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http://www.suntimes.com/output/worldser ... own27.html

Brown: Journey songwriter believes in his roots

October 27, 2005

BY MARK BROWN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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As Chicago geared up Wednesday to celebrate up and down the boulevards -- and on the side streets, too -- a native son who grew up taking the midnight "L" train everywhere relished his role in helping create the anthem for the White Sox 2005 championship run.

Jonathan Friga was just a city guy who grew up at Homan and Augusta before his father, a devoted White Sox fan, moved the family to Schiller Park.

But it was under his adopted stage name, Jonathan Cain, that the keyboardist-songwriter for Journey co-wrote "Don't Stop Believin," the 1981 hit that Sox players embraced as a theme song during their drive to the pennant.

"I was so stoked about the game last night. It was a real cool thing for me," Cain said Wednesday from his Marin County, Calif., home, referring to the 14-inning Game Three marathon pulled out by the Sox, the time difference giving West Coast viewers like him an advantage over the sleep-deprived fans in his hometown.


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• Ruthian effort from Buehrle
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• Frankly speaking, Jerry's wait over
• Williams believes in another title run
• Biggio wouldn't have raised the roof
• The longest, then yard
• Turning points
• Inning-by-inning
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IN THE STANDS
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• 'We haven't experienced this in forever'
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SOX COLUMNS
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• Telander: Poof! 88 years swept away
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• Couch: Joy of Jenks says it all
• Roeper: Champs knocked 'em dead
• Konkol: Can't keep die-hard fans away
• Mitchell: Capturing the Sox' diversity
• Brown: Perry believes in his roots
• Series Journal: It's all in Sox family
• Other viewpoints


If there is any final resistance to Sox fans embracing "Don't Stop Believin," Cain's Chicago credentials should wipe it away.

He's a survivor of the 1958 fire at Our Lady of Angels School that killed 92 of his fellow students and three nuns. He spent the summers of his youth creating "rooster tails" with illegally opened fire hydrants, playing his accordion for Friday night concerts at the Italian deli in the old neighborhood and visiting both Chicago ballparks. His late father, Leonard, who worked as a printer, took him to a Sox game in the thick of the 1959 pennant race.

Can't stop lovin' both teams

Cain played plenty of baseball himself, sticking with it all the way through Colt League during his high school years at East Leyden. And while it would make a better story to definitively classify him as a Sox fan -- or even a Cubs fan -- he swears he grew up cheering for both teams and never saw a need to swear allegiance to only one.

"I'm just one of those guys who loves both teams," Cain said.

It's reassuring somehow to know there is a real Chicago connection behind the song that for the past few weeks has filled the key interludes at U.S. Cellular Field.

While all the attention has been on former Journey vocalist Steve Perry, who even joined the team for the World Series in Houston, in Cain we have a guy who can relate to the city's baseball frustration.

Cain said his Chicago friends saw Perry at the game on TV and called to tell him he should be there instead. But fresh from a 60-city tour with Journey during which he was hospitalized at one point for an emergency appendectomy, the 55-year-Cain says he's content watching the game at home with his own family and trading late-night calls with his brothers to discuss the action.

"As much as I'd like to be there, it's almost good that Steve's there," Cain said of Perry, who left Journey for good in 1996.

Cain said he's "probably the sports nut of the band," which has hung with many professional athletes over the years. Then-Sox manager Tony LaRussa became one of Journey's "huge fans" after a 1982 concert at the Rosemont Horizon, Cain said.

Remembers Sox on UHF

Cain said he still has fond memories of his father, beer in hand, watching Sox games on UHF with reception so poor that "it looked like it was snowing all the time."

Although he supported both teams, Cain says he probably made it to Wrigley Field more often because it was easier to get there.

"We'd play hooky because Willie Mays was coming to town," said Cain, who still remembers seeing Mays run down a fly ball, Hoyt Wilhelm throw his knuckleball and Ted Kluszewski hit a home run over the right field roof at Comiskey Park.

"I always thought it was great to have two major league baseball teams in our town," he said. "I was surprised when I went to Wrigleyville and saw the T-shirts that say 'The Sox Suck.' I thought it was kind of weird."

That was during a concert tour when Journey sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" for the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley, which Cain doesn't see as detracting from his Sox devotion.

