‘They went: ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don’t do that!’
Warning: this story contains spoilers about the ending of The Sopranos
Although known as being one of the worst karaoke songs you can perform, Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” will also forever be associated with the final, powerful moments of The Sopranos.
The show’s creator David Chase revealed why his crew’s hostile reaction to his pitch for the 1981 rock song confirmed his decision, in a conversation with Marc Maron on his WTF podcast.
“I didn’t know Journey was the answer,” Chase told Maron. “In pre-production (for the final season), there was going to be a song at the end (that 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.’”
Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” was one of the contenders for the show’s last moments, but Chase opted for Journey because of how the crew responded. “They went: ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don’t do that! Ugh. Fuck.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s it. That’s the one,’” Chase said. “I wasn’t saying that just to throw it in their face. That was kind of my favourite and it got a reaction of some kind. So I can make this song lovable, which it had been.”
The show’s final scene runs for nearly five minutes and is scored entirely to “Don’t Stop Believin’”. Tony’s family meet him at a diner, where he puts on the track at the jukebox, but other suspicious-looking patrons there may or may not be there to put a hit on Tony. The tension escalates before the track cuts short and the screen cuts to black, and Tony’s fate is left up in the air.
On the podcast, Chase also mentioned that different endings for the series had been shot in order to discourage any leaks, but did not go into detail about these alternate finishes.
The show’s Chase-written prequel, The Many Saints of Newark: A Sopranos Story, is scheduled to be released in UK cinemas on October 22.
In other Sopranos news, David Chase recently linked the show’s popularity with the rise of therapy, revealing that “therapists had a huge upsurge in male clientele” thanks to the series.
Watch the trailer for The Many Saints of Newark below.