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Don't Stop Believin'....Is it really that simple?
by Thom and Brent Meyer

There I was pushing my vintage (read junker) VW Karman Ghia once again. The reason for it's engine failure escapes me, but they were many and varied. I
do know the electrical system was still working because the cassette deck
was providing my inspiration as I struggled to steer and power the car
forward. Struggling as I came to the last turn toward home I was reenergized by one of my favorite songs, just what I needed for that extra umph. The hollow sounds of the cheap speakers played out "Don't Stop, Believin', hold onto that feelin'...". Other than the burn in my calves there was not much of a feeling to hold onto, but the song pumped me up. I guess I focused on the title words, and never really hear what surrounded them. I could sing the song, beginning to end. I could pick it up in the distance no matter what other white noise might try to hide it. The song, and the sound, were in tune to my ears, and the album was becoming a part of my life.

It was not until many years later that I really listened to the song, and it wasn't even my idea. Heck, I had listened to it, and I had heard it, and I had sang along...there was nothing new to be discovered, nothing to be learned. Boy, was I wrong. At the insistence of my younger brother I had a listen, a real, close, and true listen to the song. You see, unbeknownst to me, as I was in my room playing Escape on my stereo I was cultivating another Journey fan just one room away. My younger brother, 10 years my junior, didn't have a stereo, so he had no choice but to listen to what I listened to, albeit through the wall we shared. I was 16, and he was 6, but the following albums would solidify him as a fan as enthusiastic as myself. Respecting his opinion, I listened. Let me recap a few of the lyrics for you.

Just a small town Girl, livin' in a lonely world
She tool the midnight train goin' anywhere

Ok, not too bad. Sounds like a lonely soul looking for a home. She could be lost, she could be almost anything. What she does not seem to be is happy or content. So the song goes on:

Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

This gives us even less to go on. "A city boy", but no mention as to whether his world is lonely or not. Still harmless really, though he is taking a late train to an unknown destination and seemingly without purpose. So the song continues by changing venues from the "Midnight Train" to a "Smoke Room" and presumably unites our "small town girl" and our "city boy".

A singer in a smoky 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

Well, it seems our two potential love interests did not end up in the classiest of places, but they do seem to have found each other. Here is where you might have to read into things a bit more. If they can "share the night" for just a smile, their lives must be pretty hollow. Sure, casual sex can occur, but this seems to imply a little more. She is lonely, they were both headed nowhere, and in an instant they can use each other to try to escape their pain. The redeeming fact is that there was no mention of money so I guess she was not a prostitute and his name not "John".

Next chimes in the happy chorus, and the introduction of the thought that
this is not about just these two people. Rather they are just a
representation of a larger set of similar people, no happier I might add:

Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard
Their shadows searching in the night

Talk about a strong statement about lost souls! "Shadows searching the night"? That is powerful, profound, and scary. I have wanted to do a lot of things in life, but I never recall having my "Shadow search the night" being one of them. But wait there is more, these people are going to get a name, and a purpose:

Streetlights, people, livin' just to find emotion
Hiding, somewhere in the night

Now when I hear "Streetlights, people" I think of three things. One, people walking the streets from intersection to intersection without purpose or direction. Two, I think about the monotony of a street light; red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow, red, green, yellow. Three, I think of a hooker standing on a corner waiting for someone to come along and give them something, anything, just to fill a void (Maybe an emotional one). Bring it all together and you have meandering people walking the streets in a monotonous world Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and on and on and on and on. All without emotion, and all the while searching for it. Now here are some happy folk! The next line, "Hiding somewhere in the night", makes me wonder if they were really hiding or just hoping to be lost and forgotten. In either case, this is not the picture you see on a postcard, but it is life...it is reality for some unfortunate people. Their choice or not, you and I would certainly not want to trade our lives for theirs, nor would we envy their darkness. As the song continues we have the brief
introduction of another character:

Working hard to get my fill,
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin' anything to roll the dice,
Just one more time

If you take these lines literally, they seem to talk of a chronic gambler. When I attempt to interpret them, I find they can be a gambler who is perpetually down on his/her luck, or even possibly a drug addict or alcoholic looking for the next high without regard for price. This could also be a person who feels that the dice hold enough luck and they need that "one more" roll. There is always the feeling when gambling (if losing big or addicted) that if you could just have one more roll it can change everything. It is a very scary thought to be living game to game, or fix to fix, or being in the power of anything that eclipses life and controls you, as this seems to imply. Again, not something we would aspire to have, but something that is very real and surrounds us. That is if we are lucky enough to have it surround us on the periphery and not directly infiltrate our lives or the lives of a loved one. While not a lot of hope has been shown so far in the song, the next few lines seem to paint the picture of
hopelessness a little clearer, possibly saying that these people are simply fulfilling their destiny:

Some will win, some will lose
Some are born to sing the blues
Oh, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Actually here is the first line that gives some hope to this bunch, "Some will win", however, how long will that last? I am assuming that this is to mean that the loneliness, monotony, and/or addictions for at least some of these people is only temporary. Eventually, some of them will find what they are searching for and/or be saved from what plagues them. And, as we knew all along, "some will lose" and never know anything more than they are experiencing now. Sad. To think ones destiny is to merely "sing the blues" is a terrible terrible thought. The only thing to make it worse is to say that their epic goes "on and on and on and on". Take something unhappy and unpleasant and then say that it will go on forever. Isn't that the description of hell?

At this point we have heard all there is to hear. We have been introduced to all the players, and have had a glimpse at their never-ending stories. And we realize that none of it is really positive or good. Next there is a recap of the "Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard" and the "Streetlight people", and then finally comes the mantra:

Don't Stop Believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Streetlight people
Oooooh ooooo ooooo oooooh
Don't Stop Believin'
Hold on
Street light people
Oooooh ooooo ooooo oooooh
Don't Stop Believin'
Hold on to that feelin'
Street light people

Could this be what they are thinking? Don't let go of that dream because that is the only thing sustaining them? Heck, I would think that the notion of a dream would have long passed. However, this is the only part of the song that I drew my inspiration from. "Don't Stop Believin'" is a directive. There is no question as to what to do here, it is simple, just "Don't Stop Believin'". However, we have been through some tough situations. We have been frankly told of their misery, their monotony, how lost they are, and even that some are in the throws of addition. Worse yet, we were told how some are simply fulfilling their destiny, and truly have no hope. Yet, in this midst of all this misery and darkness from almost nowhere comes the directive to keep going, and to have hope. What baffles me is the thought that the directive seems to mandate that they "Hold onto that feelin'". From what I can see, there is no feeling worth holding onto, nothing worth embracing. Unless for those few who "Win", and certainly not for the many who "Lose", that "Feeling" is their misery and they are not to forget it as to make their new found success and happiness that much better. I guess I would rather believe that they are to remember who they were, and that others are there as well and it is the others that should not be forgotten as society might so often do.

Inspirational? Not literally. However, I must say that to this day I still hear the song and it makes me drive a little faster, smile a little bigger, and sing a little louder. I would like to be able to say it is because I find myself in a much happier place than the song seems to live, in that way it could truly be an inspiration. However, I don't think I am that complex. It is simple, the song got me and my ailing Karman Ghia home that day, and many others as well. The song took me through a break up with a for the moment High School Crush, and was still in my mind and heart when I met my now wife. The song is my friend and provided hope and inspiration time and time again, all before I ever even "listened" to it. If you miss Journey and can't wait for Arrival, go back and really listen. There are some old songs out there that you may not have ever really discovered. One might even be your favorite!