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Don't Stop Believin'

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This article is about the song. For other uses, see Don't Stop Believin' (disambiguation).
"Don't Stop Believin'"
Song

"Don't Stop Believin'" is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape. The song became a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, the UK Singles Chart and the Australian Singles Chart. Allmusic has described the song as "an anthem for the young who wanted to feel free and unrestricted", featuring "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock."[1]

The song enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the late 2000s, first as digital downloads became prominent, then after its use in various television shows. It is the best-selling digital song released in the 20th century.

Popularity

The song reached number eight on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The song was originally released in the United Kingdom in February 1982 and managed to peak only at number 62. However, the song, never re-released in the UK, retained a cult following and re-entered the UK Singles Chart in February 2009 at number 94, due to digital downloads. On December 22, 2009, it reached number 9 in the Christmas chart, and remained in the top 10 well into 2010, hitting a peak of number 6. It has now achieved 62 weeks on the official UK Top 75, making it the 9th longest runner of all time, and 89 weeks on the Top 100.[2]

It topped downloads in the iTunes Music Store amongst songs not released in the 21st century,[3] and was also the 72nd most downloaded song of 2008, and 84th most downloaded song of 2009 in the store, over 27 years after its release. On 31 August 2009 the song had topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads.[4] As of March 2011, the song has sold 4,339,000 digital units in the US, and places just outside of the top twenty best selling digital songs of all time.[5][6]

The song is one of the most popular rock tracks in Ireland and continues to remain in the top ten most downloaded songs.[7]

Chart positions

This song was used in the popular TV show Scrubs, in "Episode 2 of Season 3, which was aired on October 9, 2003". The song was also used in the popular show Family Guy, in the episode Don't Make Me Over.

In 2007, the song gained press coverage 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.[13] The Sopranos ending was later parodied by The Daily Show, ESPN, WCBS-FM (when flipped from Jack FM back to Oldies), Celebrity Apprentice, a campaign video for Hillary Clinton[14][15] and for the final episode of Tony Martin's Get This radio show.

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 2008 album Undeniable.

The song was released as downloadable content for the music video game series Rock Band on March 31, 2009.[16] Unlike the album version which slowly fades to quiet, the Rock Band version ends with "Don't Stop", which is the same way it ended in the final episode of The Sopranos and in the pilot episode of Glee as well as how Journey ends the song live.

A cover of the song was made for the Fox musical-comedy, Glee, which debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It sold 177,000 downloads in its first week and charted higher than Journey's version, which peaked at number nine.[17] Meanwhile in Australia it has reached number 5 and was certified platinum, while its peak position in the United Kingdom was number 2.

The song is also the closing number for the Broadway show Rock of Ages (musical).

In the 2009 movie Bedtime Stories (film), the song appears twice first during the last part of the medieval scene and the end credits. It was also used in advertisements for an earlier Adam Sandler film: 2002's Mr. Deeds.

In sports

The song became a rallying cry for the Chicago White Sox in their successful run to the 2005 playoffs, when catcher A. J. Pierzynski and teammates heard the song being sung in a bar in Baltimore. The song was played at critical points during the stretch run of the pennant race, a season which culminated in the team's first World Series championship in over 80 years. The White Sox invited Journey lead singer Steve Perry to the team's celebration rally, where he sang the song along with several members of the team. 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 Believin'" in the middle of the 8th inning at all of their home games.[18] Subsequently, the song was played at Dodger home games throughout the 2009 season, much to the chagrin of Steve Perry, a self-proclaimed San Francisco Giants fan (the band itself formed in San Francisco).[18] The song is also commonly played at Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals hockey games.[19][20] It is also used at numerous Detroit sporting events.[21]

The song also became the unofficial anthem for the Giants' 2010 postseason, especially after local musician Ashkon created a parody version of the song following their winning the 2010 National League West Division.[22] The song was used during the end montage following the Fox network's coverage of the 2010 World Series, which was won by the Giants. Steve Perry appeared in the Giants' subsequent victory parade,[23] and the song was played at the start of the Giants' victory rally.[24]

