We Never Met

Album: Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Similar to Charlie Kaufman's characters in the comedy-drama movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the lyrics in this song find Donovan Woods trying to erase a relationship from his memory. In our interview with Woods, he explained: "I don't discount that as a strategy in life: just pretending something that you didn't like didn't happen [laughs]. It's a pretty good strategy sometimes to say, 'I'm going to totally forget about this and just move forward. I'm just going to pretend like it didn't even f--king happen' because some things are just awful."

    He continued, "It's probably not super healthy, but to me it would have been an interesting way to approach something like it. Working backwards from that idea, you get the rest of those verses. You get the, 'Let's say this. Let's say this. Let's say this.' You can still live a lie like that. You have to undo a lot of stuff, but that's what I was trying to do in that song."
  • Woods says that it wasn't a particular experience that inspired this song. "There are certainly events in my life that I would like to completely and totally forget about like everybody, but it's not a specific thing," he told us. "It's just that mood. The mood of feeling like, Well, how am I going to get over this? I was trying to communicate that mood for sure."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

Roger McGuinn of The ByrdsSongwriter Interviews

Roger reveals the songwriting formula Clive Davis told him, and if "Eight Miles High" is really about drugs.

Francis Rossi of Status Quo

Francis Rossi of Status QuoSongwriter Interviews

Doubt led to drive for Francis, who still isn't sure why one of Status Quo's biggest hits is so beloved.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"They're Playing My Song

It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.