Don't Stop Believin'

"Don't Stop Believin'"
Song
B-side	"Natural Thing"

"Don't Stop Believing" is a song by the American rock band Journey. The song debuted on their 1981 album Escape. Today, it is considered the band's signature song.

The song is well-known for its lyrics and its distinctive chorused piano introduction, described by Allmusic as "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock." Many compilation albums carrying the track (including some budget Journey "best of" releases) and several reissues of Escape list the track as "Don't Stop Believin'" although the original title included the "g".

Popularity

The song reached #8 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at #62 on the UK singles chart. In 2006 it was ranked as the 11th greatest song of the 1980s by VH1. It is the most downloaded song from the 20th century in the iTunes Music Store and was the 74th most downloaded song of 2008 in the store, over 27 years after its release.

In popular culture

The song has appeared in a number of film and television series, including The Sopranos, The Wedding Singer, Family Guy, Monster, Shrek The Halls,Bedtime Stories, Yes Dear, The Comebacks, View From the Top, South Park, Cold Case, Laguna Beach, and Scrubs. It was also referenced in the online video game Guild Wars, as players take a journey into the harsh northern parts of the game's fantasy world.

In 2007 the song also gained additional press for its use in the final scene of HBO's The Sopranos from the series finale "Made in America". Steve Perry was initially hesitant in allowing the song to be used in The Sopranos but later agreed. The Sopranos ending was later parodied by The Daily Show, ESPN, WCBS-FM (when that station flipped from Jack FM back to Oldies), Celebrity Apprentice, a campaign video for Hillary Clinton and for the final episode of Tony Martin's Get This radio show.

Due to all this over-whelming popularity, the song was reborn, leading the track to the #1 song on the iTunes charts 26 years after its release. The song also again charted on the Irish singles chart, peaking at number 4.

Sports

In recent years, the song has received a major resurgence in popularity. The first evidence of this came during the 2005 World Series, when the Chicago White Sox adopted it as their unofficial second anthem (along with "Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox"), after catcher A.J. Pierzynski commented how much he loved the song. After the team swept the Series, they invited Journey lead singer Steve Perry to join Chicago's victory celebration, and he participated in a short rendition of the song along with Pierzynski, third baseman Joe Crede and center fielder Aaron Rowand.

Possibly due to the Detroit mention in the song, all professional teams in the Detroit area play it extensively at their stadiums since the first release in 1981. Similar to the White Sox mention above, it was played during every game of the 2006 World Series at Comerica Park, and is also heard during Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Lions, and Detroit Pistons games. The opening stanza refers to "Just a city boy/Born and raised in South Detroit". As Detroiters know, there really is no such place; Detroit has an East Side and a West Side, but north and south are not usually referred to. "South Detroit" is more commonly known to locals as "Downriver".

A further sports association for this song came in early 2008, when "Don't Stop Believing" became a theme for the NHL's Washington Capitals during their late-season playoff push and first post-season appearance since 2003, and the song was heard frequently at the team's games. They won fifteen of their last nineteen games to reach the playoffs after starting the season with a 6-14-1 record. The Capitals hired Bruce Boudreau at that point who turned the Capitals season around and went on to win the Jack Adams Award for best head coach.

In 2008, in a tight battle for first place with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers began to play "Don't Stop Believing" in the middle of the 8th inning at all of their home games.

In 2008 the song has also been adopted by the Waterford Hurling Team, who, after a 45 year drought will again grace the pitch in Croke Park for the All-Ireland Hurling Final, against their arch rivals Kilkenny on the first Sunday in September.

Cover versions

The song was covered by American indie music artist/songwriter Jon Regen in 2006. In 2007 the band Northern Kings covered the song for their album Reborn. Kanye West also covered "Don't Stop Believing" on his Glow In The Dark Tour. In 2008, it was covered by dance artist, George Lamond. It was also covered by Flight 409 on the CD We Don't Dance track eleven. The CD came out on Nov 10, 2007. Finnish melodic death metal band Children Of Bodom are known to occasionally cover the song live. Marnie Stern has a cover version of the song on her MySpace page. Also, an incomplete version of the song appears on political punkers Fifteen's album, Survivor as a bonus track.

The song is one of 11 other greatest hits re-recorded by Journey (with their current vocalist Arnel Pineda) on disc 2 of their 2008 album Revelation.

External links

• Songfacts