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Never Again (Kelly Clarkson song)

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"Never Again"
Song

"Never Again" is a song written by American pop rock singer Kelly Clarkson and Jimmy Messer, and is the first single from her third studio album, My December (2007).

As of January 2009, the single has logged a number of 995,000+ digital downloads.[1] The song was nominated for Payback Track on the 2007 Teen Choice Awards. This song was #99 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. This song also ranked #63 on AT40's 100 Most Played Songs of 2007. It also ranked at #70 on Billboard's 2007 Year End Chart.[2]

On 07/31/2007, the single was certified gold by RIAA and has sold over 500,000 copies in all formats in the US.

Background

"Never Again"
The song is influenced by the work of Alanis Morisette and Pat Benatar.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

According to MTV News, the song was inspired by the end of Clarkson's relationship with David Hodges, although she has not publicly confirmed that statement. It also provided some of the inspiration for the songs "Behind These Hazel Eyes", "Since U Been Gone", and "Where Is Your Heart" on her second studio album, Breakaway (2004).[3][4] She wrote it around late 2004[5] as a contrast to those songs, saying that "neither was originally written" with that thought in mind and were adjusted "after the fact."[4] In addition, she thought that it was "nastier" than those songs, so she considered dropping it from the track listing of her third album, My December. Yet, she decided to keep it because she thought it would be appropriate as the opening track on the album, which was later released as the first single from My December. "It's just got such great energy", Clarkson said. "It's so blunt — I was so angry — and it reads so well, so we just went with it."[4]

Clarkson has cited the influence of Alanis Morissette's 1995 single "You Oughta Know" and Pat Benatar on "Never Again"; according to her, someone at her label disliked the song because it was too similar to Benatar's music. "I was like, 'Now I really like it! I love her, and what's wrong with you?'", Clarkson said. "I love any kind of rock chick who's just totally into what she's doing. What's funny is that we now think of her as a rock icon, but she was pretty pop as well. And I'm pretty pop too — I'm a rock/pop girl, which is cool with me."[4]

Single release

Clarkson confirmed the title and release date of the single on April 4, 2007 on her official website. "Never Again" was made available for sale on April 20, 2007 on the iTunes Store, but was removed after several hours. The single was permanently available for download on the U.S. iTunes Store by April 23, 2007,[6] becoming the only format available in the United States. The single was later released in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2007,[7] about one month after the major releases of the single in several countries. The single is available in digital and physical format, with the former format available for sale in the British iTunes Store.

Music video

Clarkson's character's ghost haunting and following her ex-husband in the music video.

The music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, was shot in Los Angeles from April 11 to April 13, 2007. Kahn directed two of Clarkson's previous videos: "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and "Walk Away". The video premiered on TRL on May 1, 2007, peaked at number one on May 10, 2007, and held the top position four times. It also debuted at number 8 on VH1's V-Spot countdown and has since climbed to number 3 on V-Spot's latest episode. The music video was made available for download on the U.S. iTunes Store on May 11, 2007.

The plot involves Clarkson's character's ex-boyfriend attempting to drown her in her bathtub. Then, he heads to an airport to meet his new girlfriend, but he is wracked with guilt over what he has done. Apparitions of Clarkson are present in his car, and again at the airport to haunt him. Clarkson said the video was similar to the 2000 film What Lies Beneath because, as she put it, "You don't know if he killed me or if he's just being haunted by his conscience."[4] Clarkson then resurfaces from the bathtub, as the ex-boyfriend wakes up from the dream, still in his car. When he walks out, Clarkson leaves the house and drives off in the car, leaving her ex-boyfriend behind. Clarkson also performs the song with her band in an empty white room, all wearing white clothes, during various scenes in the music video. Clarkson said the white theme was present not because she was getting "artsy-fartsy" but "because it's been ripped of innocence. Anyone who's ever been in love, when it goes bad — and sadly, everyone can relate in some manner — it just gets cold and it's hard to get past that."[4]

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States April 23, 2007 (2007-04-23) RCA Records
Canada May 7, 2007 (2007-05-07)
Australia May 26, 2007 (2007-05-26)[8]
Germany June 1, 2007 (2007-06-01)[9]
Sweden June 6, 2007 (2007-06-06)
United Kingdom June 11, 2007 (2007-06-11)[7]

Chart performance

"Never Again" debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 based solely on radio airplay on April 26, 2007.[10] The next week, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart at #4 with more than 100,000 downloads, subsequently making its Billboard Hot 100 debut at #8.[11] The following three weeks the song fell to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, but regained momentum, jumping from #17 to #9 after Clarkson's appearance on the American Idol season 6 finale. However, its chart strength was largely due to a high number of digital downloads. After only peaking at #47 on the Hot 100 Airplay Chart (in comparison, all five of the Breakaway singles had been top ten airplay hits), the track was already being pulled from some stations,[12][13][14] leading to the unusual step of releasing "Sober" as the second single, only about six weeks later and ahead of the album's release.

The song debuted and peaked at #9 on the UK singles chart, entering the chart after the CD single was released in June.

