THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

350-Journey-Don’t Stop Believin’.

1981-Number 62 single. Through digital downloads it peaked at Number 6 in 2010.

Best Bit-At 0.58. The songs title came from something the bands keyboardist Jonathan Cain’s father frequently told him when he was a struggling musician,’Don’t stop believing or you’re done, dude.’

The first line up of Journey who formed in 1973 and originally called ‘Golden Gate Rhythm Section’ were Neal Schon, (lead guitar) Charles ‘Prairie’ Prince, (drums) Greg Rolie, (keyboards, and lead vocals) Ross Valory, (bass) and George Tickner (guitar.) In total there have been 17 members come and go with Schon being the bands one constant. At the time of writing they remain active with seven current members recording and touring.

Journey’s musical style has also changed drastically over the years, initially they started out playing progressive rock, and jazz-rock, but with pressure from their record label to get them radio play, it meant them leaning more towards ‘Soft Rock,’which brought them their most commercial success between 1978-1987. To date Journey have released 14 studio Albums between 1975-2011. On Billboard they have achieved 18 top 40 singles, with their highest charting being ‘Open Arms,’ which made Number 2 in 1982, while in the UK ‘Don’t Stop Believin” remains their only charting single. With sales in excess of 80 million, Journey are one of the best selling bands of all time.

‘Don’t Stop Believin” was released as the second single from Journey’s seventh studio Album ‘Escape’ from 1981, the song was co-written by Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain, and Neal Schon, who were all members of the band at that time. Perry who sang lead vocals had joined Journey in 1977, and remained with them until 1987, he then returned after the bands hiatus, to take up duties again between 1995-1998. Jonathan Cain who had joined the band in 1980 played guitar, and keyboards, he is also a member of the current line up. The other two musicians who played on the song, and were members of Journey at that time were Ross Valory,who left in 2020, and drummer Steve Smith who had joined in 1978, and also left in 2020.

‘Don’t Stop Believin” can be considered to be a contender for the ultimate slow burner. Although when initially released in the UK in 1982 it only reached Number 62, it has since gone on to sell over one million copies in that country, and worldwide it is currently the best selling digital track for a song that was first released in the 20th Century, with sales in excess of 8 million.

The first resurgence of the song happened in 2003 when it was used in the American movie ‘Monster,’ Although the film was not the greatest success, the Hollywood community saw the emotion the song generated, and from then on it became a regular in several films, and television programmes. In 2009 the song was covered by the cast of the American musical comedy show ‘Glee,’ which when released as a single sold over 1.4 million copies in America, and climbed to Number 5 in the UK, which led to the renewed interest in the original version.

‘Don’t Stop Believin” is a song of hope. In a lonely world where it can be hard to find that right someone, the hope that you can is what makes things bearable. The song also addresses escaping from your past, whatever that maybe, and looking forward to a better tomorrow.

‘Just a small town girl, livin’ in a lonely world, she took the midnight train goin’ anywhere. Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train goin’ anywhere.