"I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence" –Frederick Douglass

“‘Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey is the one of the most popular rock song by hitting the top ten in the billboard because it inspired hundreds of thousands of people around the world. It was and still is so powerful because it educates people to never give up and to try they’re hardest. Slave songs had the same meaning to them. The songs show express the sadness of slaves. Slaves find ways to escape, and try their hardest to be free. What the masters did to the slaves wasn’t very humane because slave would suffer in ways the masters wouldn’t understand. Slaves would work for the emancipation of their self and others. Slave songs showed the sadness of the slaves while they worked, it was expressing how sad and depressed the slaves were and how bad their life was. Even though the pernicious effects on slavery are mostly gone, there are still some vestiges left of slavery left in the world similar to how the world in still impacted by the song, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’. Although both types of songs don’t have the same meaning behind it, they both have had similar impacts around the world because of their meanings and their importance. “Don’t Stop Believin’” is a well-known song that will never be forgotten because and the meaning behind it is so powerful.

“Don’t Stop Believin’” had a major impact on the world. This song was translated into many different languages, like Chinese, showing that this song impacted people and they took the time to translate it. It gives people the power to keep going from the lyrics, and no matter what, never give up on your dreams. When people are in a tough situation, they can listen to this song to calm them down and relax. Don’t Stop Belivein’ topped in four different charts and it was immutable for 235 weeks, showing that many people listened to it over and over again. Going along with that, there were about 4,085,000 million copies sold of that one album. Don’t Stop Believin’ impacted the world in an enormous way encouraging many to follow their dreams and to be themselves. As Frederick Douglass said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence”. This means that you should do whatever you want no matter what others think about you. The lyrics from the song, “Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues” show that exact meaning, that you should do whatever you were meant to do but no matter what anybody else thinks, you should pursue that dream. For example, all slaves wanted to be free desperately; they would find ways to communicate through songs, to express their feelings and sadness from being a slave.

The band, Journey was impacted as well as the world from their popular song, Don’t Stop Belivein’. When they began, they weren’t as popular, and their career was idle. After writing this song, the band showed to the world that music was their forte, and they weren’t going to give up. Before the song came out, they had decided to quit, but they couldn’t go back home. That’s when Cain’s dad said, “don’t stop believing.” From there, they worked backwards and after looking at many songs and mixing them together and looking deeper into the meaning of the lyrics, they came up with this song. From the beginning, the band wasn’t able to release a hit single was galling, but after releasing the song, “Don’t Stop Believin’”, they’re career boosted within seconds, and they were famous. After being at the tops of the charts for three weeks, the band took it as an intimation that they were going to be a huge hit for a long time. After those three weeks in the top, their song remained in the top rankings and that’s when their career started to really take off. The band was and still is so popular, and it impacted them heavily. Their song was imbued with inspiration and a meaning behind it to never give up and to try. From the sadness they had from not writing a hit song, they were inspired to do the best they could for this song. They are now a legend, and have so many expectations ahead of them. Journey is a now an amazing band with many songs that helped make them famous.

This song has also had an important impact on me and how I look at the world as a 14 year old. From the first time I listened to this song, I knew that it would change my perspective on how I look at everything. This song taught me to never give up and to always try my hardest. The two lines of the song that impacted me the most were “Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling.” It made me remember to always strive for my goal and when I do, never stop until I reach my goal. It’s taught me to be myself and no matter what anyone else thinks, keep striving without taking a break. It taught me to never be sad and if I ever am, try even harder to not be sad. For example, I want to continue playing the flute. My parents and my brother say that it’s a distraction and I don’t focus on my work enough, but from this song, I learned that if I want to do it, I should, because that it is the one thing that helps me to relax, and helps me to never give up on something that I love.

Overall, I feel that the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” teaches everyone around the world to achieve their goals, to be happy and it will be a benefit for you. It was translated into other languages, made the band Journey famous, and helped me stand up to my parents about playing the flute. To sum it all up, Don’t Stop Believin’ is an impressive song that people will continue to listen to as long as they believe in themselves.