EXCLUSIVE: 'Glee's First 'Don't Stop Believin' Almost Looked Completely Different! EXCLUSIVE: 'Glee's First 'Don't Stop Believin' Almost Looked Completely Different! by Leanne Aguilera 4:55 PM PDT, March 17, 2015 Photo: FOX Whether you're a diehard Gleek or just a casual YouTube surfer, chances are you've seen Glee's rendition of Journey's "Don’t Stop Believin'" at least a dozen times. The hit Fox series, which will take their final musical bow this Friday, has covered the classic 80's anthem four separate times, but the performance in the Glee pilot will go down in TV history as the show's signature moment. The funny thing is, that iconic scene was almost completely different! "The very first dance number of 'Don't Stop Believin' looks like the most simple [costumes], but that was an absolute example where we had another whole [plan] in mind," Lou Eyrich, Glee's head costume designer for the first three seasons, revealed to ETonline.

"The night before we were going to shoot it, Ryan [Murphy] called me and he said, 'I think we need to tear it down and make it really simple and show that they're coming from nothing, so that we have an arc.'" WATCH: Get Ready for Flashback Fun in the Glee Series Finale! Photo: FOX So what were the New Directions' original six supposed to be wearing in their big pilot finale? "They were just more show choir," Eyrich revealed. "It was more put together -- kind of like matchy-matchy colors -- and it would've looked too polished for this group that was just starting out." The costume designer, who has recently been lending her talents to the freaky fashion of American Horror Story, said that she and her assistant were left frantically running around Los Angeles trying to create the red-shirt ensemble. "We literally were at Urban Outfitters, American Apparel – where ever we could find red that would show each person's character," she said. "We were cutting, and ripping, and fitting and sewing, and it went on camera the next day." Eyrich continued, "It doesn’t look like much.

It looks like, 'Oh they're just wearing t-shirts' but the process that went into it was frantic." NEWS: 18 Glee Cast Secrets to Know Before the Series Finale! Photo: FOX Eyric said that discovering each student's distinctive style was a challenge that both she and Murphy were excited to take on. "Coming up with those characters was hard because we didn’t want them to be too on the nose," she explained. "We wanted them to be likable, but still be a misfit. It was difficult coming up with that formula in the beginning." Despite the long hours and eleventh hour changes, Eyrich considers her time working on the Glee pilot to be one-of-a-kind experience. "Ryan always has a very strong idea of what he wants and the pilot was one of the most magical things that I have ever worked on in my career," she gushed. "On the page, I thought it was going to be another high school show. We had done Popular and I just thought, 'Oh this is going to be another one of those geek versus the popular girls shows,'" Eyrich said.

"And then when we started shooting it, the young actors and their enthusiasm and Ryan's vision -- it was just one of those things that you'll never get again. It was special." Glee's two-hour series finale airs Friday at 8 p.m. on Fox. Are you glad the Glee cast wore those red t-shirts? What are you going to miss most about Glee? Share your thoughts to @LeanneAguilera on Twitter using #ETnow. RELATED SLIDESHOW Glee Cast — Listen for free on Spotify Glee Cast Play on Spotify When Glee aired its first episode in May 2009, the TV show only attracted a fraction of the viewers who tuned in for American Idol, which was shown on the same channel just one hour prior. The numbers looked bleak, but Billboard's music charts told a different story the following week, when the Glee version of Journey 's "Don't Stop Believing" became a Top Five hit. Performed during the pilot by the castmates themselves, the song eventually sold over 700,000 downloads and paved the way for Glee's success -- not only as a television show, but also as a chart-topping recording entity.

Columbia Records became Glee's official music partner that spring, and the show continued churning out hit singles when it returned in September for the full run of its first season. Of course, it didn't hurt that many of the actors had already cut their teeth on Broadway, including Lea Michele (the star of Spring Awakening) and Matthew Morrison (the original Link Larkin in Hairspray). Such experience helped boost the musical performances on the show, and Columbia began gathering some of Glee's best moments for a series of albums, beginning with Glee: The Music, Vol. 1 in November 2009. That album cracked the Top Five during its first week of release, paving the way for the arrival of Vol. 2 in December. Both records went gold; by the following year, Vol. 1 had climbed up to platinum status. Glee took a quick break at the end of 2009, with more episodes planned for the spring. The show returned in April 2010, its arrival punctuated by the release of a new soundtrack, The Power of Madonna.

Featuring seven songs originally recorded by the Material Girl , the EP also introduced the newest member of Glee's cast, Jonathan Groff, who had previously performed alongside Lea Michele in Spring Awakening. It debuted at number one -- the first of Glee's releases to do so -- and was followed two weeks later by another album, Showstoppers, which also topped the charts. The show wrapped up its first season that summer, but not before releasing one final EP, Journey to Regionals, which marked the final appearance for Groff. Several months later, Glee returned with a new season and a new round of releases, including a Halloween-themed EP (The Rocky Horror Glee Show), a holiday record (The Christmas Album), and the full-length Vol. 4. Along with newcomer Chord Overstreet , the albums also featured Darren Criss , who joined the show mid-season and helped Glee earn another Top Ten hit with "Teenage Dream," as well as guest star Gwyneth Paltrow . By Thanksgiving, the cast had racked up more than 90 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the Beatles ' previous record for the most hit songs by a non-solo act.

Glee took home three Golden Globes in early 2011 and began turning over a new leaf with the spring release of Vol. 5, which featured the show's first pair of original songs (including the Top Ten hit "Loser Like Me"). More changes arrived with the release of The Warblers, a short album that focused exclusively on Darren Criss and his all-male choir at the fictional Dalton Academy. Glee's second season wrapped up in May 2011, one day after Vol. 6's release. A spinoff TV show, The Glee Project, immediately hit the air, followed two months later by the franchise's first movie, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. The film documented the North American half of Glee's 2011 tour, combining behind-the-scenes footage with live performances. Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album, Vol. 2 was released that November, a couple of months after the show's third season premiered. Just a few weeks later, Vol. 7 of Glee: The Music arrived, featuring music from the first part of the third season.

Mid-2012 saw the release of Glee: The Music - The Graduation Album, which commemorated the senior year of many of the show's favorite characters. The cast rounded out the year by releasing the first set of songs from the show's fourth season and a third volume of Christmas music. The July 2013 death of cast member Cory Monteith cast a pall on the beginning of the show's fifth season, but it returned that September with a tribute to the Fab Four that was released as Glee: Sings the Beatles. During the fifth season, Glee began releasing EPs of songs from each episode, including that October's Quarterback, which featured some of the Monteith tribute episode's most heartfelt musical moments, including Rent's "Seasons of Love," the Pretenders ' "I'll Stand by You," and Bruce Springsteen 's "No Surrender." Another Christmas album, a compilation commemorating the series' 100th episode and several EPs (including City of Angels, Tested, and Movin' Out) were among the other collections of featured music from the fifth season.

Glee's sixth and final season began in January 2015, and along with it came more EPs, including We Built This Glee Club and the collection of music from the series finale Dreams Come True. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi Read More Show less Glee Does Don't Stop Believin' With Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison and More?Hear It Now! | E! News Adam Rose/FOX It's Glee's signature song! Since 2009's one-of-a-kind pilot, the entire cast of the musical hit series have sung Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" a grand total of three times in five seasons. (A quick refresher: The pilot, the first Regionals competition and the "Funny Girl" audition.) And now, in celebration of Glee's two-part 100th episode, Rachel ( Lea Michele ), Kurt ( Chris Colfer ), and the rest of the characters that we have come to know and love, will once again take the auditorium stage to sing their anthem of strength and optimism.

Since we love Glee just as much as you do, we're bringing you an exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday night's grand finale that will serve as the series' catalyst into a solely New York-centric storyline. MORE: Catch up on last week's episode of Glee! With the future of the glee club still looking bleak, Will ( Matthew Morrison ), the WMHS alumni and the current New Directions will continue to band together in Tuesday's 101st episode in an attempt to save McKinley's music. In addition to "Don't Stop Believin'" Tuesday's episode, "New Directions," will also feature "I Am Changing" from Dreamgirls, Glee's original hit, "Loser Like Me," and many more. Glee: The Music, Celebrating 100 Episodes will be an album accompanying the music from ep 100 and this episode, as a celebration of the show's special milestone. The album will be released March 25, 2014. Glee airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox. Brazil E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our US edition? E!

Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Canadian edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our UK edition? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our Australian edition? E! ist überall Dieser Inhalt ist für internationale Besucher verfügbar. Möchtest du ihn in der deutschen Version anschauen? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our German edition? E! est partout Une version adaptée de ce contenu est disponible pour notre public international. Souhaitez-vous voir ça dans notre édition française ? E! Is Everywhere This content is available customized for our international audience. Would you like to view this in our French edition? Yes!

GLEE Cast's Rendition of Journey's Don't Stop Believin' Goes Gold GLEE Cast's Rendition of Journey's Don't Stop Believin' Goes Gold Tweet Share In yet another sign that Glee has gone from smash comedy hit to cultural phenomenon, the cast's rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" has just been certified Gold for digital sales in excess of 500,000 downloads, and to date, over two million Glee songs have been purchased online. Seven songs from Glee now occupy spots in the top 200 of iTunes' Top Songs chart and Newsweek recently observed that the FOX series' "rabid online fanbase has given the show's music a life of its own." It's this fervor for the music that prompted the New York Times to say "from Cabaret' to Kanye, Songs of Glee' are a hit" and the Los Angeles Times to add "this comedy has become music to our ears." On Tuesday, November 3, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 hits stores. This highly anticipated debut soundtrack will feature 17 songs heard in Glee's first season (see below for full track listing).

Glee has set itself apart as one of the few scripted television shows to feature music so prominently and successfully. Entertainment Weekly recently stated that Glee was able to accomplish this "by making music so catchy and addictive, it's taken on a life and revenue stream of its own." They also went on to proclaim "the snarky, theatrical series is a cult phenomenon on its way to becoming a national obsession." The full track listing for "Glee: The Music, Volume 1" is as follows: 1. "Don't Stop Believin'" 2. "Can't Fight This Feeling" 3. "Gold Digger" 16. "Dancing with Myself" 17. "Defying Gravity" One of the most respected and successful record labels in the world, Columbia Records is home to established superstars and exciting new talent. Columbia Records is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment is a global recorded music company with a roster of current artists that includes a broad array of both local artists and international superstars. The company boasts a vast catalog that comprises some of the most important recordings in history. Sony Music Entertainment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

Twentieth Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp., is a leading supplier of entertainment content domestically and around the world. Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) is a unit of News Corporation and the leading broadcast television network among Adults 18-49. FOX finished the 2008-2009 season at No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year a feat that hasn't been achieved since the mid-1990s while continuing to dominate all network competition in the more targeted Adults 18-34 and Teen demographics. Don't Stop Believin': The Unofficial Guide to Glee: Erin Balser, Suzanne Gardner: Amazon.com: Books Editorial Reviews Review "The ultimate resource for truly dedicated fans. The authors' unabashed enthusiasm and total immersion in the 'huge, complicated and fascinating world' of Glee is apparent throughout this highly readable companion volume. . . . The authors present a treasure trove of facts and trivia, while keeping the tone accessible and chatty.

Gleeks will want this volume by their side as they watchor re-watchepisodes and delight in each and every detail of the show." School Library Journal "Glee, the TV phenom of the moment, is explained but not overly analyzed in this lightweight unofficial guide to people and events at McKinley High School's singing club. Coauthors Erin Balser and Suzanne Gardner’s focus is on storylines and main characters with some the best and wittiest lines noted." Globe and Mail Journey Journey With new singer and new popularity, Journey still believin' after 35 years by John J. Moser - Of The Morning Call August 30, 2011 It's no small feat that classic rock band Journey has one of the top-selling iTunes song of all time in "Don't Stop Believin'" considering the song was released 20 years before the music program debuted. Or that "Don't Stop Believin'" hit the Top 10 again in 2009 charting higher than when originally released when the cast of the television show "Glee" released a new version that also went platinum.

But the real measure of lasting appeal of the band best known for its 1970s and '80s ballad rock may be the fact that, more than 35 years after first hitting the charts and with a new singer, its new albums are still charting. Its 2008 disc "Revelation" hit No. 5 and went platinum, and its latest disc, "Eclipse," released in May, went to No. 13. There's no question the band's popularity was helped by the use of "Don't Stop Believin'" at the very end of the final episode of "The Sopranos," the hugely popular HBO mob drama that came to an end in 2007. Other Journey songs have been used on "Glee." But Journey drummer Deen Castronovo says in a recent telephone call that the reasons go much deeper. He says the band has "two of the greatest songwriters of my generation" in guitarist Neal Schon, an original member of the band, and 31-year rhythm guitarist Jonathan Cain. Indeed, Schon and Cain, along with former lead singer Steve Perry, composed all Journey's biggest songs.

The band has 17 Top 40 hits, including "Wheel in the Sky," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Any Way You Want It," "Open Arms," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Faithfully," as well as "Don't Stop Believin'." But Castronovo also cites the 2007 addition of singer Arnel Pineda, a Filipino singer-songwriter who had limited success in his native country before Journey guitarist and songwriter Schon discovered him singing the band's songs on YouTube videos. Castronovo says Pineda not only is able to sing the distinctive parts of Perry, who in 1998 split with the band after 20 years, but also let Journey "move in a lot more different directions as a band," including the harder rock approach it took with "Eclipse." "A lot of people said, 'OK, you have big shoes to fill,' " Castronovo says. "Yeah, he did that, but also he has his own shoes. He's got his own style â¦ He can do many, many genres, many styles of music.

"We don't have to rest on our laurels. We don't have to look back and say, 'OK, we need to stay with this formula and do this certain thing.' We still got a lot of life in us." After Journey tapped its traditional sound for Pineda's first album with the band on "Revelation," Castronovo says Schon decided the band should do more of a rock record for "Eclipse." "We've always had the ballads, we've always had these poppy songs," he says. "So we thought it would be fun to just go in and do a nice, hard-rock record like we haven't done in a long time." He says the band went into the studio with 20 to 30 songs, and "would take one song at a time, listen to it, make whatever changes we needed to in the studio, and then go in and play it as a band live. And it came out great" the record's got that live feel and it's definitely got some drive to it." Castronovo should know.

Before joining Journey, he played in backing bands for Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai and Paul Rodgers, as well as in the super group Bad English with singer John Waite, Schon and current Styx bassist Ricky Phillips. "I'm playing with the greatest musicians on the planet, in my opinion," Castronovo says. "Not just that they know their chops, and their ability to tear it up on stage" it's the songwriting. It's the music as a whole. This band is awesome. If I could play in any band, this would be the one I wanted to be in." Castronovo has been drummer for Journey for 13 years" longer than any other drummer the band has ever had. He says his one regret is not having gotten to work with Perry, whom he says no longer has a speaking relationship with the band. "We talk through attorneys," Castronovo says. "We don't really have a relationship with him, nor does he have one with us, nor does he want one with us.

We've put out the olive branch many times, but it's a very sore subject, and I don't think either camps want to get involved in it, you know?" But Castronovo says he remains in awe of Perry's vocal power. "Steve Perry's a god of vocals; I'm a fan, dude," Castronovo says with a laugh. He says he met Perry when Journey received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. "It was like, 'Oh my god, I got to meet Steve Perry.' I mean, the rest of the band, they think it's crap" they know the guy. But I was freaking." He says he understands fans who won't accept Journey without Perry. "Obviously, if it wasn't for Steve Perry, there would have been no Journey, even though there was Journey before Steve Perry," Castronovo says. "He really put the band on the map, and we can't deny it. Some people, with us, are like, 'There's no Steve Perry, there's no Journey.' Understandable, point taken, we understand that." But Castronovo says, "Arnel's the same way.

He's one of those singers, man, that touches your heart and really makes an impact on you as a musician. The band is still a great band and we have a ton of music we still want to put out and that we want to play to the masses." Castronovo says the new popularity Journey got from "Glee" caught him by surprise. "I really didn't know much about 'Glee' until 'Don't Stop Believin'' got on there," says Castronovo, 46. "All I was told was that they're using it for this, like, sitcom musical thing on TV called 'Glee.' I was like, 'OK, very cool.' Saw it and I was like, 'Son of a gun, that was awesome.' It was freakin' awesome. "And then they ended up doing 'Any Way You Want It' and 'Faithfully' and 'Don't Stop Believin',' I think, in the season finale. It was like, 'Oh come on, how awesome is this?' "And then, of course, before that, you had 'The Sopranos' using it. And the funny thing is, I missed the damned episode.

I was waiting and waiting to see it, of course. Everybody else got to see it and I missed it. I don't know why, but I missed the damned thing. I had to go see it on reruns later on." Read full article at: Top ten tracks from hit TV series 'Glee' | The Independent Top ten tracks from hit TV series 'Glee' Monday 12 April 2010 23:00 BST Click to follow The Independent Culture On April 12, Billboard published a list of the ten most popular songs from the hit US television show Glee, based on US digital sales of the tracks. The cast's rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'' is by far the most downloaded song so far with nearly 700,000 downloads, followed by Queen's "Somebody to Love" and "Defying Gravity" from Spring Awakening. Other top downloads include the cast's covers of Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" as well as a rendition of Heart's "Alone" by guest star Kristin Chenoweth. Top ten Glee downloads, based on data from Nielsen SoundScan: 1.

"Don't Stop Believin'' (698,000 downloads) 2. "Somebody To Love" (242,000) 3. "Defying Gravity" (237,000) 4. "It's My Life'/'Confessions Part II" (233,000) 5. "Halo'/'Walking On Sunshine" (227,000) 6. "Take A Bow" (150,000) 7. "Sweet Caroline" (141,000) 8. "Keep Holding On" (132,000) 9. "Taking Chances" (130,000) 10. "Alone" (125,000) The musical series Glee, about a high school singing club, launched on US television in May 2009 and now airs in more than 20 countries.

Two albums have so far been released featuring the Glee cast; the first two sold half a million copies each in the US, and the first, the only one out so far in the UK, reached number one on the UK album chart. A third album, The Power of Madonna, is due out April 20 in the US and April 26 internationally. Find YouTube links for the top ten Glee performances at . Don't Stop Believin': the power ballad that refused to die | Music | The Guardian Pop and rock Don't Stop Believin': the power ballad that refused to die From Glee to The X Factor, Journey's Don't Stop Believin' became inescapable in 2010. Dorian Lynskey on the 30-year-old track that slowly burned its way into our consciousness Believin' ... Steve Perry of Journey in 1979.

Photograph: Lynn McAfee/Rex Features Thursday 16 December 2010 17.14 EST First published on Thursday 16 December 2010 17.14 EST Close "Just a small town girl …" When was the last time you heard Don't Stop Believin'? Was it on the radio or in the pub? At a festival or a wedding? Was it sung by Journey themselves, the cast of Glee , a fan on YouTube, a choir of schoolchildren or a drunk friend on a karaoke machine? Boxfresh pop songs such as Tinie Tempah's Pass Out might have a decent claim on being the sound of Britain in 2010 but nothing has wriggled its way into every corner of the culture quite like a slow-burning power ballad that's about to celebrate its 30th birthday. Let's take some figures. The year began with the curious sight of Journey's song at No 6, with the Glee version at No 5, and it has barely left the top 75 since. In the US, download sales have passed 4m, making it by far the biggest-selling 20th-century catalogue track.

Americans have had longer to live with it. It was a hit there back in 1981, and it's had so many phases that even its comebacks have had comebacks. But over here it stalled at No 62 on its first release in February 1982 and didn't begin to register in the pop psyche until relatively recently. Its path from obscurity to ubiquity mirrors its unorthodox structure: the slow build towards the last-minute eruption. "A singer in a smoky room …" It was a song inspired by failure. Journey started life as a jazz-rock band in San Francisco in 1973, but they were floundering and hitless when, four years later, they recruited singer Steve Perry, who was having little luck himself. Their fortunes drastically improved, but the sentiments of Don't Stop Believin' harked back to the lean years. Before keyboardist Jonathan Cain joined in 1980, he was also struggling while living on LA's Sunset Boulevard. Each time he called home in despair, his dad would tell him: "Don't stop believing or you're done, dude." The song was written backwards.

Cain had nothing but the climactic chorus when he brought the stub of a song to Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, and they worked together on how to get to that moment. They all liked the concept of two lovers fleeing their hometowns by train (a reverse homage to Gladys Knight's Midnight Train to Georgia), and Cain told Perry about his time in LA, hence the "strangers waiting up and down the boulevard" line. "I [saw] that every night in Hollywood," Cain told The Mix magazine. "People coming to LA looking for their dream. We felt that every young person has a dream and sometimes where you grow up isn't where you're destined to be." "Some will win, some will lose …" In Britain, Don't Stop Believin' flopped, despite being Kerrang!'s single of the year for 1982. In the US, however, it was a substantial hit, the first of many from 1981's multi-platinum Escape album.

"Everyone in an American high school in the early 80s probably had a Journey cassette," says Brian Raftery, author of Don't Stop Believin': How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life. "But then in the early 90s all the cheesy 80s music got rejected and it basically disappeared. Journey were seen as the kind of overblown arena act that grunge and hip-hop were meant to obliterate." The band weren't best-placed to argue otherwise. Perry left in 1987, and then again after a brief reunion in the mid-90s, confirming the sense that Journey were yesterday's men. But a few years ago, Raftery started noticing younger people singing Don't Stop Believin' at karaoke. "It amazed me," he says. "First of all, how did they hear this song? And secondly, why? I think that younger people aren't aware of the stigma. They just think it's another awesomely cheesy anthem." Cain dates the song's resurgence back to its tongue-in-cheek cameo in the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer.

After that, other soundtrack co-ordinators turned to Journey for a song that was both humorously retro and genuinely stirring. It appeared in a pivotal montage in Scrubs (2003) and a karaoke scene in Family Guy (2005). And then, in 2007, came The Sopranos. Series creator David Chase has never explained why he wanted Don't Stop Believin' for the last-ever episode, but it was a song that would have resonated with every member of the Soprano clan – for Tony and Carmella it was the sound of their youth, for Meadow and AJ a new discovery at college or high school. But when Chase first sought permission from the songwriters, Perry demurred because, he later explained, "I was not excited about the Soprano family being whacked to Don't Stop Believin'". He withheld consent until three days before the episode aired, when Chase agreed to tell him (three-year-old spoiler alert!) that the ending was ambiguous. And so 12 million viewers were left hanging with Journey ringing in their ears. That's how a song that was already slowly re-entering the culture reached the tipping point.

Kanye West sang along to it, in a kind of gauche superstar karaoke, on his 2008 tour. The Broadway musical Rock of Ages climaxed with a massed rendition. The LA Dodgers adopted it as their theme song. Just when it could hardly get more popular, it appeared, cleverly rearranged, in the pilot episode of Glee and wooed an even younger generation. "I think that helped stymie Don't Stop Believin' fatigue," says Raftery. "They managed to make a song that was very easy to sing along to even more accessible." In Britain, Joe McElderry's version on The X-Factor provided the final shove. But this cultural carpet-bombing can only explain why people have heard it, not why they love it. What exactly is the unrelenting appeal of Don't Stop Believin'? "It goes on and on and on and on …" Raftery has a suggestion: "It's the kind of song you can wink at, but at the same time it's very emotional.

You can have it both ways." Like Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer, Don't Stop Believin' is inspirational kitsch, taking the borderline corny, ordinary-Joe heroism of Springsteen circa Born to Run and pushing it way over the top. But whereas Springsteen is more likely to focus on the smalltown world being left behind, Perry and Cain are all about where their heroes are going. The characters' self-image is shaped by rock music and cinema: "Oh, the movie never ends …" The lyric is just specific enough not to be woolly but vague enough to apply to any situation in which not stopping believin' is important. If you're a sports fan, it says you may still get to the finals. If you're an aspiring musician, on Sunset Boulevard in the 70s or on The X Factor today, it says you may yet see your name in lights. And if you're just young and think you could do better, well then it's a song for you as well. No wonder its self-mythologising resonates at a time when nothing is more important than "following your dreams".

"This song has helped me personally to not give up, and I'm finding that goes for a lot of people out there," Perry told Planet Rock radio in February. "As cheesy as it is, it's pretty convincing," says Raftery. "Here are these kids, they've gone through some hard times, but you know what? You gotta keep pushing through it. Which is the story, for better or worse, of America: don't look back, don't let your past drag you down, just keep pushing forward." And that's what the song does on a structural level – it pushes forward. It is that midnight train, steadily gathering speed, and as a listener you want to stay on until it reaches its destination. "It's like a wave about to happen," Cain told the LA Times. "The anticipation of something happening, a change in your life." According to Will Byers, a music teacher and former host of the Guardian's School of Rock blog, the structure is the key.

Yes, Cain's opening piano chords are potent – as Australian comedy trio Axis of Awesome have demonstrated in a much-watched clip , it's the same chord sequence (I, V, vi, IV) that appears in Take On Me, Under the Bridge, You're Beautiful and Let It Be, the minor vi adding just a touch of yearning. And yes, as Byers points out, each new guitar chord appears on the last quaver of the bar, giving the song an extra push. But these are common strategies. It's the slow burn that makes Don't Stop Believin' so unusually compelling. "Over time, we learn to appreciate these songs that don't offload all they've got in the first minute – Elton John's Tiny Dancer being another one," says Byers. "You invest some emotion in bothering to listen all the way through." You have to wait a full 80 seconds before the drums come in properly, and the chorus only arrives less than a minute before the end. It generates not just momentum but, as Chase recognised, suspense. It contains the possibility of failure ("Some will win, some will lose") until the last surge of indomitable optimism.

The opposing vision of Midnight Train to Georgia, about someone who leaves LA after discovering that "dreams don't always come true", lurks in the shadows. It's no lyrical masterpiece, but it is a hugely effective bit of storytelling. "It's the sense of theatre," says Byers, who has coached several students to sing it in the past year. "You can get away with a song building in a musical. In a way, it lends itself more to being placed in a narrative than it does to being a radio hit." "Hold on to the feelin' …" Glee dissolves the wall between star and fan, between professional performance and karaoke, making it an ideal vehicle to promote Don't Stop Believin' as a song for anyone to perform. "It's one of the most perfect karaoke songs ever," says Raftery. "I doubt anyone who works in a karaoke bar goes three hours without hearing it." The song gives you license to overact, especially if you don't have a voice half as supple and precise as Perry's and you need to compensate with sheer gusto. In that context, it's both heroic and daft, narcissistic and communal.

It's appropriate that Journey's current frontman, Arnel Pineda, was recruited after the band saw him performing Don't Stop Believin' on YouTube with his previous band. Perry made it great, but the song has now eclipsed the singer. So first it was a normal song, then a forgotten one, then an ironic reference, then a genuine comeback, then a phenomenon, and now it's just there, like the sun or gravity or Hey Jude. "I used to love that song and I'm so sick of it now," says Raftery. "The minute that piano starts I'm like, 'oh my God.' It won't go away. I feel like in a year and a half you guys will be where we are – please don't put on Don't Stop Believin'! But," he sighs, "it is fun. You can't deny how fun it is." Don't Stop Believin' is out now and until the end of time on iTunes. Glee Cast - Don't Stop Believin - Amazon.com Music Get a $75.00 statement credit after first Amazon.com purchase made with new Discover itÂ® card within 3 months. Terms and conditions apply.

See offer for details. Apply now. Editorial Reviews lee is the hottest TV musical comedy to hit the US this year! The show has been heralded for its highspirited musical numbers, incredibly talented cat and infectiously witty writing. It is a critically acclaimed new comedy musical series from Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck) about a high school teacher, who against all odds, attempts to restore Glee club to its former glory. Product Details Audio CD (October 6, 2009) Number of Discs: 1 "Don't Stop Believin'" (CD single) Music Review Review this title! What's the story? In their pilot episode, the cast of Fox's new TV show Glee covers several hit songs, including DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' by Journey -- the classic-rock supergroup that became one of the biggest bands of the 1980s. The show will continue its covers theme when it starts in earnest this fall, and as with "Don't Stop Believin'," those covers will become available for download through iTunes the same night each show airs. Is it any good?

QUALITY This show takes a satiric approach to its subject matter, so seen in that light, the cast's kitschy rendition of this classic rock song is mildly entertaining. But on its own merits, the performance is pretty mediocre, with thin vocals that could never match the power of Steve Perry's (Journey's lead singer on this track). Still, the arrangements give the song new life. Keep in mind that the song itself is fine for tweens, but the show is aimed at teens. Families can talk about... Families can talk about whether it works for contemporary artists to cover classic songs. Does hearing a huge hit re-interpreted by another artist diminish the song, or simply add to its overall appeal? Music details

Question: The cast of which US television show had a 2009 hit with ‘Don’t Stop Believin’?
Answer: Glee