Released April 16, 1983 Recorded 1982 Length 4:24 | Format 7" Genre Pop rock, soft rock | |
B-side "Frontiers"
"Back Talk" | ||
"Faithfully" is a song by the band Journey, and the second single from their album Frontiers. The song is a power ballad written by Jonathan Cain. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the band their second consecutive top-twenty hit from Frontiers. Despite featuring no chorus, it has gone on to become one of the band's most recognizable hits and has enjoyed lasting popularity.
Contents
Lyrics and composition
The song describes the relationship of a "music man" with his lover. The difficulties of raising and maintaining a family and staying faithful while touring are brought up. However, he suggests that he gets the "joy of rediscovering" her, and insists "I'm forever yours... Faithfully."
Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain wrote this song about the rough relationship being a married man on the road, with a mustache, in a Rock band. Soon after the release, he and his wife divorced, despite him pledging in the song to be forever faithful. It was written on a paper napkin and put to music on a backstage piano at SPAC (Saratoga Performing Arts Center), Saratoga Springs, New York and performed for the first time at SPAC.
According to the liner notes in Journey's Time3 compilation, Cain paid tribute to road manager Pat Morrow and stage manager Benny Collins when he wrote "we all need the clowns to make us smile." He told me he got the melody out of a dream," said Neal Schon. "I wish something like that would happen to me." "Basically it's a road song," Cain said. "You know I'm being a good dog out here - don't worry about it."
Like "Rosanna" by Toto, this contains lyrics delivered by the lead singer but written by another member of the band, which led many fans to believe Steve Perry wrote the song about a particular girl.
"Faithfully" is written in the key of B major with a tempo of 65 beats per minute in common time. The song follows a chord progression of B – G♯m – E – B, and the vocals span from G♯4 to B5.
Music video
The music video featured a then-unique "life on tour" theme parallel to the song's lyrics, showing the band's performances in different venues and their travels around the USA. Steve Perry can be seen shaving his short-lived but talked-about moustache in the video. This video utilized footage from the documentary video Journey: Frontiers and Beyond narrated by John Facenda, voice of NFL Films, shortly before his death in 1984. The concept of the "road video" was later utilized by several other bands & artists, including Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, Genesis, Mötley Crüe and Richard Marx.
Legacy
Bryan Adams opened for Journey on their 1983 Frontiers Tour, and during that time wrote the song "Heaven", which was heavily influenced by "Faithfully". The "Heaven" recording features Journey drummer, Steve Smith.
After recording the song "Purple Rain", Prince phoned Cain asking him to hear it, worried it might be too similar to "Faithfully".
Appearances in other media
It is featured in the film Here Comes The Boom which was released on October 12, 2012