'Enough about the roof'

Proving that he's up to speed on the Series, Cain voiced exasperation with the debate over the Astros not being allowed to close the roof on Minute Maid Park.

"Enough about the roof. Just play the game. This is the silliest thing I ever heard," he said.

Cain, who attended Roosevelt University's music conservatory, said "Don't Stop Believin" was a collaboration with Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, but originated with him writing the chorus: "Don't stop believin, Hold on to that feeling . . ."

"We wrote the song from my chorus backward," he said. "It was very spontaneous."

He thinks "Don't Stop Believin" is a good fit for the Sox. "It's about fans. It's about hope," he said.

Some will win. Some will lose. Some were born to sing the blues.

But it's more fun to be the winner every so often.

Great article. Thanks for that.
Clarifies who is responsible for the main crux of the song, DSB, afterall.

sadie65 wrote:Cain, who attended Roosevelt University's music conservatory, said "Don't Stop Believin" was a collaboration with Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, but originated with him writing the chorus: "Don't stop believin, Hold on to that feeling . . ."

"We wrote the song from my chorus backward," he said. "It was very spontaneous."

VEEERY interesting...

That was nice to read Sadie. Jon doesn't seem to be bitter about Steve being there representing the song at all.

I wouldn't say it clarifies anything. It simply shows that there are two sides to it. Jon says they started with the chorus. Perry said he remembered the 'streetlight people'. And that is probably how it went, Jon brought the chorus and Perry contributed the other lyric. It was a collaboration.

I was at that very concert in 1982! It will always be special to me because it was my very first Journey concert. 5th row center.

They rocked!

Memories....

jrnyman28 wrote:I wouldn't say it clarifies anything. It simply shows that there are two sides to it. Jon says they started with the chorus. Perry said he remembered the 'streetlight people'. And that is probably how it went, Jon brought the chorus and Perry contributed the other lyric. It was a collaboration.

What did you expect it to clarify Dave?

Every article of late has Jon giving an overblown opinion of himself and his contributions. He changed his name from Friga? I wonder why. Cool name for him.

ohsherrie wrote:

jrnyman28 wrote:I wouldn't say it clarifies anything. It simply shows that there are two sides to it. Jon says they started with the chorus. Perry said he remembered the 'streetlight people'. And that is probably how it went, Jon brought the chorus and Perry contributed the other lyric. It was a collaboration.

What did you expect it to clarify Dave?

I didn't. TNC mentioned that it clarified who contributed most. I just disagree.

jrnyman28 wrote:

ohsherrie wrote:

jrnyman28 wrote:I wouldn't say it clarifies anything. It simply shows that there are two sides to it. Jon says they started with the chorus. Perry said he remembered the 'streetlight people'. And that is probably how it went, Jon brought the chorus and Perry contributed the other lyric. It was a collaboration.

What did you expect it to clarify Dave?

I didn't. TNC mentioned that it clarified who contributed most. I just disagree.

OK, gotcha, I saw it more as verifying that it was a collaboration too.

You're both cuckoo bananas.
Without a chorus, a song is nothing.
Do you hear me?
NOTHING.

The "Don't Stop Believing" part holds it all together and makes the song truly transcendental.
I mean, the entire song is great, but as I said earlier, Jon really contributed the heart of the song.

Right! Cain's huge hits and unforgetable melodies these past few years are perfect examples of this.

heardonthestreet wrote:Right! Cain's huge hits and unforgetable melodies these past few years are perfect examples of this.

I know you are being sarcastic, but you're actually right.
Without Jon Cain's masterful song writing prowress, Arrival and Generations wouldn't be half the albums they are.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:You're both cuckoo bananas.
Without a chorus, a song is nothing.
Do you hear me?
NOTHING.

The "Don't Stop Believing" part holds it all together and makes the song truly transcendental.
I mean, the entire song is great, but as I said earlier, Jon really contributed the heart of the song.

But TNC, wouldn't you agree that the context that the rest of the lyrics build for the chorus make it as meaningful as it apparently is to a lot of people? Also, "Streetlight people", is part of the chorus.

ohsherrie wrote:But TNC, wouldn't you agree that the context that the rest of the lyrics build for the chorus make it as meaningful as it apparently is to a lot of people?

