"Don't Stop Believin'"
Glee: The Music, Volume 1
(2009)
The need to know: A musical dramedy with as much cheese as sincerity, Glee walks the line as a high school sitcom stereotype, but mocks itself with every step. Decidedly more Mickey Mouse Club than Gossip Girl, its combination of reality and ridiculousness help to serve up one of 09's best new shows. Music-wise, the show strives to make showtunes seem kinda cool but usually ends up making popular hits--like Kanye West's "Gold Digger"--safe for old, stuffy, white people. And I'm not sure how, but so far it's working.
Why it's worthy: As the flagship tune of the series, "Don't Stop Believin''" might be the happiest cover song ever recorded (except for maybe The Polyphonic Spree's take on "Lithium"). Journey's original version is hardly lactose free, but the Glee cast embraces the cheddary side full force. And that's not a bad thing, here. It's a fun, refreshing and unbelievably catchy take on a song we've all heard way too many times to count.
Quotable lyric: "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"
Where you've heard it: The centerpiece to the pilot episode of Glee, it became the group's theme song for making it to sectionals.
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