Don't Stop Believin'

I'll leave all the blogging about the way they ended the Sopranos to others. But there's just one thing I've got to say.

I was so into the jukebox scene. Tony's flipping through finding the song they are going to end with.

In addition to everything else that made the Sopranos great, the music was always so right.

But they ended it with Journey???? My all time least favorite rock band. Ugh.

UPDATE: The New York Times says the choice of Journey was a "cruel joke" on the viewers along with the way they ended it. OK. Cruelty I can take. Bad taste from someone with impeccable taste I cannot.

Comments

[druce]

the lyrics worked well though...

Workin' hard to get my fill / Everybody wants a thrill / Payin' anything to roll the dice / Just one more time / Some will win / Some will lose / Some were born to sing the blues / Oh, the movie never ends / It goes on and on and on and on

At least it wasn't Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'

ending worked if a little depressing ... it's always been more about the characters than the plot ... I hope they don't have alternate endings on the DVD and a future movie.

[Mike Orren]

It made perfect sense. The great music on the show always came from "the producers" as commentary on the action. Tony ALWAYS listened to standard classic rock radio fare.

[AlFromChicago]

Fred --

I thought the song was a message to the audience -- don't stop believing, there still may be another movie or sequel -- you never know.....Chase was smart enough to leave himself some wiggle room.

Check out http://www.buzztracker.com/category/sopranos

--Alan

[Eric]

Yeah the message was clear for me, I didn't mind it. I also don't mind Journey so that helps.

[C. Maoxian]

Good point about the music was always good... I discovered Tindersticks ("Tiny Tears") from watching The Sopranos.

[Tony Alva]

Let us not forget the greatest Sopranos outro track, "Thru and Thru" by the Rolling Stones!!!

[JayR]

My bet was "Promised Land" by Springsteen. I wasn't too far off. Probably too obvious for David Chase to pick a Springsteen song.

[David B.]

Come on guys, you've ALL missed it. First things first- the actual song meant nothing, it was the name of the band-JOURNEY- that meant everything. And for all of you that so obviously missed it, the journey for Tony is OVER. He was unequivocally whacked in that scene, no doubt about it.
They flashed back earlier to the scene from early in the season when Bobby and Tony are upstate in the boat, and Bobby says something like, "When you get it, you don't even hear the gun go off..." Thus the black screen and TOTAL silence. We, the audience, were Tony. We always saw everything through his eyes, so in essence when he got whacked, WE got whacked...total silence and a black screen.
And Meadow's scene in the parking lot is the back and forth of life...lawyer, doctor, what to do?
Face it folks, Tony is dead...and David Chase and company are smiling that virtually no one got it.

[Tim Marman]

Full thoughts here: http://slashstar.com/blogs/tim/archive/2007/06/10/the-sopranos-series-finale.aspx

As druce mentioned, I think the lyrics were appropriate and relevant on the Journey song. And given the music's importance in the series, was Tony's indecision in picking the music at the end perhaps symbolic of Chase struggling on how to end the series?

@Tony Alva: personally, I thought "Evidently Chickentown" was used brilliantly earlier this season. (http://www.twango.com/media/In-quietude.public/In-quietude.10057)

[Brad Feld]

But but but - Journey was hot when I was in seventh grade learning what a girl was. That's why Journey is great!

[Tim Marman]

David - I don't think virtually no one got it - the suggestion that he was whacked certainly wasn't subtle.

That said, I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that he was, and I think that was the point of ending it like that.

The real takeaway for me - as I wrote on my site - is that Tony won but indeed lost something important. It wasn't, as I originally thought, necessarily a family member - but rather, the aura of his invincibility. He "won", but the end could come at any time, whether from Carlo flipping or a guy walking out of the bathroom.

My real problem is that the whole episode leading up to that just seemed very clumsy. But like I said, I need to re-watch it before I jump to any conclusions.

[AlFromChicago]

Brad --

you just moved up (apparently not realizing it) in your geekiness quotient -- that should also be in the test

--Al

[David B.]

Tim- I don't think it was a suggestion... The whole Bobby saying that you never hear the bullet coming was used twice in the previews...all for that reason. But I do agree that a second viewing (or third) is in order.

[jackson]

Reading these comments makes me think of a great song not used by David Chase from Van Halen's third record...

"Fools, you're all fools......"

I include myself.....

[Tim Marman]

David B - perhaps, but then why bother with the whole storyline of Carlo flipping and the pending indictment if he was definitely whacked?

There was a heavy dose of foreshadowing, but I think the whole point was to leave it intentionally vague.

