"Never Surrender" is a song by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was released in June 1985 as the first single from his second studio album, '' Boy in the Box''. The song was number-one for four weeks in Canada and was Hart's highest charting single in the United States, reaching number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 (topping the sales only chart for one week) in August 1985. The song won a Juno Award in 1985 for the " Single of the Year", and was certified Platinum in Canada for sales of over 100,000 copies in 1985. "Never Surrender" has been featured in the Hulu series ''

Future Man (TV series) ''Future Man'' is an American comedy streaming television series created by Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir that premiered on November 14, 2017 on Hulu. The series follows an underachieving janitor who is called upon to save the wor ...

'' Episode 10 "Operation: Natal Attraction" and in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series '' Stranger Things'', season 3, episode 1 "Suzie, Do You Copy?", '' The Goldbergs'', season 7, episode 13 "Geoff the Pleaser". In 2019, Hart released an updated version of the song on his EP ''Dreaming Time Again'', performed as a slow piano ballad with a new "angels lead you home" coda. He released the new version as a single in 2020, highlighting its message of hope and resilience during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Composition

On the lyrical content, Hart said, "My mother influenced me with this ethic of never quitting on yourself or your dreams no matter how challenging or daunting. I also greatly admired Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, reading many biographies on his life. He used this expression 'Never Surrender' during the dark days of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

attacks on Great Britain as a motivating inspiration for his countrymen."

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

has since called "Never Surrender": "a soaring

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

of empowerment, giving this album (''Boy in the Box'') a greater musical and emotional range than his (Hart's) debut." Regarding the song becoming another US hit single Hart said "I really think it's difficult breaking into America regardless of where you're from. I don't think it's any more difficult for a Canadian act than for a band from Oklahoma".

Music video

The music video features a story line of Hart leaving his home after an argument with his father and hitchhiking his way to a major city where he finds himself alone and ends with a 'live' performance with his band. Portions of the video were filmed on

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...

Spadina Avenue Spadina Avenue (, less commonly ) is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods. Spadina Avenue runs south ...

and

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east ...

in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, including the now defunct Crest Grill. The video's director,

Rob Quartly Robert "Rob" Quartly is a Canadian music video, television and commercial director. During the 1980s, Quartly produced numerous Juno Award-winning music videos for artists, including Corey Hart, Gowan, Platinum Blonde and Rush. As both a di ...

, had worked with Hart on three previous music videos and Quartly was again nominated for a Juno Award for his work on this video.

Performers

* Corey Hart – vocals * Gary Breit – keyboards *

Jon Astley Jon Astley is a British record producer who has also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television ...

– Fairlight programming, Oberheim DMX * Michael Hehir – guitars * Russell Boswell – bass * Bruce Moffet – percussion *

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

– saxophone

Charts

References

* Liner notes from ''Boy in the Box'' album
MVDbase
- List of Hart's videos
Discogs
- List of Hart's singles {{authority control 1985 singles 1985 songs Corey Hart (singer) songs Aquarius Records (Canada) singles EMI America Records singles 1980s ballads RPM Top Singles number-one singles Rock ballads Juno Award for Single of the Year singles Songs written by Corey Hart (singer)