Story Behind the Song: 'Don't Stop Believin' '

Dave Paulson | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Story Behind the Song: 'Don't Stop Believin'' Story Behind the Song: 'Don't Stop Believin''

The words "Don't Stop Believin' " have served Jonathan Cain well in his lifetime. First, they were the words of encouragement he heard from his father, when the younger Cain wasn't sure he'd make it as a musician in Hollywood.

Later, when he joined the ranks of Journey, it became the title and refrain of "Don't Stop Believin'." Released in 1981, it wasn't the band's biggest hit at first, but it's gone on to become its signature, and one of the most popular rock songs of all time.

Cain told the story behind the song to Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International.

BH: "Don't Stop Believin'." One of the greatest songs ever written. I'd love to make the case for that. ... I can tell you this: It's the most contagious song ever written because you can be in the worst mood ever — in a place (where) you don't want anybody to talk to. And that (song) comes on, and you just start moving with it.

JC: It’s got a groove to it, it does. It's got something. And it was all based on some advice my father had given me back when I was struggling in Hollywood. My dog got hit by a car and I had to put her back together. And it was a $900 vet bill, and I’m barely making my rent. I call my dad up and said, "I need a loan. ... Am I just dreaming? Should I just come back to Chicago?"

He said, "I’ll give you the loan, you gotta stay put." ... And he said, “Son, don’t stop believin'.”

I was like, "That’s beautiful, Dad." I had my little lyric book, and I’m doodling "Don’t stop believin'."

BH: But it's a while before you write it.

JC: Mm-hmm. This is in the '70s. ... I took my lyric books with me and my spirals with me all up to San Fran and (had them) when (Journey) asked me to join ...

BH: Journey asked you to join?

JC: We're going to start on this album called “Escape.” I had played hardly a note with them. We jammed some in the clubs, and then I'm asked to make this record. ... (Steve) Perry looks at me and says the producer wants one more tune.

And I’m like, "Well, we already gave him 17." And he goes, "I don’t care, we need one more. What do you got? Go home and see what you got. I know you've got something."

Pressure's on. I go home, and there's my little Wurlitzer piano sitting there, the same one I wrote “Open Arms” and all this stuff on. I go in my book and I see it, "Don’t Stop Believin'."

BH: Did you know right then?

JC: I said, “Steve Perry will sing this. Now, John you've got to write some kind of chorus where he can soar."

... All I had was “Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feeling.”

I went (back to the band) with those two lines. That’s it. And the chords! Perry said, "Man, those chords are great.' ... He just had an engineer's (mindset). ... This was a much different situation than (writing) "Faithfully." This was an improv by all. ... We still haven’t played a chorus yet. And I kept looking at Steve: "Chorus now?" And he goes, "Oh no." So we haven’t sung it yet. And this was all Steve leading the thing, being Steve. Because he’s just so musical! I mean because he played bass and drums, and he understood. He was like a real mechanic, understood how all the parts fit. ... So here he is yodeling this stuff. And all we got is this yodel and this great track.

I take it home on my cassette. I go to his house the next day, the very next day, in his little flat, and then we got to write the lyrics. I always listened to what he scatted for clues. ... I said, "Well, it sounds like (he sang) 'lonely world.' That (word) sounds like 'anywhere.' "

I said, "What if it's like 'Jack and Diane,' you know? Kind of, "Just a small-town girl." He goes, "Livin’ in a lonely world."

Now we're in the movie, and the movie goes on and on and on. I said, "I'll tell you where the location is. This sounds like Sunset Boulevard in the '70s, where I lived, and it sounds like Friday night." I was explaining to them how everybody would cruise up and down the boulevard. I mean, the hustlers, the dreamers, the producers, the actors, the actresses, the wannabe starlets, the wannabe anybodies were all on Sunset, cruising, driving, looking for their hookup, their something.

(After we recorded the instruments,) I called Steve and said, "We did it. It’s killer. You’re going to love this track." So he came in the next week to lay down the vocal in, I think, two takes. I’m serious. Two takes. Three takes at the most. And then I said, "Man, I’m hearing all of these background (vocals)." So we went out and we did all the background parts, and the whole band is singing in one mic. Then Mike Stone mixes the heck out of it. ... And when we heard that (finished) record, me and Perry, we lost our mind.

BH: Still one of the great ones.

About the series

In partnership with Nashville Songwriters Association International, each week we interview a songwriter about his or her work.