Tony Soprano tucked himself into a booth at a New Jersey diner — one of those old-time places with a selection of jukebox tunes right at the table. He considered, briefly, something by Tony Bennett, but then went with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin." And with that, the final, controversial moments of HBO's The Sopranos — one of television's most challenging series — began to unfold.
As the camera cut to Soprano's wife Carmela, Journey frontman Steve Perry sang: "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere."
Back to Tony: "Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere."
From there, nothing much else happened, short of some shady characters giving Tony the stink eye. Then, just as Perry sang "Don't stop...," Boss Soprano looked toward the restaurant's entrance and the screen abruptly went blank — sparking furious debate about what happened next at watercoolers across America the next day.
In fact, it did so even among the members of Journey.
"The point of the song playing," Perry said in published reports this week, "is that you just don't give up; life goes on even if you're the Sopranos. In the midst of his turbulent life and everything, there's always this sense of family and this sense of dreams and hopes for some kind of normalcy -– some kind of don't-give-up, don't-stop-believing feeling. I actually shouted 'All right!' at the end."
An era-defining radio hit — Journey's "Don't Stop Believing", along with the band's other hits "Open Arms" and "Who's Crying Now," once blared from every passing car it seemed. "Don't Stop Believin'" helped move nine million copies of the album Escape in 1981.
It was, and I'm not making this up, also part of a video game. "Don't Stop Believin'" played in the background while you controlled various band members, helping them avoid groupies and evil promoters on the way to the Journey spaceship. Still later, it became a locker room anthem during the Chicago White Sox improbable run to a World Series title a couple of seasons ago.
Article comments
1 - Pico
Probably the next words out of Steve Perry's mouth after "All right!" was "Cha-ching!" ;&)
2 - d alper
As I wrote in a Times reader column last week, the Journey song was integral to the storyline but most watchers(listeners) missed what I thought Chase really wanted to get across. When Tony walked into the Diner, Little Feat's All That You Dream was what we were being exposed to on the soundtrack. That song would probably never take up space on a Diner jukebox(too esoteric). Therefore, I would argue that that song was not being played for the characters in question in the Diner, it was a mis en scene by the writers/director. Yes it home the point that Tony's dream of leading a semi normal life free of the violence and neurosis that plagued him throughout these ten years might be coming to a head. That he can indeed sit in a Diner like the rest of us and enjoy the little things in life(i.e. onion rings)without the prospect of being assassinated at any instant. We the audience were the ones projecting the imminent horrors, not the character Tony Soprano- he seemed more calm and relaxed then we'd ever seen him! As Paul Barrere of Little Feat wrote on the Last Record Album in one of his best loved songs:
"I've been down but not like this before
can't be round this kind of show no more
all that you dream
comes through shining silver lining
and clouds clouds change the scene
rain starts washing all these cautions
right into your life,make you realize
just what is true, what else can you do?
just follow the rule
keep your eye on the road thats ahead of you...
all the good times were ours
in the land of milk and honey
and time, time adds its scars
rainy days they turn to sunny weather
livin' the life livin' the life, lovin' everyone.."
Come to think of it WHAT A POSITIVE note Chase chose to end on- Journey notwithstanding!