(NOTE LANGUAGE) In a chat with Marc Maron on his WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Sopranos creator David Chase revealed a bit about the iconic show’s finale — and how Journey ended up in it.
As you may remember, James Gandolfini‘s Tony Soprano and his family members sit down for dinner at a diner, and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” cranks out of a jukebox.
While Chase wasn’t re-litigating what the vague ending means — spoiler alert, he apparently once accidentally called it Tony’s “death scene” — Chase did talk about what went into choosing that song.
In speaking with members of his crew at the time, Chase said he was left with three choices — one of which he couldn’t remember, and the other was Al Green‘s “Love and Happiness.”
When he mentioned “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Chase recalled, “[T]hey went, ‘Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don’t do that! Ugh. F***.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s it. That’s the one.'”
Chase explained, “I wasn’t saying that just to throw it in their face. That was kind of my favorite, and it got a reaction of some kind. So I can make this song lovable, which it had been.”
The Emmy winner also detailed that other endings were shot to throw off potential spoilers — but wouldn’t reveal to Maron what those alternate takes were.
The Sopranos prequel, Chase’s The Many Saints of Newark, starring Gandolfini’s son Michael as a young Tony Soprano, hits theaters and HBO Max on October 1.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
