You'll never see the courage I know
Its colors' richness won't appear within your view
I'll never glow the way that you glow
Your presence dominates the judgements made on you
[Pre-Chorus]
But as the scenery grows, I see in different lights
The shades and shadows undulate in my perception
My feelings swell and stretch I see from greater heights
I understand what I am still too proud to mention to you
[Chorus]
You'll say you understand, but you don't understand
You'll say you'd never give up seeing eye to eye
But "never" is a promise and you can't afford to lie
[Verse 2]
You'll never touch these things that I hold
The skin of my emotions lies beneath my own
You'll never feel the heat of this soul
My fever burns me deeper than I've ever shown to you
[Chorus]
You'll say "Don't fear your dreams, it's easier than it seems"
You'll say you'd never let me fall from hopes so high
But "never" is a promise and you can't afford to lie
You'll never live this life that I live
I'll never live the life that wakes me in the night
You'll never hear the message I give
You'll say it looks as though I might give up this fight
[Pre-Chorus]
But as the scenery grows, I see in different lights
The shades and shadows undulate in my perception
My feelings swell and stretch, I see from greater heights
I realize what I am now too smart to mention to you
[Chorus]
You'll say you understand, you'll never understand
I'll say I'll never wake up knowing how or why
I don't know what to believe in, you don't know who I am
You'll say I need appeasing when I start to cry
But "never" is a promise and I'll never need a lie
About
“Never is a Promise” is the seventh track on Fiona Apple’s debut album Tidal. It was released as the final promo single of the album.
This was one of the songs that Fiona included in her first demo tape which was sent to Andrew Slater, the executive producer of Sony Music. He got her immediately signed and started working on an album. Other songs featured on the tape were “He Takes a Taxi” and “Not One of Those Times”, which remain unreleased.
According to a New York’s magazine interview, Fiona wrote the song when she was 16, after hearing the boy to whom she’d recently lost her virginity express interest in another girl.
The official music video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 3.I Want to Make People Happy - Live at ITunes Originals (Missing Lyrics)
- 4.Never Is a Promise
- 5.It Didn’t Turn Out How I Expected It to Turn Out (Missing Lyrics)
- 7.I Can’t Remember How I Got There (Missing Lyrics)
- 9.A 90 Word Album Title (Missing Lyrics)
- 11.Your Crowbar, So Far (Missing Lyrics)
- 14.Paper Bag
- 15.The Making of Extraordinary Machine (Missing Lyrics)
- 16.O’ Sailor
- 17.A Pep Talk to Myself (Missing Lyrics)
- 19.A Bird’s Eye View of All of My Relationships (Missing Lyrics)
- 21.I Just Wanted to Leave (Missing Lyrics)
- 22.Window
- 23.Finding the Key (Missing Lyrics)
- 25.I’m Feeling Hopeful (Missing Lyrics)