Also, I updated my post with an interesting thing I stumbled upon - not sure how true it is, but it's interesting if so. The snippet (not my words):

"The guy at the bar is also credited as Nikki Leotardo. The same actor played him in the first part of season 6 during a brief sit down concerning the future of Vito. That wasn't that long ago. Apparently, he is the nephew of Phil. Phil's brother Nikki Senior was killed in 1976 in a car accident. Absolutely Genius!!!! David Chase is truly rewarding the true fans who pay attention to detail.

So the point would have been that life continues and we may never know the end of the Sopranos. But if you pay attention to the history, you will find that all the answers lie in the characters in the restaurant. The trucker was the brother of the guy who was robbed by Christopher in Season 2. Remember the DVD players? The trucker had to identify the body. The boy scouts were in the train store and the black guys at the end were the ones who tried to kill Tony and only clipped him in the ear (was that season 2 or 3?)."

[Will]

David B. - I don't think we have seen everything through Tony's eyes throughout the series. There have been plenty of instances where we know more than he does at any given point. Now he still may have been shot, but not for that reason.

[Sam]

The song is great and not in poor taste. The mark of a true music fan is their ability to admit their love of Journey. You can't be too cool for great melody. That's the point, after all.

[Tim Marman]

Turns out what I quoted above isn't quite true - the guy was newly cast just for this role. And I certainly don't remember the boy scouts in the train store (only a father and his 2 children). I can't confirm the trucker or the 2 black guys, but I suspect those two are false.

But they are at least reminiscent of characters in his past, suggesting that he indeed would never quite escape his past. Given the Carlo storyline, and the focus on the other people in the diner (i.e., several of them appeared suspicious, not just the guy in the members only jacket), I don't buy the singular interpretation that he was killed by that guy.

That's just me :)

[kip]

It was a fun trip, glad its over, let;s make entourage an hour and a half now!

[druce]

many good points... it was about the Journey, not the destination, and enjoying the good times while they lasted...

any meaning you will have to find on your own, and in your own neuroses. Or accept that Tony exists in superimposed states like Schrodinger's cat, possibly whacked by the double-crossing NY clan, possibly carted off to jail just when he gained the upper hand, possibly living in eternal vigilance until he's senile and irrelevant.

Maybe Paulie is singing to the feds after his vision of the Virgin Mary, but transcendent meaning is just a punch line, and no one here is redeemable. However and whenever it happens, it inevitably just cuts to black at the end.

David Chase may be a latter-day Dickens, but it's always been a riff on life, and a plot twist or Sidney Carton moment would have given the lie to the whole series.

[Jim Eiden (Mobflix.com - coming soon)]

First of all, there is nothing wrong with Journey. First concert I ever went to was Journey's Escape tour. And Greg Kihn was the opening act.

In Caddyshack, Journey's "Anyway you want it" was the tune played on the golf course from Rodney Dangerfield's golf bag.

But music on the Soprano's was an integral part of the show. Tony liked music from the 1970's - 1980's because that is the era he came of age. One of the best scenes from one of the earliest seasons was when he was driving in his SUV singing along to "Dirty Work" by Steely Dan. That worked on so many levels.

As far as the ending, I don't think Tony got whacked as he made a deal with Phil's Borgata in the garage. Those guys are now the head of the New York family so TOny really did them a favor as they are now making money again and calling the shots as well. They promised not to get in Tony's way, but could not assist in tracking down Phil.

If Phil's Borgata was going to hit Tony, AJ wouldn't be working for Carmine.

I think the way the series ended was to say the more things change, the more they stay the same. I do not think Tony got whacked. I think it is a set up for a future movie. The FBI Agent story line could be developed some more, we could see Tony get indicted, the Russian who escaped Paulie and Chris could come back to hunt down Paulie, Furio could come back for Carmella, Meadow could defend her Father in Court, we could see if Silvio lives or dies, and what happens with AJ.

[curmudgeonly troll]

Defamer: Journey thrilled as cheese-rock anthem finally used in unironic fashion. As with every "Believin'" request, they debated the project's merits at length before agreeing. Ultimately, the band decided The Sopranos finale was definitely up there with that scene from Laguna Beach when Stephen picks up LC for their date, and TV history once again was made.

[Jason Dalrymple]

I loved it and HBO certainly has everyone talking! Adam Gilbert did a pretty good job of enlightening me on his blog as I'm not able to watch the show regularly:
http://gurugilbert.com/2007/06/12/what-really-happened-at-the-end-of-the-sopranos/

[Matt]

"The mark of a true music fan is their ability to admit their love of Journey. You can't be too cool for great melody. That's the point, after all."

Amen to that.

No one likes music snobs regardless of whether they're an unwashed hipster living in a Bowery studio or a techno-dork living a multi-million dollar condo.