Never Tear Us Apart

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"Never Tear Us Apart" was a single released by Australian pop group INXS in August 1988. It was also included on the band's sixth studio album Kick. The music is by Andrew Farriss, and the lyrics are by Michael Hutchence.

"Never Tear Us Apart" is a sensuous ballad, layered with synthesizers and containing dramatic pauses before the instrumental breaks. Kirk Pengilly lends a cathartic saxophone solo near the end. According the liner notes of Shine Like It Does: The Anthology, the song was originally composed on piano as a bluesy number in the style of Fats Domino. Producer Chris Thomas suggested a synth-based arrangement instead.

The video for the song, like many from Kick, was filmed in Prague and directed by Richard Lowenstein. It is worth noting that the version of "Never Tear Us Apart" used in the video has an extended intro.

Hutchence passed away in 1997; "Never Tear Us Apart" was played during his funeral as his casket was carried out of the church.^{[citation needed]}

The single reached #24 in the UK, and stayed on the charts for 7 weeks. In the US, it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was used in the opening credits of the director's cut of the 2001 cult film Donnie Darko. It replaced the song "The Killing Moon" by Echo and the Bunnymen since it was the director's originally intended song.

In 2006 the song was voted 'Nation's Favourite Lyric' by viewers of pay TV music channel VH1.