Song of the Day 11/4: Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin”
David Chase, creator of “The Sopranos,” has at last cleared up any confusion about the series’ controversial final scene, which aired more than 14 years ago. Though he once sort of admitted that the screen went dark because Tony had been whacked, this was the first time he affirmed that this song playing on the diner’s jukebox was cut short because so was Tony’s life. In a recent interview with Hollywood Reporter he said,
I had no idea it would cause that much of an uproar. … What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me. They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, “God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You’re a criminal after watching this shit for seven years.” That bothered me, yeah.
It’s been almost exactly 40 years since this song was released as the second single from Journey’s most successful LP, “Escape,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and sold more than 10 million copies. The single only reached No. 9 when it was released, but it became even more successful in the digital age after “The Sopranos.” It is still the most-downloaded digital song from the 20th century.
There is, of course, no such place as “south Detroit” — Windsor, Canada, is south of the city. Steve Perry has said, “I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west and it didn’t sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it’s actually Canada.” That doesn’t stop Detroit Red Wings fans from belting out the line when it’s played at home games.
The afterglow from the song’s use in “The Sopranos” was so strong that when the series “Glee” debuted in 2009, “Don’t Stop Believin'” was the featured tune in the pilot episode, and became the best-selling single of the many singles released by the show’s cast; it reached No. 4 on the Hot 100. Sadly, three of the young actors who appear in this video clip have since died.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JseWhrUz9TY
I liked the ending the way it was. If people wanted to think Tony had gotten whacked, fine. I viewed it as meaning that, wherever he went, whatever he did, he would never escape that sense of impending doom–paranoia that came to rest in his stomach. Don’t know why Chase felt the need to spell it out.
I appreciated the ambiguity. Did Tony get whacked? Did the restaurant blow up, taking out the entire family (and the best onion rings in New Jersey)? Did something happen to Meadow as she walked into the restaurant? The fact that we’re still talking about this so many years later is amazing. That’s an amazing accomplishment.
Another fan of the ambiguity here. So many things in life could go either way, like so many things in life. And Chase was able to better keep Tony alive in our memory by not putting a bow on it. If you wanted to think Tony wasn’t whacked (at least then), “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” was the perfect song. It even cut off abruptly on the words ‘don’t stop,” which increased the ambiguity. The song helped make the whole scene tense and also very moving, with the family arriving and all. I thought the same about the finish of “Breaking Bad” playing out to “Baby Blue.” I was already a fan of the Badfinger song, but I had snobbishly dismissed Journey early on. Since “The Sopranos” it plays in my head quite a bit, and in good way.
What’s that river in Egypt again?
Chase spelled it out because a lot of people, as he noted, wanted a clear resolution, and he found that desire repugnant. The whole interview is at the link, and it’s well worth reading regardless of how you feel about the show. He has a lot to say about his life in the parallel Hollywood TV and movie machines.
Reading between the lines of what he actually said, it seems to me he wanted not to leave Tony alive, but to give his death a little more dignity than showing his murder and its aftermath. He was trying to be classy, an impulse guaranteed to go over the heads of a majority of Americans.
I’m willing to believe that in Chase’s mind Tony dies, and that he wanted to spare Tony the indignity of a graphic death scene. in fact, it’s a brilliant idea. But the scene he actually made had the effect of being ambiguous about whether he lives or dies. And I think the ending was the better for it.