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Rock band Journey have reflected on the moment their biggest song, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, featured in the famous final episode of The Sopranos... and their terror at the prospect of it being used in Glee.
Warning: spoilers ahead for The Sopranos
The Eighties rock anthem memorably plays while Tony Soprano and his family meet at a diner, where he tells his wife Carmela that Carlo, former capo turned FBI informant, will testify against him. His son, AJ, reminds him of his advice to “remember the good times”.
The scene then notoriously cuts abruptly to black after a man that has been watching them gets up to use the bathroom and Tony looks up as the diner door opens. In the years since, it has been widely discussed by TV fans due to the uncertainty surrounding Tony’s fate.
In a new interview, guitarist and songwriter Neal Schon reflected on the song’s success and its use in a number of pivotal scenes in films and TV shows.
When I first heard the finished song I knew it was special, but it took years to get to the place where it’s a worldwide anthem,” he toldThe Guardian.
“Everybody has their own theory about why ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ exploded in the new millennium. First, there was the movie Monster, with Charlize Theron.
“Then came The Sopranos – I remember my phone blowing up and all my friends saying: ‘Man, did you see the final scene?’”
Schon admitted that he was “terrified” when “Don’t Stop Believin’” was later used in the musical dramedy series Glee, going onto become the lead characters’ signature song.
“I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us,” he said.
“Little did I know that it would open up a younger generation to our music. I’m a rocker and a blues guy, and we always joke that if I think something is too schmaltzy, it’s usually gonna be big!”
“Don’t Stop Believin’” received another boost when it featured in the jukebox musical Rock of Ages, which was later turned into a 2012 movie starring Tom Cruise.
South Park character Eric Cartman sings it in the episode “Tsst” after disobeying his nanny; it soundtracks the last scenes of CBS TV series Cold Case, which aired in 2005.
In Monster, Patty Jenkins’ Oscar-winning 2003 film, it was used while Ailenne (Charlize Theron) rollerskates with her girlfriend Selby (Christina Ricci) where they kiss for the first time.
“I think every song has a destiny,” pianist and songwriter Jonathan Cain told The Guardian. “When it was first released in 1981, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’” didn’t get played a ton on the radio, it only made it to Number Nine and then it was gone.
“But it has lasted and lasted. It’s a song that gives you permission to dream. And there are still a lot of smalltown girls and city boys wanting to get on a midnight train going anywhere. Everyone is still looking for that window of hope and opportunity.”
“That’s universal,” he concluded. “That’s never going to change.”
Journey begin their 50th Anniversary Freedom tour at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff on 30 October.