I did agree with that.
I said it's the sum of it's parts that makes the song so exceptional. However, Jon's chorus is integral-without it there would be no song.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

heardonthestreet wrote:Right! Cain's huge hits and unforgetable melodies these past few years are perfect examples of this.

I know you are being sarcastic, but you're actually right.
Without Jon Cain's masterful song writing prowress, Arrival and Generations wouldn't be half the albums they are.

.............................................

With the success of said albums, that dosen't leave much. Both albums are so below the expectations of a Journey album that it's a shame that they carry the name Journey.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:I did agree with that.
I said it's the sum of it's parts that makes the song so exceptional. However, Jon's chorus is integral-without it there would be no song.

Yes, but what I'm saying is the chorus wouldn't be so meaningful, and therefore integral, if it wasn't for the story that the rest of the song tells. Olivia Newton-John had a song with a chorus lyric of "Don't Stop Believing", and it was a good song, but it never had the impact that Journey's did.

heardonthestreet wrote: Both albums are so below the expectations of a Journey album that it's a shame that they carry the name Journey.

I'd ask you to expound on that, but as your posting history clearly proves, you are all talk, ZERO corroboration.

ohsherrie wrote: Olivia Newton-John had a song with a chorus lyric of "Don't Stop Believing", and it was a good song, but it never had the impact that Journey's did.

This argument is stupid.
I am not saying that simply because Jon had the good fortune to use the words "Dont" "Stop" and "Believing", that the song was automatically pre- destined for success.

John didn't just utilize those aforementioned three words. He crafted and blended them into an unforgettably catchy melody.
Without that overriding melody, great lines such as "street light people" or "cheap perfume" would have remained simply as that: disparate poetic lines.
The chorus is the heart of the song and everything else revolves around it.

I had no idea Cain was 55!

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

ohsherrie wrote: Olivia Newton-John had a song with a chorus lyric of "Don't Stop Believing", and it was a good song, but it never had the impact that Journey's did.

This argument is stupid.
I am not saying that simply because Jon had the good fortune to use the words "Dont" "Stop" and "Believing", that the song was automatically pre- destined for success.

John didn't just utilize those aforementioned three words. He crafted and blended them into an unforgettably catchy melody.
Without that overriding melody, great lines such as "street light people" or "cheap perfume" would have remained simply as that: disparate poetic lines.
The chorus is the heart of the song and everything else revolves around it.

I didn't know we were arguing TNC, I just thought we were talking.
I'm not trying to denegrate Jon's talent or contribution to the song in any way. I'm just saying that his chorus wasn't all that made the song great. As with all the Classic Journey music, it took the combined talents of all the guys. The chorus would have just been "disparate poet)ry" without the rest of the song.

ohsherrie wrote:The chorus would have just been "disparate poet)ry" without the rest of the song.

No, it wouldn't have been. Take a song writing course.
The chorus is the meat and potatoes of the song.
It's the proverbial nucleus that binds it all together.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:No, it wouldn't have been. Take a song writing course.
The chorus is the meat and potatoes of the song.
It's the proverbial nucleus that binds it all together.

Well, it's not likely that I'm going to be taking a songwriting course. I don't really care about the mechanics of writing a song. I just know how I feel about what I hear. If you feel that that three word phrase(and the note progression behind it)is the whole song to you, that's fine with me. To each his own.

How ironic..

The title of DSB isn't even in the chorus....

This song actually tells a story.........and culminates in the message: DSB..

Rock'ndeano wrote:How ironic..

The title of DSB isn't even in the chorus....

This song actually tells a story.........and culminates in the message: DSB..

You got it right Sugar. It's the message of the song that means so much.

ohsherrie wrote: If you feel that that three word phrase(and the note progression behind it)is the whole song to you, that's fine with me. To each his own.

I already stated ad nauseum that the song is the sum of it's parts.
With that said, it's Cain's infectiously catchy chorus of "Don't Stop Believing" that makes the tune truly transcendental.
Tell ya' what: go listen to the whole song and skip the chorus.
Then report back and tell me how much you enjoyed it.
It'd be like eating appetizers, dessert but then skipping dinner.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!