Never Say Never (The Fray song)

"Never Say Never" or "Never Say Never (Don't Let Me Go)" is a song by Denver-based piano rock band the Fray that was included on their second studio album, The Fray. It is the second single from the album and is a direct love song between two people who are "pulling apart and coming together again and again."[2]

"Never Say Never"
Single by The Fray
from the album The Fray
ReleasedMay 5, 2009
Recorded2008
GenreAlternative rock, pop rock
Length4:16 (Album Version)
4:02 (Half Guitar Solo Edit)
3:50 (Radio Edit)
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Isaac Slade and Joe King
Producer(s)Aaron Johnson and Mike Flynn
The Fray singles chronology
"You Found Me"
(2008)		 "Never Say Never"
(2009)		 "Heartless[1]"
(2009)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – The Album track listing
13 tracks
  1. "New Divide"
  2. "21 Guns"
  3. "Let It Go"
  4. "Capital M-E"
  5. "Never Say Never"
  6. "Burn It to the Ground"
  7. "Burning Down the House"
  8. "Not Meant To Be"
  9. "Real World"
  10. "I Don't Think I Love You"
  11. "This is It"
  12. "Almost Easy"
  13. "Transformers (The Fallen Remix)"

The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA in August 2010 and was ranked #100 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of 2009 list. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2010.

The song is present on the soundtrack of the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - The Album, and on promos of Inuyasha: The Final Act's last episode on Animax Asia.

There are currently three versions of the song: the full album version and two radio edits (Half Guitar Solo Edit and Radio edit), which are shorter and cuts out a portion of the song's guitars.

Release

Reception

Overall, critical response to "Never Say Never" was mixed. US Weekly found the single "riveting" and complimented on lead singer Isaac Slade's falsetto.[3] Another positive mention came from New Music Reviews: "When The Fray releases a single, you know it’s going to be amazing, and this is another one of those singles. Truly amazing again! 9/10."[4] AbsolutePunk described "Never Say Never" as "a syrupy ballad" that is "nothing short of astonishing. There's falsetto towards the end and its romantic, wistful and full of understated grace. Backed by strings and a swelling rhythm section, it's a polished and positive step forward [for the band]."[5]

However, David Sessions, editor of Patrol magazine, wrote: "It's the CCM formula without the Jesus: pre-bottled concoctions (strings, astral guitar strumming) slathered on to enliven a fatally soulless mix."[6] Glenn Gamboa, in a review for Newsday, criticized the song, and the album as a whole, for essentially "sound[ing] the same" as the band's previous work, noting: "It's not a bad sound, but it's also not a necessary one. The conservative songs of The Fray try to shut out the possibility of messing up, but they end up shutting out the possibility of succeeding as well."[7] A reviewer for musicOMH.com wrote: "'Never Say Never' and 'Ungodly Hour' are the band's closest approximations to the big Coldplay piano ballad, but without Chris Martin's quirky Englishness (and I never thought I would say that) both tracks ultimately collapse under the weight of their conceits."[8]

Music video
Destroyed Boeing 747 used on The Fray's "Never Say Never" music video.

On the March 14th episode of the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown, the Fray stated in an interview that a video was in the works around that time. The music video for "Never Say Never" surfaced on the internet on April 17, but the video officially premiered on the internet only on April 24, through the band's MySpace page. It premiered everywhere else on television May 5, 2009.

The video takes place in one only sequence, featuring singer and pianist Isaac Slade walking through a destroyed suburban street after some sort of accident or attack. While Isaac walks through the street, people run and police officers and soldiers try to save others in the ruins. The video ends with Isaac finding a woman (played by Jaime King) who was obviously looking for him. The video ends with the two and everyone else in the neighborhood looking to the distant Los Angeles cityscape before it completely explodes. The set used in the aftermath of the plane crash scene from Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds was also used to film this clip, located at Universal Studios in Hollywood.[9]

Popularity in TV series and movies

The song was featured on One Tree Hill, The Vampire Diaries, Ghost Whisperer, So You Think You Can Dance, CSI: Miami and Brothers & Sisters. The song was also chosen for the soundtrack of films Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and After. It also appeared in the film trailer for Brothers.

TV covers

Glee covered the song in their season four premiere episode "The New Rachel" by Jake Puckerman (Jacob Artist).

Other covers

Christina Grimmie covered the song on her YouTube account (zeldaxlove64 Christina Grimmie) on August 18, 2009.

Evan Boerstra covered the song on his SoundCloud account (evan-boerstra) and YouTube account (Evan Boerstra) on September 4, 2020.

Charts

After a slow climb over several weeks, "Never Say Never" finally made its way up to #48 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Following its inclusion in the soundtrack release of the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the song climbed over to its peak position of #32. The song spent 20 weeks on the chart. The song peaked at #7 on the Adult Pop Songs chart. On the Canadian Hot 100, the song peaked at #51, and on the ARIA Charts, the song peaked at #38.[10]

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 38
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[12] 51
UK Singles Chart 87
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 32
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[14] 19
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[15] 26
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[16] 7
US Pop 100 (Billboard) 13

Year-end charts
Chart (2009) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 100
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[18] 21

Certifications
Country Certification
(sales thresholds)
United States Platinum[19]

References
  1. Published Wednesday, Aug 26 2009, 05:22 BST (2009-08-26). "The Fray 'to release Kanye West cover' - Music News". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-03-03.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. "Never Say Never by The Fray Songfacts". songfacts.com.
  3. "Celebrity News: Latest Celeb News & Celebrity Gossip - Us Weekly". usmagazine.com.
  4. "The Fray – Never Say Never (Half Guitar Solo) | New Music Reviews, Music News, Music Videos, Lyrics and much more!". Newmusicreviews.net. Archived from the original on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  5. "The Fray - The Fray". AbsolutePunk.net.
  6. The Fray, "The Fray" Review | Patrol Magazine
  7. Review: The Fray's sophomore CD, more of the same -- Newsday.com Archived 2009-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
  8. The Fray - The Fray | album reviews | musicOMH
  9. "New Video: The Fray, 'Never Say Never'". Buzzworthy.mtv.com. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  10. "Top 50 Singles Chart - Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
  11. "Australian-charts.com – The Fray – Never Say Never". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  12. "The Fray Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  13. "The Fray Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  14. "The Fray Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  15. "The Fray Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  16. "The Fray Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  17. "Hot 100 Songs : Oct 16, 2015 - Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.
  18. "Adult Pop Songs – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  19. "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
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