiscoverMusic.com website)
Trevor J. Levin (October 28, 2018 - The Harvard Crimson)