Song structure and references

While most popular songs have a refrain that is repeated several times throughout the song, the true chorus to "Don't Stop Believin'" (as well as first mention of its title) is not heard until the end of the song with only 0:50 left. The song's writers designated the musically similar sections before the chorus as the "pre-chorus."[25] The song's structure is:

  1. Introduction (instrumental) (0:00-0:17)
  2. Verse 1 (0:17-0:49)
  3. Instrumental (0:49-1:05)
  4. Verse 2 (half-length) (1:05-1:20)
  5. Pre-Chorus 1 (1:20-1:54)
  6. Instrumental (1:54-2:01)
  7. Verse 3 (2:01-2:33)
  8. Pre-Chorus 2 (2:33-3:05)
  9. Instrumental (Chorus) (3:05-3:21)
  10. Chorus until fade (3:21-4:11)

The song is played in the key of E Major at a tempo of 120bpm. The vocal range is E3-C#5.[26] The opening chords, which are played by the piano in the introduction and continued through most of the song, form a I-V-vi-IV pop-punk progression.[27]

Personnel (Escape)

Personnel (Revelation)

Cover versions

"Don't Stop Believin'"
Song

Petra Haden cover

The 2007 "covers" album Guilt by Association Vol. 1 contains an a cappella version of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Petra Haden (member of That Dog and daughter of jazz bassist Charlie Haden) recorded via multiple vocal overdubs.

Glee cover

"Don't Stop Believin'" was recorded by the cast of American television series, Glee. It is the first single released from the soundtrack of the series, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 and was performed on the first episode of the season, "Pilot".[28] It was covered once again in the episodes "The Rhodes Not Taken" and "Journey". Only the latter was released as a single again, however. A second version was covered by the cast in the season finale episode "Journey" for their Regionals competition and is included in the EP soundtrack, Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals. The Glee arrangement was adapted from Petra Haden's version.[29]

Released as a digital download on June 2, 2009, the song performed well in the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia, where it charted within the top five of their national charts. The cast performance of "Don't Stop Believin'" was certified gold in the US in November 2009, achieving over 500,000 digital sales.[30] and platinum in Australia, with sales of over 70,000.[31]

"Don't Stop Believin'" was put on the BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 playlists in the UK in January 2010.

Critical reception

Aly Semigan of Entertainment Weekly critically praised the song stating "Fox's Glee put the ultimate earworm back in its rightful place." She then continued saying "even if you aren’t one for show choirs (which, is quite frankly, shocking), it’s pretty damn hard to resist." Semigan also compared it to the original version stating "it sounds slightly different in this Freaks and Geeks meets High School Musical pilot, but it's a good kind of different."[32]

"Don't Stop Believin'"
Song

Chart performance

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[33] 5
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[34] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[35] 4
US Pop 100 (Billboard)[36] 18
Chart (2010) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[37] 37
Ireland (IRMA)[38] 4
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[39] 91
UK Singles (OCC)[40] 2
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[41] 68
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS 50
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 74

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
European Hot 100 Singles [43] 82
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[44] 22

Personnel

From the album Glee: The Music, Volume 1:

From the EP Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals:

Big Brother 2010

The housemates of Big Brother 2010 recorded a version of the song, coached by Andrew Stone of Pineapple Dance Studios, in July 2010.[45] Stone also choreographed and shot a video of the performance. According to Digital Spy, the video "almost out-Glees Glee"[46] Steve and Rachel sang the lead vocals.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs version

A movie version of the song, performed by the movie cast. Flint Lockwood and Sam Sparks provide the vocals for the track. The song was performed in the movie in the 'Rehearsals' scene. At the end of the movie, the show began.

