Bunny's Review
Journey’s “Faithfully”
Bunny’s note: I chose “Faithfully” over “Separate Ways” solely because of the presence of the ‘stache. In many ways, if not every way, “Separate Ways” is the more entertaining video. But Steve Perry doesn’t have a mustache in “Separate Ways” but he does in “Faithfully,” if only for a short period in the video.
I’d like to have been in the room when my man Steve and his boys went to their record producer and said, “Listen to this…” He was probably brought to tears by the song’s beauty, his knees shaking so intensely that he needed to take a seat to finish it.
“Guys, this is gold, a masterpiece even!!! I’m so damn impressed. Any ideas for a video?”
It’s at this point that Perry probably dropped the bomb on everyone in the room. When he told them about his plan to film a heartfelt story of life on the road, everyone sat up at attention. He maps out his plan. There’s no way it can fail. It’s not only going to be a national success, but an international success. Then he takes a breath…
“Ok, guys. And I’m gonna grow out a mustache.”
Perry crosses his arm and, with a smile, lets it sink in. Some were speechless. Some needed to walk outside and get a breath of fresh air. One guy had a heart attack—he died. And just as the room begins to gain its composure once again…
“And I’m shaving it off half-way through the video’s length.”
Steve has hung it up in recent years, as Journey pushes on with a new lead singer—dude’s a nobody. He’s become an overweight, bloated boozehound of his former self. But this is not how the world will remember him when he finally takes his final “Journey,” if you will, down the highway of life. I know for a goddamn fact—it’s almost the only absolute that remains nowadays—that we will think of Steve Perry, and remember him for what he really is and was: a dedicated rock n’ roller with hair that Johnny Depp would be jealous of, the ability to grow a mustache that Colonel Mustard only dreams of, and the showmanship of a rock n’ roll god.
“I’m forever yours. Faithfully…”
--Bunny Stardust