Don't Stop Believin'

Dont stop believing - Journey

Stumbled upon this profile from the Los Angeles Times that's been reprinted on more than a few websites today, by Chris Willman, about (of all things), the Journey classic, "Don't Stop Believin'." Willman begins:

There's an old pop aphorism that goes: "Don't bore us -- get to the chorus." By that yardstick, Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " should be one of the most boring and unsuccessful rock recordings of all time.

Structurally, it's a mess: Surely one would get tossed out of songwriting school for a tune that follows its opening piano riff with a verse, a guitar arpeggio, a second verse, a bridge, a guitar solo, a third verse, a repeat of the bridge, another guitar solo . . . and then, 3 minutes, 20 seconds in, when the song is ready to fade out, one of the most unforgettable choruses in rock.

Despite this, the song has incredible staying power, and is nearly ubiquitous--it shows up on movie/TV soundtracks of all flavors; in sports arenas; karaoke bars; Broadway; many, many youtube covers...

"There is an odd form to the song as well, because it's almost like an A-B-A-B-C pattern," [Jonathan Cain, Journey keyboardist/song co-writer] says, perhaps understating the true nuttiness of the song's structure. "So there's that chorus they hadn't heard before at the end. But we knew we wanted to save it. It's like a wave about to happen -- the anticipation of something happening, a change in your life," Cain said

That sense of tension and eventual anthemic release may have given the song more staying power than a song that gives away all its goods in the first minute.

"Don't Stop Believin' " has become the top-selling digital download of a track not originally released in this century, selling 2,803,000 units since online single sales began to be tracked in 2003, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

2 million downloads...that ain't chump change. The whole story is pretty interesting--oh, but I should've warned you at the beginning of this post, once you start reading about the song, you won't get it out of your head all day. (which is why I didn't warn you, honestly...why should I be the only one?)