Never Tear Us Apart

"Never Tear Us Apart"
Single by INXS
from the album Kick
B-side	"Different World" (7" mix) "Guns in the Sky" (Kick Ass Remix)
Released	8 August 1988
Format	7" 12" cassette single
Recorded	1987
Genre	Pop rock,[1] symphonic rock
Length	3:02 (single version) 3:43 (video version)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Andrew Farriss Michael Hutchence
Producer(s)	Chris Thomas
INXS singles chronology
"New Sensation" (1988) "Never Tear Us Apart" (1988) "Kick" (1988)
Kick track listing "Wild Life" (7) "Never Tear Us Apart" (8) "Mystify" (9)

"Never Tear Us Apart" is a single released by Australian rock group INXS in August 1988. It was also included on the band's sixth studio album, Kick. The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded a blues-style demo and gave it to vocalist Michael Hutchence who wrote the lyrics.

"Never Tear Us Apart" is a sensuous ballad, written in the tempo of a modern Viennese waltz, layered with synthesizers and containing dramatic pauses before the instrumental breaks. Kirk Pengilly lends a cathartic saxophone solo near the end. According to the liner notes of Shine Like It Does: The Anthology (1979–1997), 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, featuring an extended intro, was filmed in various locations in Prague^[2] along with "Guns in the Sky" and "New Sensation", all directed by Richard Lowenstein.

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

After his death in 1997, Michael Hutchence's coffin was carried out of St. Andrews Cathedral by the remaining members of INXS and younger brother Rhett, as "Never Tear Us Apart" was played in the background. This song is now thought of by many original INXS fans as Hutchence's anthem.

The song was used in the opening sequence of Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut. It would have been featured in the original release had the rights for it not been deemed too expensive by the producers. ("The Killing Moon" by Echo & the Bunnymen served as its replacement.)^[3]

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

Recently, the song has been adopted by The Squadron, the Newcastle United Jets supporter group, and sung in unison at the start and 90th minute of their A-League association football matches. This is in homage to the line, "cause we all have wings, but some of us don't know why", used now in reference to the Jets symbol of their club. The song's popularity among supporters has prompted a move to have the song be played at the beginning of each match, first happening on 18 October 2008, when the Jets defeated the Melbourne Victory 1−0.

In February 2014, after the Channel 7 screening of "INXS: Never Tear Us Apart" mini-series, "Never Tear Us Apart" charted again in Australia via download sales. It peaked at #11 on the ARIA Singles Chart, surpassing its original peak position of #14 back in 1988.

Use by Port Adelaide Football Club

Ever since March 2014, Australian Football League club Port Adelaide has adopted "Never Tear Us Apart" as the club's unofficial anthem leading up to the opening bounce at its new home of Adelaide Oval. It is a reference to the various and unique difficulties the club faced when trying to enter the AFL.

The Power's use of the song stemmed from a trip the Power players and staff took to Anfield in November 2012 while the Power was in England to play an exhibition match against the Western Bulldogs.^{[1 1]} In light of the rave reviews given by the Power players towards the Anfield crowd's rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone, Matthew Richardson, Port's general manager of marketing and consumer business, along with the club's management, sought to replicate the pre-match experience they experienced at Anfield. At a meeting in mid-2013, the idea of an anthem was raised; a number of various songs were suggested, including Power and the Passion by Midnight Oil, Power to the People by John Schumann. Eventually, Never Tear Us Apart was suggested by Port Adelaide's events manager Tara MacLeod. It was eventually accepted, due to the fact that the song resonated with the Power's history: when the Power entered the AFL in 1997, it was forced to cut ties with its traditional base, the Port Adelaide Magpies, forming separate administrations, separate playing bases and causing division amongst supporters.^{[1 1]}

Initially the song was introduced to coincide with the 60-second countdown before the start of a match, with the music playing over the top of a video montage. The song proved to be a success amongst the fans, with the fans adopting the song, as well as raising scarves above their heads as the song was being sung.^{[1 1]} So successful was the song that by June 2014, the club were forced to print club colored scarves with the words "Never Tear Us Apart" on them that fans would hold aloft and sing in unison prior to the start of matches.

Cover versions

Tom Jones covered this song in his album Reload.

The song was also covered by Joe Cocker for his 2002 album Respect Yourself.

Bono, a good friend of Hutchence, sometimes snippets the chorus during live performances of several U2 songs.^[4]

The hardcore band, This Is Hell, covered the track on their 2009 EP Warbirds. "Never Tear Us Apart" was also covered by 2010 X Factor Australia winner Altiyan Childs for his self-titled debut album. In 2011, punk rock supergroup Me First and the Gimme Gimmes recorded a cover of the song on their all Australian covers EP, Go Down Under.

The Vitamin String Quartet covered the song in the 100th episode of Gossip Girl.^[5][6][7]

Beck with St. Vincent on vocals, recorded a cover of the song in May 2010 for Beck's Record Club, which invites musicians to cover an album in one day (sans rehearsal and redos) and then release one song each week as a single.^[8][9]

The Horrible Crowes recorded a cover version live on Sirius XM radio, that was used as the b-side to their single "Ladykiller".