In Australia, the song debuted at number five on the ARIA Singles Chart, making it the song's highest debut worldwide to date. The song also showed progress in the Australian digital chart with the song leaping from #24 to #12 within a week. After her promotional tour in October, the song rose from #50 to #30 in one week. It was also a radio success, peaking at #2 in the Radio Top 100, and spent 50 weeks on the charts, before exiting on 29 May, 2008.[15] It spent a total of 22 weeks in the ARIA Chart Top 50, making it the longest running song of Clarkson on the chart to date[16], and was the 40th highest selling single in Australia of 2007.[17]

"Never Again" became part of the set list for the "2 Worlds, 2 Voices Tour 2008".

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[18] 5
Canadian Hot 100[19] 8
Czech Airplay Chart[20] 66
European Hot 100[21] 23
German Singles Chart[18] 19
Austria Top 75[18] 36
Greece Singles Chart 15
Irish Singles Chart[18] 11
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[18] 20
UK Singles Chart[18] 9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[18] 8
U.S. Billboard Pop 100 5
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 12

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Never Again".

  • CD Single (Basic)

Released June 12, 2007[9]

Format # Track List Time Information
Never Again
(CD Single) 		1. "Never Again" 3:36
  • Produced & Engineered By David Kahne
  • Co-Produced By Jason Halbert & Jimmy Messer
  • Written By Kelly Clarkson
    • 2. "Never Again" (Dave Audé Radio Remix) 4:11
    • CD Maxi-Single (Promotional)

    Released May 2007[22]

    Format # Track List Time Information
    Never Again: Remixes
    (Promo CD Maxi-Single)         		1. "Never Again" (Dave Audé Club Mix) 7:55
  • Dave Audé Remixes
    1. Produced & Remixed By Dave Audé
    2. Bass Guitar By Danny Dunlap
    3. Additional Guitar By Chris Lee
    4. Mixed By Dave Audé & Christian D.
  • Jason Nevins Remixes
    1. Produced & Remixed By Jason Nevins
    2. Guitars By Joe Friedman
    3. Synth Programming By Michael Nigro
  • Written By Kelly Clarkson
    • 2. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Club Mix) 7:42
    3. "Never Again" (Dave Audé Mixshow) 6:10
    4. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Club Mixshow) 6:12
    5. "Never Again" (Dave Audé Radio Mix) 4:11
    6. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Radio Mixshow) 6:42
    7. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Club Radio Mix) 3:56
    8. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Radio Mix) 3:53
    9. "Never Again" (Jason Nevins Padappella) 2:55
    • iTunes Digital Single

    Released April 23, 2007[6]

    Format # Track List Time Information
    Never Again - Single
    (Digital Single)         		1. "Never Again" 3:37
  • Produced & Engineered By David Kahne
  • Co-Produced By Jason Halbert & Jimmy Messer
  • Written By Kelly Clarkson
    • Ringle

    Released October 23, 2007[9]

    Format # Track List Time Information
    Never Again
    (CD Single)         		1. "Never Again" (Album Version) 3:36
  • Produced & Engineered By David Kahne
  • Co-Produced By Jason Halbert & Jimmy Messer
  • Written By Kelly Clarkson
    • 2. "Never Again" (Dave Audé Remix) 4:11
    3. "Sober" 4:50

    Notes

    1. ^ http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2008/04/overall-sales-s.html "Kelly Clarkson Sales"]. Idol Chatter. Retrieved April 3, 2008.
    2. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21
    3. ^ "Breakaway Bio". KellyClarkson.com. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
    4. ^ a b c d e f Vineyard, Jennifer and Richard, Yasmine. "Kelly Clarkson On Her Revealing New LP: 'I'm Not Even This Open With Boyfriends!'". MTV News. April 19, 2007.
    5. ^ "Idol Chat-Interview". Kelly Clarkson Express Media. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
    6. ^ a b "Never Again - Single" in the U.S. iTunes Music Store. Phobos.apple.com. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
    7. ^ a b "Never Again" Single Release in the United Kingdom. SonyBMGMusic.co.uk. Retrieved June 13, 2007.
    8. ^ "Never Again" Single Release in Australia. SonyBMG.com.au. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
    9. ^ a b c "Never Again" Single Release in Germany. SonyBMG.de. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
    10. ^ "Never Again" Debuts in the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100. Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
    11. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. "Maroon 5 Makes 'Wondrous' Jump To Lead Hot 100". Billboard. May 3, 2007.
    12. ^ Kelly Clarkson and Those Rumors About Her Upcoming Album
    13. ^ Idols on the airplay charts - Idol Chatter - USATODAY.com
    14. ^ FOXNews.com - FOX 411: Kelly Clarkson: 'My December' Trouble - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment
    15. ^ Australian Music Report Weekly Hot 100
    16. ^ australian-charts.com - Kelly Clarkson - Never Again
    17. ^ ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2006
    18. ^ a b c d e f g "Kelly Clarkson - Never Again global chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
    19. ^ "Canadian Hot 100 Chart Positions". Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.
    20. ^ http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparada/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=2&titul=145048&sec=91f2f31d0b830b19d66ab9d9d034d136
    21. ^ [1].
    22. ^ "Never Again: Remixes" Promotional Single Information. e.Discogs.com. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
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