What is that ONE song everyone must sing along to, wherever and whenever it is played? Yes, you guessed it right, it is Journey’s 80s hit, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, which will always be a BOP. Upon hearing its opening note, you are compelled to dance, sing, and groove along.
It is for this very reason that Journey is so popular, they know how to get listeners in their feelings, by getting them synced up to what they are hearing, however silly behavior is also expected. It’s safe to say, most people will listen to this song even if they aren’t fans of the band, due to the sheer power and emotion transmitted through sound and lyrics. An 80s classic to belt along to. Here, we have compiled a list of several movies that make use of “Don’t Stop Believin’” in a very captivating and mesmerizing manner.
5. The Losers
In the movie “Losers”, starring Zoe Saldana, Idris Elba, and Chris Evans, a team of elite commandos (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans) falls victim to a lethal betrayal in the Bolivian jungle. In an attempt to get even with their enemies, the men join forces with a mysterious operative named Aisha (Zoe Saldana).
The song is part of the infamous elevator scene, where Chris Evans sings and dances around to the tune, which is just adorable and wholesome to witness.
4. Bed Time Stories
The song can also be interpreted as a message of perseverance and the idea that hard work and diligence pay off over time. Skeeter (Adam Sandler) is what you might call a downtrodden and underappreciated employee that should be placed a great deal higher in the hotel hierarchy considering all that he has done for the hotel.
But when his niece and nephew start helping him with the details of their bedtime stories weird things start to happen and, well, he finally gets what he deserves. The song plays at the end of Skeeter’s first bedtime story.
3. The Comebacks
Remember what I said about being silly? With this song, it’s pre-programmed that movies are likely to employ its energy to either inspire or just to get a good laugh from viewers. In “The Comebacks”, it’s used as a gimmick and one that is actually pretty amusing. When people just start breaking into songs in movies you can’t help it and decide your fate, will you laugh along or change the channel?
In this case, it’s a lot easier to grin and enjoy the effort.
2. Monster
For such a disturbing biographical drama, concerning the American female serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), the scene where ‘Don’t Stop Believin’played, ignited a spark of hope and created a touching moment. One has to remember that even the evilest person in the world wasn’t always that way.
It is almost never their nature but rather the environment they lived in that created the “monster” they have become. Of course, these aspects never justify killing and especially not repetitive murder. However, the lack of money, power, and perspectives Aileen Wuornos experiences, was bound to create difficulties for her that painted her as something else in the eyes of society. The use of the tune proves, that even “monsters” get to have their moments.
1. Moneyball
If anyone needed to “not stop believing” at any point in history it was the Oakland A’s.
In the film, Baseball takes center stage. Baseball manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), desperately needs funding for his team and stumbles upon a young economist from Yale (Jonah Hill), to take unconventional advice from. (Namely “buying” athletes, who have different talents which would eventually add up to a winning team.)
Nonetheless, at one point their team was as close as it had ever come to be the absolute worst thing to ever happen to baseball. The gamble that was pulled off eventually turned them around, but during that tense and nerve-wracking time, they had every reason to believe that the front office would be getting cleared out without hesitation.
In a compelling manner, this list proves that Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”, is an all-time anthem, that never goes out of style, even decades later, as proven by most of the movies stemming from the 2010s. Moreover, it can also be used for many different purposes and scenes, leading to varying definitions and interpretations of the tune.
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