In June 2012, American singer Carrie Underwood covered the song during one of the shows of the Australian leg of her Blown Away World Tour.^[10]

Also in 2012, Indie/Folk artist Cary Brothers covered the song as the opening track of his EP Covers Volume One.

Paloma Faith covered the song for a John Lewis TV advert, aired from 15 September 2012, and released it as the third single from her Brit Award nominated album Fall To Grace.

In 2014, Samantha Jade covered the song. It was the B-side to her single "Up!".

In 2015, Tina Arena covered the song and included it on the European edition of her Songs of Love & Loss album.

Charts

Tom Jones feat. Natalie Imbruglia version

The song was covered by Tom Jones for his 1999 album Reload featuring the Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia. The cover version also includes a music video.

Track listing

CD single

1. "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:08
2. "Sunny Afternoon" – 3:26
3. "Looking Out My Window" – 3:19
4. "Sometimes We Cry" – 5:00

Remix version: "Precious Heart"

"Precious Heart"
Single by Tall Paul vs. INXS
from the album INXS²: The Remixes
Released	2001
Format	CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	House
Label	Mercury
Writer(s)	Paul Newman Andrew Farriss Michael Hutchence
Tall Paul singles chronology
– "Precious Heart" (2001)
INXS singles chronology "Searching" (1997) "Precious Heart" (2001) "I'm So Crazy" (2001)

In 2001, a remix called "Precious Heart" was released as a single, and credited as Tall Paul vs. INXS.

Track listing

Australian CD single

1. "Precious Heart" (radio edit) – 3:36
2. "Precious Heart" (Original Mix) – 7:40
3. "Precious Heart" (Riva Mix) – 7:40
4. "Precious Heart" (Marc O'Toole Remix) – 8:41
5. "Precious Heart" (Lush Mix) – 8:42

UK CD single

1. "Precious Heart" (radio edit) – 3:36
2. "Precious Heart" (original mix) – 7:40
3. "Precious Heart" (Lush Mix) – 8:42

Official versions

• "Precious Heart" (original mix) – 7:40
• "Precious Heart" (radio edit) – 3:36
• "Precious Heart" (Lush Mix) – 8:42
• "Precious Heart" (Marc O'Toole Remix) – 8:41
• "Precious Heart" (Riva Mix) – 7:40

Charts

Never Tear Us Apart (2010 re-recording with Ben Harper and Mylène Farmer)

"Never Tear Us Apart" was re-recorded by INXS with Ben Harper for their twelfth studio album, Original Sin. The song has been released on iTunes and as a promotional single to radio stations prior to the release of the new album.

Ben Harper has been known to perform "Never Tear Us Apart" at his concerts since 2009, especially when in Australia. He revealed in an interview on Australia's Nova FM on 2 August 2010, "At this point, I've lived that song. I've lived enough years and gone through enough in my life to have earned the right to sing that song." On Sydney's Triple M, he stated "covering "Never Tear Us Apart" is like covering "Dock of the Bay". I'm not here to make grandiose over-statements - it's just a fuckin' fact. That's one of the greatest soul songs ever written."

On 1 August 2010, the song was made available on INXS.com (a playable version only, not available for download). The audio version was accompanied by a YouTube video of Ben Harper performing the song with Jon Farriss at the "Splendour in the Grass" festival at Woodford, Queensland, Australia, filmed on 30 July 2010.

The song was released on iTunes on 12 August 2010.

INXS re-recorded "Never Tear Us Apart" with Ben Harper and French singer Mylène Farmer who wrote new French lyrics for this new version. The song is due to be the first single from the 2010 INXS album in November in France and Belgium.

Paloma Faith version

"Never Tear Us Apart"
Single by Paloma Faith
from the album Fall to Grace
Released	23 September 2012
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2012
Genre	Soul soft rock
Length	3:05
Label	RCA Records
Paloma Faith singles chronology
"30 Minute Love Affair" (2012) "Never Tear Us Apart" (2012) "Just Be" (2012)

"Never Tear Us Apart" was recorded by British singer Paloma Faith for a television advertisement campaign for John Lewis. The advert began airing in the UK from 15 September 2012.^[27] Faith later confirmed that the song would be released as her next single on 23 September 2012.^[28] She commented "I have always loved this song and I feel honoured to sing it."^[28] "Never Tear Us Apart" was released as the first single from the reissued version of Faith's second studio album Fall to Grace and serves as the third single overall.^[28] The artwork for the song shows the singer saluting, while wearing a metallic gold dress, with "a honeycomb-like bottom half".^[28]

Reception

Digital Spy's Lewis Corner gave Faith's version of the song four out of five stars.^[29] He stated "It's a brave task to reinterpret a much-loved hit, but Faith's soulful tones immediately thwart any doubts that she can't do the song justice."^[29] He added that while it was always going to be tough topping the original, Faith comes "admirably close."^[29]

Track listing

Digital download^[30]

1. "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:05
2. "Never Tear Us Apart" (Orchestral Version) – 3:05

Charts

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[32]	Silver	200,000
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics