Musical Musings of Mine: Don't Stop Believing

“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

Don't stop believing
Hold on to that feeling
Streetlight people”

Don’t Stop Believing – Glee Cast*

*Okay, so this song is not originally by Glee Cast at all, but with the return of the hit show to our television screens this week I thought I would dedicate a blog to the music show which has helped shape a generation, and Don’t Stop Believing is the song which became iconic for Glee in the pilot episode.

For those not so familiar with Glee the general concept is an Ohio high school “Glee Club” (singing and dancing group), called New Directions, are practising for sectionals / regionals / nationals for 20-odd episodes. All the while, the characters dealing with typical teenage issues like puberty and who is the most popular in the school, and everyone in the Glee Club slowly works their way through relationships with each other. It all sounds a bit drab and dull and oh so petty – and it would be, if it wasn’t for the music.

What I love about Glee is the variety of music in every episode. And, while the covers aren’t always the best, they are still pretty decent and I do love a solo song turned into a chorus of gleeful teenagers. From Lady Gaga to Keane to AC/DC to Les Miserables, Glee has done it, and they’ve done it nearly 12 million viewers.

In my opinion, the key to Glee’s musical success comes from the unprejudiced way they approach the songs. It seems not one artist is given special preference over another, and you hardly ever hear the cast talk down about a song. The characters take every song to heart and perform the music like they believe in the song. The show is a positivity overload and everyone in the Glee Club, to the extent which is possible in high school cliques, support and believes in one another. This was seen from the very first episode, where a somewhat terrible group practised and performed Journey’s hit song and found they could be quite good. And so, with all the belief in the world, New Directions trotted through three seasons and just came back on screens last night for number four.

Love it, hate it, or simply don’t have time for it, Glee is the future of music television. It’s a money making machine and it draws viewers like the plague. And it’s also one of the few ways we see the impact of music on television and see how music makes people believe.