You Never Knew
by Haim

Album: Something To Tell You (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This track's lyrical concept is how difficult it is for a touring musician to maintain a relationship, as they're away from home for long periods. Keyboardist Alana Haim explained to Pitchfork:

    "This song is a little heavy, but we're three women in a band that tours a lot. Being women in a power position, touring all the time, doing it for ourselves - when you leave, you're branded with using the tour as an exit strategy. It's really fun in the beginning, but then you're like, 'Cool, I have to leave now. Not for days, but for months.' Sometimes I'm gone for a year! But that's my job, I love what I do, and I'm not going to give that up for anyone. You have to accept me for me, and I come with this. It's hard."
  • Danielle Haim expanded on the song's lyrical concept to NPR:

    "Unfortunately, sometimes we've felt that our partner can't maybe deal with the fact that we're gone [on the road] all the time, and the fact that we're always working... some men we've found can't really deal with that. This song kind of speaks to that, some experiences we've had with imbalance in relationships, loving the idea of a relationship even though the current one is wack and one-sided. You know us: Turn a dark situation into a dance song!

    But it's also about ego. We've unfortunately experienced men's egos... dealing with three women working, that's too much sometimes for a man to deal with."
  • Haim wrote this song with British songwriter Dev Hynes, who has also penned tunes for the likes of Solange Knowles ("Losing You"), Sky Ferreira ("Everything Is Embarrassing") and Carly Rae Jepsen ("All That"). Hynes frequently collaborates with Haim producer Ariel Rechtshaid – hence the hook up.
  • The Haim sisters told Pitchfork the story of this song:

    Danielle: "Ariel has worked on a lot of his music, so when Dev was in town, Ariel was like, 'Hey, we're working, if you want to come over.' He's got an open-door policy."

    Alana: "So we did the bare bones of this song, because Dev was only in L.A. for a day."

    Danielle: "We wrote it in an hour. He's so easy to write with. We were all just spit-firing ideas. There's a lot of guitar noodling on this one, too."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Jimmy Jam

Jimmy JamSongwriter Interviews

The powerhouse producer behind Janet Jackson's hits talks about his Boyz II Men ballads and regrouping The Time.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.