Journey received backlash from fans after swapping the lyrics of one of their most famous songs, “Don’t Stop Believin’,” during the Lions-49ers halftime show. More specifically, the group replaced the line “born and raised in South Detroit” with “born and raised in San Francisco,” and attendees were having none of that.
The Detroit Lions took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their opinion of the band’s decision, and it varied from praise to criticism. “Journey played at halftime of Lions-49ers and changed the lyrics to ‘Don’t Stop Believing’— singing, ‘just a city boy, born and raised in San Francisco,’” someone noted.
Journey faces backlash from Detroit fans on lyric change
End of Don’t stop by Journey, damn they were good AF, that’s my childhood. They changed the lyric from S Detroit to San Francisco 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/iEDulviT0X
— Elena (@Doingthangs) January 29, 2024
Several social media users were upset about Journey’s spin on the song lyrics and did not hold back on their thoughts about it. “Journey changing the lyrics from South Detroit to San Francisco was weak as hell,” a fan posted. “Journey really tried to change the lyrics to San Francisco instead of South Detroit,” another added.
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Some Lions supporters also believe the group jinxed their team’s ability to make it into the Super Bowl. They had shown great promise of making it to the big game. However, they lost their chance of a fourth-quarter game after losing to the 49ers 34 to 31. “You feel like you got your heart ripped out,” a disappointed coach, Dan Campbell, told USA TODAY.
Fans commend Journey’s performance
Contrary to the outrage from offended Detroit fans, the Journeys got some praise from those who were delighted by their rendition of “Don’t Stop Believin.”
“Aww, Arnel changed the Detroit lyrics to San Francisco. & he has a voice that sounds so good in a stadium. Long live Journey & long live Arnel Pined,” someone gushed.
Arquero and Nomota LLC/©Cinedigm Entertainment Group/Courtesy Everett Collection
Another user deemed the song a fitting tribute considering the score earlier. “The Bay Area’s Journey (with the Philippines’ Arnel Pineda) singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ at the halftime? Yes! We did not stop believing!” they added.