Who Knew Journey Was This Popular?

I don't think there's a man, woman, or child under the age of 25 who doesn't know who Journey is, and who can't recite all the lyrics to at least one of their songs. Journey is a really well-known band...or was.

Journey hasn't been musically relevant since before Steve Perry got kicked out of the band. Hell, Raised on Radio is the last record that anyone can name a single off of, and that was 23 years ago. The '90s pushed them into non-existence, and relegated their music to the wasteland of Classic Rock. So, before I start this whole thing, I'll paraphrase Dickens and say, Journey was dead, to begin with; there was no doubt whatsoever about that.

But then a funny thing happened. David Chase decided to stick the song "Don't Stop Believin'" into the series finale of The Sopranos, and suddenly, Journey is the greatest band ever and this song is EVERYWHERE. I'm hearing it on sports shows, in commercials, in bars, in presidential campaigns. It's the most-downloaded song in the iTunes catalog. The previews for Fox's Glee feature a choral version of it. If there's a Journey song on the radio (which now happens more frequently now), nine time out of 10, it's this song. I have heard this song more in the past six months than I've heard it in the previous 28 years.

Let me get this straight: This is a Journey song we're talking about. Neal Schon, Steve Perry, that Journey, right?

Really?!?

It's not even close to the best Journey song. It's not even the best song off Escape. Yet this is the song that has co-eds across the nation singing at the tops of their lungs at their local taverns. Maybe I've just gotten old, but I don't get it. Just when I think I start to understand the world, it does some crazy shit like think a Journey song is good and completely destroys my worldview.

I don't know why I try anymore.