"Never Say Never" is a 1982 song by the new wave band Romeo Void. One of their best-known songs, "Never Say Never" was a favorite on early

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 ...

, featuring a black-and-white

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

that spoofs

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

's ''

Breathless Breathless may refer to: Aircraft *Paradelta Breathless, an Italian paraglider design Film and television * Breathless (1960 film), ''Breathless'' (1960 film) (''À bout de souffle''), a French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard * Breathless (1982 ...

''. The song is driven by a throbbing,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

and punctuated by jagged guitar and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, incorporating

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

influences. The song reached #27 on the Mainstream Rock songs chart in October 1982.

Composition

Musically, the song has been described as

, new wave, and dance-rock.

Legacy

The song was featured in the 1984 film '' Reckless'' starring Aidan Quinn as a football star and renegade. Quinn's character takes over the school dance's DJ booth to play the single, much to the dismay of all his classmates. A dance sequence ensues with Quinn's character moshing about while a somewhat distraught Daryl Hannah tries to figure out how to dance with him. A small segment of the song was featured in a scene of the film '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story''. It also was included in the 2013 film '' The Wolf of Wall Street''. In 2016, it was featured in the show ''

Ash vs Evil Dead Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is ...

'' during a scene of the season two episode ''Trapped Inside''.

Covers

*In 2000 by

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

, as a bonus track on the album '' Rated R''; the same version was also featured on the soundtrack album of the Thomas Jane film ''The Punisher'' (2004). A single was also released in 2000. *In 2009, the band

Julien-K Julien-K is an American electronic rock band based in Long Beach, California, that began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony 'Fu' Valcic. The band's name comes from the movie ...

covered "Never Say Never" on their debut album ''

Death to Analog ''Death to Analog'' is the first album by the American rock band Julien-K, which had a limited release on March 10, 2009, with a vinyl release on April 7, the digital release and worldwide release on October 20, and the European/Digi-Pak releas ...

'', listing the song title as "Nvr Say Nvr".

''Never Say Never'' (EP)

An EP by American new wave band Romeo Void was released in 1981. It was released on CD in 2006 by Wounded Bird Records, as four bonus tracks to their reissue of ''

Benefactor Benefactor may refer to: * ''Benefactor'' (album), a 1982 album by Romeo Void * Benefactor (law) for a person whose actions benefit another or a person that gives back to others * Benefication (metallurgy) In the mining Mining is the ext ...

''. All tracks by Debora Iyall, Peter Woods, Frank Zincavage, Benjamin Bossi and Larry Carter. # "Never Say Never" – 6:06 # "In the Dark" – 4:33 # "Present Tense" – 5:47 # "Not Safe" – 3:57 ;Personnel * Debora Iyall –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Peter Woods –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Benjamin Bossi –

*Frank Zincavage –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Larry Carter –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Chart positions

;Single

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Never Say Never (Song) 1981 songs 1982 singles Romeo Void songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Ric Ocasek 1981 debut EPs 415 Records EPs Black-and-white music videos Songs written by Debora Iyall