Elden P.

Muncal
2014-63560/BS Food Technology

22 April 2016/ Song Analysis

Prof. Lalaine F. Yanilla-Aquino/ English 11

Taking the Midnight Train: An Analysis of the Song Dont Stop Believing
Are you willing to take a ride on a train that goes to places you dont know? Probably, a
well fed, highly paid, and happily married person would rather stay right where he is where he
lives a complete life. After all, is going to a place unknown worth the risk of losing what that
person has? However, if you are broke, unmarried, and alone without family or friends, what will
be the loss of the risk you are going to take? The song Dont Stop Believing by the band Journey
tells a story about a man and a woman who took the train travelling to a place that is not
ascertained to them. The song is about two peoples struggle in life and how he or she can
surpass these by believing in such a way that they have the courage in themselves that can
untangle them from the certain ties they want to escape from.
In order to understand the song further, it is basic to analyze how the song was written.
The song itself is also poetry according to the way it was created. If one looks closely at the way
the song was written, it can be discerned that there is no definite pattern when it comes to the
numbers of syllables. Hence, the song falls into the classification of free verses. Despite having
no definite rhymes and meter, there are some parts in the stanzas that are ending in sounds that
are alike. However, it cannot be used as a basis to categorize the song into any kind of poem
except for free verse. Moreover, since the song focused more on the content instead of the
technicalities therefore creating a poem that has more imageries and symbolisms. In addition,
free verses tend to create an image and thoughts in the minds of the readers instead of following
the traditional ones which focus more on how the poem was written.

In the first stanza of the song are the descriptions of a boy and a girl who took the
midnight train. This can be taken literally; however, it can also be analyzed symbolically. The
line He took the midnight train going anywhere symbolizes the uncertainty of taking risks. As
signified by the word anywhere, the condition of the train is that there is no guarantee where
it will take them. Moreover, the word midnight intensifies the idea of ambivalence since it is
the time of the day when there is no daylight and people were not awake. Therefore, the midnight
train is a capricious journey, a travel where the two had no insights about.
As the train starts its journey, the two met in. The second stanza tells the readers and
singers that the city boy and small town girl had different ways of life. Their encounter with each
other was also described in the stanza. The boy might be smoking since the description of the
setting was A singer in a smoky room. Moreover, it can also be inferred that the boy also
drinks because he smelled of wine. On the other hand, the girl smelled of cheap perfume. This
could possibly say something about the difference in social status of the two. However, there is
no clear distinction whether it was the boy or the girl that has the scent of wine or perfume.
Moreover, since the girl was from a small town, it can be assumed that she was a simple girl who
just rides on the train to take her chances somewhere; therefore, she might have not known any
vices at all. Meanwhile, the boy might have run away from home or have taken chances in
another place just like the girl.
When the train reached its destination, the boy and the girl went off the ride. The chorus
of the song basically describes the place where they went. The description found in the chorus
focuses more on the people around them instead of the backdrop of the scene. The people were
depicted as strangers who were waiting in a boulevard for something unknown to the
protagonists. The strangers shadows were also personified for searching something in the night.
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It is somehow ironical since the shadow and night were of the same dark color. However, there is
also a part in the chorus pertaining to the strangers as streetlight people who were busy looking
for emotions which signifies that there is somehow sparingly scattered light along the path where
the girl and the boy might have walked where they might have seen the strangers.
In the fourth stanza of the song, the time after the night they arrive at the place where the
ride took them is not stated, but it can be inferred that it was after that night. One of the
protagonists in the song had been working hard just to live. There is also a mention about how
the boy or the girl would do anything to turn their chances again as signified in the line Paying
anything to roll the dice just one more time. This shows that there is a struggle in living ones
life by taking certain risks. There is also an explication in this stanza regarding the consequences
of the people who lose and win. It was also in the song that there were those who share about the
experiences of those people. Hence, the role of that person was implied as the artist or singer
who shares human experiences through his or her works.
The song ended by continuously repeating the lines Dont stop believing, Hold on to
the feeling, and Streetlight people. It sends a certain message deep down into the hearts of
those who listens to it intently. In order to attain what we want, we should never give up and let
things around us dictate what we are going to be in the future. More importantly, we should not
stop believing in ourselves and other people whom we put our faith and trust. We can also
compare ourselves to the streetlight people who are constantly in the search for emotions which
are important to them. They will not be out in the dark searching for those without their courage
and belief in their selves. Are we not them? That despite the fact that we may be contented with
our present condition, we are longing for something? Then our self-belief will set us free from
the tangles of our own making, as well as those of the society, and help us achieve our dreams.
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