"Never" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

, released as the second single from the band's eponymous eighth studio album (1985). It was written by

Holly Knight ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, Gene Bloch and "Connie" (a pseudonym for

Ann Wilson Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

, Nancy Wilson, and

Sue Ennis Sue Ennis is a songwriter from Seattle, Washington. She has co-written over 80 songs with Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart. Career Ennis' songwriting with Heart includes " Straight On", " Even It Up" and " Dog & Butterfly", and she ...

). "Never" is a rock song with an uplifting lyric to a person who has been discouraged by love. Like the preceding "

What About Love "What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock group Toronto, re-released in 1985 by the American rock group Heart. The song was Heart's "comeback" single. It was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and ...

", the music video for "Never" received heavy rotation on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. "Never" peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, marking the first time that Heart earned consecutive top ten entries, and the first time a Heart album generated two top ten singles. A reworking of the song appears on the Japanese version of Heart's live album '' The Road Home''. "Only in that version of 'Never'," observed Nancy Wilson, "did the song get the rootsy vibe that stands up to time."

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it is "a slow driving ballad" that has "a succinct

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called it "crisply buoyant power rock."

Remixes

Alternate mixes of "Never" and "Nothin' at All" appear in their music videos and on their seven-inch single incarnations. These mixes were included in some early releases of the ''Heart'' album, on LP, CD, or cassette. One may get a copy with both songs in their original mixes; both in their alternate mixes, or only one song in a different mix. Copies with serial No. SL-12410, for example, features the alternate mix for "Never", but the original mix for "Nothin' at All". The two versions of "Nothin' at All" differ greatly, but the mixes of "Never" are quite similar. The original album mix was featured on the "Essentials" collection.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

1985 singles 1985 songs Capitol Records singles Heart (band) songs Song recordings produced by Ron Nevison Songs written by Ann Wilson Songs written by Holly Knight Songs written by Nancy Wilson (rock musician) {{1980s-rock-song-stub