Don't Stop Believin'...Ever

There's been a dim chatter in the media recently about the use of the song "Don't Stop Believin'" as the last thing you'll ever associate with The Sopranos. If I'm not mistaken, the same song was the 'theme' of "Monster", that film I didn't see with Charlize Theron in makeup where she won the Oscar but the person who did her makeup didn't even get nominated. Maybe it was another Journey song they used, I'm not sure.


There was a time years ago, when I'd be riding in a car with someone I didn't know very well and a Journey song would come on the radio and I'd chuckle and say "Journey" in a tone often associated with Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan. Journey was an automatic subject of ridicule, despite the context. And I played along, like a sheep.

These days, I find my confidence in my musical appreciation is much stronger and I'm proud to admit that I like Journey. I'm not sure if it's pure nostalgia or if it's simple pleasure centers in my brain interacting with the irony neurons strengthened during my college years. Perhaps, it's just good music from a bygone era that my heart will no longer allow my mind to ridicule. Whatever it is...it rocks. So don't be surprised if you're in the car with me, you hear that bass line that I taught myself to play a few years back, and you hear me confidently ask "would you mind if I turn this up?".