References

  1. ^ allmusic
  2. ^ chartstats.com
  3. ^ Journey's Timeless Power Ballad "Don't Stop Believin'" Becomes First Catalog Track Ever to Reach 2 Million Mark in Digital Sales
  4. ^ Week Ending Aug. 23, 2009: Over 50 And Still On Top
  5. ^ Grein, Paul (2010-09-22). "Week Ending Sept. 19, 2010: "It Goes On And On And On And On"". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  6. ^ "Week Ending March 6, 2011: Songs: Rated PG". Yahoo! Chart Watch. 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  7. ^ The song was used by Waterford people to support the Waterford hurling team in a bid to win the All Ireland title in 2008.iTunes 2008: Top Overall Songs
  8. ^ "Journey - Don't Stop Believing", swedishcharts.com 1 October 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  9. ^ "Charts Plus Year end 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  10. ^ http://www.billboard.com/charts-year-end/european-hot-100-singles?year=2010#/charts-year-end/european-hot-100-singles?year=2010&begin=61&order=position
  11. ^ "2010 Year-end UK Singles". BBC (BBC Online). 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/downloads
  13. ^ Journey Rocker Kept Sopranos Boss Waiting
  14. ^ Video Hillary Clinton reprend les Sopranos - Hillary, Clinton, Sopranos - Dailymotion Share Your Videos
  15. ^ Audiofile: Music Blog, Music Articles - Salon.com
  16. ^ Rock Band Gets 'Don't Stop Believin' as DLC
  17. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/idols-inundate-hot100-but-glee-gloats-with-1003977092.story
  18. ^ a b Henry Schulman (2009-09-15). "Perry's 8th-inning Journey". SFGate.com. Heart Communications. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  19. ^ Jeff Z. Klein (2009-06-01). "At the Joe, Detroiters Sing "Don't Stop Believin'"". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Rick Paulas (2009-09-01). "A smell of wine and cheap perfume". ESPN. Retrieved 2010-01-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Chris Willman (2009-06-29). "Don't Stop Believin as pop-cultural touchstone". latimes.com. Tribune Company. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
  22. ^ Joe Eskenazi (2010-10-11). "'Don't Stop Believing' Finally Giants' Anthem". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20101103/NEWS/101109836/1334/
  24. ^ http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2010/11/03/live-blog-of-the-san-francisco-giants-victory-parade/
  25. ^ http://mixonline.com/recording/mixing/audio_journeys_dont_stop/
  26. ^ "Journey: Don't Stop Believin' Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. © Copyright 11981 Weed High Nightmare Music)/Lacey Boulevard Music, USA.
  27. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (17 December 2010), "Don't Stop Believin': the power ballad that refused to die", The Guardian, p. 3 (Film & music), retrieved 19 February 2011
  28. ^ "Episode Recaps: Glee - Pilot". 20th Century Fox. fox.com. Retrieved 2009-10-01. [dead link]
  29. ^ "Glee Cast Glee: The Music, Volume 1 Review". BBC. 11 Feb 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  30. ^ Serjeant, Jill (November 9, 2009). ""Glee" brings joy to beleaguered music industry". Reuters. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  31. ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. June 30, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2010.
  32. ^ Semigan, Aly (May 21, 2009). "'Glee' propels Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" to go on and on and on and on". Entertainment Weekly. music-mix.ew.com. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  33. ^ "Glee Cast – Don't Stop Believin'". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  34. ^ "Glee Cast – Don't Stop Believin'". Top 40 Singles.
  35. ^ "Glee Cast Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  36. ^ "Glee > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  37. ^ "Glee Cast Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  38. ^ "Chart Track: Week 2, 2010". Irish Singles Chart.
  39. ^ "Glee Cast – Don't Stop Believin'" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  40. ^ "Glee Cast: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  41. ^ "Glee Cast – Don't Stop Believin'" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  42. ^ "Glee Cast – Don't Stop Believin'". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  43. ^ http://www.billboard.com/charts-year-end/european-hot-100-singles?year=2010#/charts-year-end/european-hot-100-singles?year=2010
  44. ^ "2010 Year-end UK Singles". BBC (BBC Online). 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2010-12-26.
  45. ^ Tom Eames (July 21, 2010). "Stone teaches 'Don't Stop Believin". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  46. ^ Alex Fletcher (July 23, 2010). "Video: BB11 'Don't Stop Believing'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
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