and Words
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
A singer in a smokey room
The smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on, and on, and on
Lyric excerpts from AZLyrics.
On Florida afternoon a group of us sit at the local Burger King. It sits barely a mile from my house, but I rarely go there. On this particular day a friend drives us there; he too is Chinese. Most days we eat our typical Chinese fare, which nearly always includes rice. We celebrate anything that deviates from that norm, even if it’s standard fast food. First, we order our food and patiently wait. We eventually settle into a sculpted booth that overlooks the surrounding windows. We watch the traffic as it zooms past State Road 7 as we talk about something that I can’t hope to remember.
This might’ve been just another moment where friends sit down to a quick meal, virtually indistinguishable from many other meals since. However, this particular afternoon is forever burned into my memory. “Don’t Stop Believin'” starts to play. Like anyone our age, we recognize the song immediately; it gets constant airplay on the radio and MTV. We then stop our conversation to listen to the music; we smile as the song continues. Eventually, we break out in song. I distinctly remember our voices singing “Pay anything to roll the dice just one more time” in synchronicity.
In a sheer moment of spontaneity, a collection of Chinese youth sing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” in a booth in Burger King. We were simply caught in a joyful moment of song, and for once we didn’t care about what anyone else thought. I never would’ve imagined that this little song would have such longevity and that it would follow me as it has. If there was a soundtrack to my life, it would definitely be on it.
And in just over four minutes, the moment was over, though it’s one that lingers even decades later.
As the years go by, this song has been a standard in nearly every playlist. As the songs play randomly, the moment I hear those first piano notes by Jonathan Cain, it always elicits a smile. I may be driving, riding the bus, or working in my office; it doesn’t matter. And if the situation permits, I may even sing a little or at very least mouth the words as I listen. Neal Schon’s, to borrow a term, incendiary guitar and Steve Perry’s vocals lend such a distinctive feel to this song that is unparalleled.
Still there are, for me, there are those moments where I need inspiration. Music fills that void more effectively than just about anything else. There are naturally other tunes, but few words will inspire as much as Steve Perry’s voice urging me to don’t stop believing and hold on to that feeling. It is simply that song when you just need pure inspiration. More than once, it has carried me through difficult times of self-doubt.
Though as I listen to the words, I can’t help but to notice… Is there more to this than sheer optimism and inspiration? Is there a darker subtext to this story? It first starts by simply telling a story between a small-town girl and a city boy, each looking to escape. The song proceeds to describe the seedy setting ‘a singer in a smokey room’ and ‘the smell of wine and cheap perfume’. Finally, it simply alludes to their fate, ‘for a smile they can share the night’.
Apart from this young couple, there are flashes of other dark elements. From “strangers waiting… their shadows searching in the night” to “streetlights people, living just to find emotion… hiding somewhere in the night”. The story it tells is filled with more fleeting moments of imperfection than any triumphant ones. Does it work? Or is it perhaps the principle of maintaining the optimism and inspiration despite those imperfect moments.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, my tastes in music fall into imperfect circumstances with a twinge of optimism; it’s about hope. This song may be the epitome of that. It is the anthem of hope and perseverance.
Though in the back of my mind, I can’t help but to wonder what happened to that small-town girl and city boy after that fateful night. In some ways, this song is reminiscent of the movie Before Sunrise. A young couple meets on a train and spend a day in Vienna. It’s nearly a perfect match down to the references to the train, wine, smokey room. Similarly, as the movie ends you don’t know their fate.
Finally, one last observation. The signature verse from the song from the title does not appear until the end of the song. It’s not until the final minute of the four-minute song before you hear the words don’t stop believin’. I wouldn’t have believed it (no pun intended) until I listened to it with the lyrics on while writing this post. That’s fascinating.
I’m sure that this song has become a cultural reference to many people. I weep that for many, they’ll simply remember it as the song playing on the final scene of The Sopranos, leading to an intentionally cryptic ending. This classic song tainted by the projection of what happens next. Or worse, that it’ll simply be one of those songs they covered in Glee… detached from Steve Perry’s amazing vocals. There’s something that saddens me about both of those.
Decades after that singing incident at Burger King, I’m in my new job at Pokémon and we’re doing a morale event; it is a Zoom karaoke event; I simply cannot make this up. Honestly, I was skeptical that it worked as well as it did. I had never done karaoke, and filled with apprehension, I do not volunteer to sing. Different teammates partake, including my boss who tackles Abba’s Dancing Queen.
We collectively finished by doing a group sing to… Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. It remains, to this day, the only song I’ve ever sung to in karaoke. And just like that, I have yet another moment with this song.