Mythology: Don't Stop Believing
By Martin Felipe
September 11, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
As any member of Generation X can tell you, the Journey tune is just the best song ever written; it's not even worth questioning it. As many show runners are realizing this fact (or are of the same generation), it's been popping up on many of our favorite programs in the last few years, not to mention quite a few feature films.
The problem is, I'm afraid it's officially becoming a cliché. You know, one of those songs that pop up in so many movies and shows that the desired effect is muted. Songs like Spirit in the Sky, Bad to the Bone, Who Let the Dogs Out, or pretty much any tune by The Supremes. (I'll give The Hangover credit for using Dogs in a satirical way, playing upon the cliché, but that's another song).
I don't really know what Don't Stop is about, and maybe that's giving me a bit of tolerance regarding its ubiquity. Something about how life is a bitch, but stay hopeful...or the lengths we go to get a little pleasure...or clinging to your dreams despite obstacles...I think. Unlike, say, Bad to the Bone, which can pretty much only be used to indicate general badassery, I would guess that Steve Perry's vague message is part of the reason the song persists in our show biz offerings, and in so many forms.
Of course, the elephant in the room is the final moments of The Sopranos a few years back. Tony pops on the song on the jukebox as he eats onion rings in a diner. Suspicious potential hit men enter and the tension builds. A group of kids come in. Will they get caught in the crossfire? His family enters one by one, and we're on the edge of our seats. Just when we can no longer take the build, with Perry's vocal, "don't stop," we cut to black, never to see a definitive end to Tony's meal. Despite the cries of frustration at the vague denouement to the mobster epic, most every viewer described a feeling of dread as the final moments played out to Journey's opus. So the song is threatening and suspenseful.
Not so fast. In a typical season three episode of Scrubs, JD espouses his love of the band Journey. He and Turk share a line or two - "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world" - before the more famous version kicks in and we're treated to one of Scrubs' signature sentimental/surreal montages, meant to both recall the lyrics and to illustrate this episode's theme. There we go, the song is heartfelt, yet silly.
That's not what Seth McFarlane thinks. Peter and his Family Guy pals mope around at a listless karaoke bar. Listless, that is until Peter starts singing our song in question and gets the party started! His buddies join him, people hold up lighters, and folks all over Quahog drop whatever they're doing - including some pallbearers - to run over and join the Journey celebration. The song has the power to excite, the power to unite, and most importantly, the power to rock.
Well, Glee's Ryan Murphy thinks the song has another power - the power to inspire. Against all odds, just when things seem bleakest for Glee, departing choir director Will Schuester stumbles across his protégées performing a rousing, show tune arrangement of Journey's signature tune, Glee lead singers Lea and Cory are reminiscent of the great musical couples of Hollywood past. Dammit! If these kids have this kind of pluck, there's no way they can fail. Forget retiring, Will's gonna dive in, come hell or high-water, and make this show choir dealie work.
I don't know, given the various moods the song sets, and I by no means touch upon all of them here, maybe there's life left in the old warhorse yet. It's just that I love Don't Stop Believing. Who doesn't? I'd hate to see it rendered trite and get thrown upon the heap of eye-rolling, over-used tunes like Get Ready For This or We Are The Champions. I know, this column doesn't have much to do with TV mythologies this time. Just a plea to save a classic ditty from my youth. Next time, back to the aliens, vampires and superheroes, I promise.