Never Again (Nickelback song)
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| "Never Again" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Nickelback | ||
| from the album Silver Side Up | ||
| Released | December 2002 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Recorded | ? | |
| Genre | Hard Rock | |
| Length | 4 min 20 s | |
| Label | Roadrunner | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Nickelback singles chronology | ||
| "Too Bad" (2002) |
"Never Again" (2002) |
"Someday" (2003) |
"Never Again" is a song/single released by Nickelback, and the first track of their first commercial album Silver Side Up. It was released in 2002.
[edit] Meaning of the song
"Never Again" is perhaps the first song written and performed by Nickelback that deals with the issue of domestic abuse. The events depicted in the song are seen through the eyes of a child whom every night watches his mother being brutally abused and assaulted by her violent husband (who comes home drunk and in a violent mood). Despite being brutally assaulted, she manages to tell her son "go back to bed" as the abuse begins.
By the second verse, the mother's in hospital in which she lies about her injuries to the nurse (claiming to have "slipped and fell"). The nurse however, isn't convinced that her injuries are sustained by a simple fall and suspects that she is the victim of domestic violence (hence the line in the second verse "She looks at you, she wants the truth....it's right out there in the waiting room with those hands, looking just as sweet as he can").
By the third verse, the mother is about to face the same situation as the night before; only she grabs the gun and shoots her husband in self-defense.
Since the song is presumed to be within the eyes of the son, he too begins to grow a deep hatred for his father due to his violent actions towards his mother. This is evidenced in the bridge to the third verse "Father's a name you haven't earned yet- you're just a child with a temper". It is also evidenced that he also plans to fight and beat up his father when he grows up in retribution (hence the line "Kicking your ass would be a pleasure").
[edit] Reactions
While "Never Again" was not commercially released (being a single that wasn't promoted compared with Nickelback's later songs) the song does have somewhat of a controversial background. The song itself was deemed as too violent and even a little too graphic in the sense the that mother grabs the gun and murders her husband. However, it should be noted that nowhere in the song is the graphic nature of the brutal beating ever described and that the line in the first verse "The living room becomes a boxing ring" describes to the audience that an act of violence is about to occur.
On a positive note, "Never Again" is also highly praised for the realism that it describes. For the most part, the song captures the true moments that one goes through during a domestic violence situation. It best describes the uneasiness of the situation and that for the better of the song, most of it is true; most wives would lie to their family doctor about the injuries they have sustained in fear of their husbands going to jail and later retribution.
"Never Again" also gains the distinction of being one of only two Nickelback songs featuring the word "fuck", the other being "Yanking out my...". The word is heard in the third verse "She grabs the gun, she's had enough. Tonight she'll find out just how fucking tough is this man".
The topic of domestic violence in this song would later be used in Nickelback's later single "Figured You Out", which also touches on the topic.
"Never Again"'s upbeat rock rhythm is also quite noticeable with the heavy drumming and guitar drifts. Most commonly, the beat is usually featured on Channel Ten's "Sports Tonight" news show.
[edit] Music video
Nickelback originally had a music video made for the song, but the video was banned from showing on music channels as it was deemed too violent. Instead, footage from a live show was shown as an alternative.
