Don’t Stop Believin’ | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 (D# E) |
Verse 1
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
Just a small-town girl, livin’ in a lonely world.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 (D# E) |
She took the midnight train going anywhere.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 |
He took the midnight train going anywhere.
Instrumental 1
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 (D# E) |
Verse 2
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
A singer in a smokey room, a smell of wine and cheap perfume.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 |
For a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and on.
Chorus 1
||: B/A A | B/A A | Eadd9 E | Eadd9 E :||
Strangers waitin’, up and down the boulevard.
Their shadows, searchin’ in the night.
Streetlights, people, livin’ just to find emotion.
| B/A A | B/A A | B5 E5 | B5 E5 A5 |
Hidin’, somewhere in the night.
Instrumental 2
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
Verse 3
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
Workin’ hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 (D# E) |
Payin’ anything to roll the dice, just one more time.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
Some’ll win, some will lose, some are born to sing the blues.
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 |
Whoa, the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on.
Chorus 2
||: B/A A | B/A A | Eadd9 E | Eadd9 E :||
Strangers waitin’, up and down the boulevard.
Their shadows, searchin’ in the night.
Streetlights, people, livin’ just to find emotion.
| B/A A | B/A A | B5 E5 | B5 E5 A5 |
Hidin’, somewhere in the night.
Instrumental 3
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 |
Chorus 3
||: E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | C#m (D# E) | A5 (D# E) |
| E5 (F# G#) | B5 (C# D#) | G#m | A5 (D# E) :||
Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feelin’.
Streetlights, people.
Don’t stop believin’, hold on.
Streetlights, people.
Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feelin’,
Streetlights, people.
Don’t Stop Believin’ chords and progressions
In a nutshell, Don’t Stop Believin’s verse chords just goes I – V – VI – IV, E – B – C#m – A. Then varies it by replacing VI with III. E – B – G#m – A, like this:
||: E | B | C#m | A |
| E | B | G#m | A :||
But if we only play those simple chords from E major, we’d miss out on the bass line in between them which, let’s be honest, defines the song.
So what you see above (chords and lyrics) may look unnecessarily complicated, but after playing it, you’ll see why all those bass line movements have been incorporated.
The good news is that it remains the same throughout the intro, verse, and solo. The only variation is at the end, where you only play an A chord, with no bass line.
Only the chorus left then. Here we play B/A – A. This is not the most common movement I’ve seen! This is followed by Eadd9 – E.
To round it off, we play B5 – E5. B5 – E5 – A5, and then it’s time for either an instrumental section or later on, a solo. here’s the full chorus:
||: B/A A | B/A A | Eadd9 E | Eadd9 E :||
| B/A A | B/A A | B5 E5 | B5 E5 A5 |
What’s so amazingly clever is that the final chorus is sung over the verse chords, if that’s not genius, I don’t know what is!
Overall, Don’t Stop Believin’ chords are really simple, what’s a bit tricky is making sure you incorporate that bass line as that’s the riff of the song.
Journey’s signature song
The epic rock anthem Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey took the band to superstardom when it was released in 1981.
The new keyboard player (Jonathan Cain) joined just before the making of their seventh album, Escape, and came to the band with the riff and title. A title he had come up with after his father had encouraged him to not give up on his music career.
Journey’s signature song reached #133 on the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list, compiled by Rolling Stone magazine.
Notable cover versions include the TV series Glee which even managed to put Don’t Stop Believin’ back in the charts, reaching #2 in the U.K and #4 in the U.S.
Should you join a rock covers band, this song is guaranteed to make the setlist, along with other classics like Sweet Home Alabama, Sex On Fire, Summer Of 69, Livin’ On A Prayer, and Sweet Child O’ Mine.
Study the chords and lyrics above to find out how this anthem is put together.
Don’t Stop Believin’ chords | Related pages
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Journey
Best known for their worldwide hit Don’t Stop Believin’, Journey started out as a backup band formed by session musicians.
Their biggest hit was written by the keyboard player that joined them before they made their 7th studio album.
Journey on the web
Pop & Rock
Whenever a tune doesn’t fit into a specific genre, it tends to end up here, in the Pop & Rock section.
Learn tunes from Tom Petty, Eagles, Toto, Oasis, Elvis, Clapton, John Mayer, Kings Of Leon, R.E.M., Radiohead, Bruno Mars, and more.
