More than four decades after helping write “Don’t Stop Believin’,” one of the most recognizable rock songs in American history, Jonathan Cain still believes in the power of an anthem.
But these days, the Journey keyboardist and songwriter isn’t writing about holding onto feelings and chasing dreams; he’s shifted his focus to faith, freedom, hope and America’s spiritual crossroads.
Ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, Cain has released “The Winds of Freedom,” a patriotic rock anthem he said serves as a tribute to America’s founding ideals and a call to reengage with Judeo-Christian principles.
For the 76-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, the song represents his journey from one of the most prolific hitmakers of the century into an outspoken advocate for faith and patriotism.
“Freedom’s a choice,” Cain told The Christian Post. “It’s a freedom we still have to carry out, the choice to be free and not settle for anything less. That means free speech. That means everything our forefathers fought so hard for. The Constitution, our civil rights — everything matters.”
The song arrives as America prepares to commemorate its semiquincentennial in 2026, a milestone Cain says prompted him to reflect not only on the country’s history, but also his prayer for the present.
“I just thought it was a great phrase to frame it,” he said of the title. “The song is basically the story of how our forefathers fought for what they believed were God-given rights.”
The song includes the lyrics “With our fate uncertain/ Across boundless seas/ To distant shores/ We’d fight to make a stand.” Cain credited his inspiration for the song to author and cultural commentator Eric Metaxas, whose research into the religious convictions of America’s founders, Cain said, challenged some of his own assumptions.
“He inspired the song,” Cain said. “His presentation was so moving to me. It confirmed what I had suspected after spending time in Washington, seeing the artifacts and the history. It’s no accident we have ‘In God We Trust.'”
For Cain, the patriotic anthem is inseparable from his Christian faith, which has increasingly become the focus of his creative work. His latest solo EP, Only A Prayer Away, continues a musical journey that began more than a decade ago, when his wife, pastor and White House faith adviser Paula White-Cain, asked him to lead worship during one of her ministry cruises.
“‘I didn’t have the budget for a worship leader,'” Cain recalled her telling him. “So she said, ‘Could you learn some songs and bring your keyboard?'”
At 8 o’clock one morning, aboard a cruiseship bound for the Bahamas, Cain found himself leading worship for 200 women. Something happened that morning, he said, that he believes was undeniably the Holy Spirit moving.
“I was moved by the whole thing,” he said. “It became an offering, a tithe to God. It brought me closer to the Holy Spirit in ways I wasn’t expecting.”
Since then, Cain has released multiple faith-based projects while continuing to tour with Journey, the band he joined in 1980 after being spotted while performing with the British rock group The Babys. At this point in his life, he said, he simply wants to follow God’s calling.
“I think I’m sort of a psalmist in a way,” he said. “God gives me ideas, and I execute.”
Cain’s belief that his life carries a divine purpose has followed him since childhood. At age 8, he survived the devastating 1958 fire at Chicago’s Our Lady of the Angels School, one of the deadliest school fires in American history, which killed 92 students and three nuns. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Cain said, his father made a prediction that would shape the rest of his life.
“He said, ‘You were saved for music,'” Cain recalled. “‘I believe the Lord saved you for making music.'”
At the time, Cain didn’t fully understand what his father meant. For years, he wrestled with anger and grief over the tragedy: “When you’re 8 years old, you just don’t understand,” he said.
Only decades later, after speaking with a pastor who told him that “sometimes great change requires great sacrifice,” did Cain begin to find closure.
A self-described “accordion-playing kid from Chicago who studied classical music,” Cain joined a British rock band, met the members of Journey and helped create Escape, the 1981 album that sold millions and produced classics including “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Since then, he’s written a slew of other hits, including “Faithfully,” and songs recorded by artists ranging from Heart and Mariah Carey to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
“Only the hand of the Lord could take an accordion player from Chicago and put him in Steve Perry’s living room to write ‘Don’t Stop Believin’,'” Cain said. “When we say, ‘Hold on to that feeling,’ that might just be the Holy Spirit.”
Though Cain said he did not consciously set out to write a Christian anthem, he said the song’s origins are inextricably tied to faith. When he considered abandoning music and returning home from Los Angeles, it was his father’s encouragement and belief that God had a purpose for his life that persuaded him to stay.
“He said, ‘Don’t stop believing. God has a vision for you,'” Cain recalled.
In recent years, Cain has become an increasingly outspoken figure in America’s culture wars, something he said has sometimes drawn criticism. Both Cain and White-Cain are active in the National Faith Advisory Board and have worked to encourage greater civic engagement among churches and pastors.
“You’re always going to get people who hate God and hate the Bible,” he said. “Look what happened to Jesus. I think people are scared by strong belief because so many people don’t believe anything. Without God, you’re just existing.”
“It’s not politics to me; it’s policy,” he said. “As Christians, we need to care about policy because it affects our children, our families and our future.”
Still, despite his political advocacy and ministry work, Cain said that music and songwriting are his primary calling.
“I write what I see,” he said. “I see faith in action, and I write about it.”
That instinct recently led him to western North Carolina after devastating flooding in the region, where he volunteered alongside relief workers and witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of compassion. The experience inspired another song on his new EP, “Amen to the Rescue.”
“They weren’t complaining,” he recalled. “They were helping each other. It was one of the greatest moves of Jesus I’ve ever seen.”
And as America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, he hopes “The Winds of Freedom” will remind listeners that patriotism, like faith itself, requires participation and gratitude for the country’s founding principles.
“We all have to wake up and love our country,” Cain said. “We can’t sleepwalk through this.”
“The Winds of Freedom” is now available.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
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