“Don’t do that. Ugh. F–k.” That’s what David Chase creator, head writer, and executive producer of the HBO hit The Sopranos remembers one crew member saying after he suggested the final episode of the series end with Journey‘s 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” playing.
“I didn’t know Journey was the answer,” recalled Chase in a 2021 interview. “In pre-production [for the final season], there was going to be a song at the end [Tony] was going to play in the jukebox. I was in the scout van with the department heads, and I had never done this before. I said, ‘Listen, I’m going to talk about three songs that I am thinking about for ending the show.’”
At first, one of the songs Chase suggested was Al Green’s “Love and Happiness,” which was an early contender for the series finale. Chase also talked about using Bob Dylan’s “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” somewhere within the final episode.
When Chase recommended the Journey hit, he received the strongest reaction from the crew, of disdain, and knew that was the song. “They went, ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don’t do that! Ugh. F–k,’” remembered Chase. “And I said, ‘Well, that’s it. That’s the one.’ I wasn’t saying that just to throw it in their face. That was kind of my favorite and it got a reaction of some kind. So I can make this song lovable, which it had been.”
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‘Escape’
Written by Journey’s Steve Perry, Neal Schon, and Jonathan Cain, “Don’t Stop Believin’” was released on Journey’s seventh album Escape, and went to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Cain got the idea for the song after his father gave him some words of encouragement, saying “Don’t stop believing,” after the musician lost his record deal with Warner early in his career. “I wrote down ‘Don’t Stop Believing,’ and that was five years before Journey called me to join,” recalled Cain in an interview with American Songwriter in 2021.
He added, “So, I had this in my notebook. And we had finished all these songs and when I went home that night, I saw the title, “Don’t Stop Believin’” and I said, “That’s it.” And so, I immediately jumped on my little Wurlitzer and came up with a chorus. I mean, in about 20 minutes I had it.”
The Final Scene
On June 10, 2007, the last episode of The Sopranos, titled “Made in America,’ aired. In the final scene, which ran nearly five minutes Tony Soprano entered Holsten’s diner in Bloomfield, New Jersey as Little Feat’s “All That You Dream” plays.
Soprano flips through the table jukebox passing Heart‘s “Who Will You Run To” and “Magic Man,” Tony Bennett‘s “I’ve Gotta Be Me” and other songs before playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
As the song starts, Soprano’s wife Carmela and song A.J. join him at the table for dinner as suspicious characters are highlighted looking around and presumably at their table.
The song is cut to “Don’t Stop” and the scene goes black leaving the fate of Soprano and his family in the air.
Photo: HBO/Getty Images
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