I'll Never Love

Album: Love & Hate (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Michael Kiwanuka talks here of an inability to make an emotional connection. He penned the song during a particularly low and lonesome point. Kiwanuka told Q magazine: "I thought, 'Maybe I can't love anyone properly.' That's the saddest tune I've ever written."
  • The startling lyrical honesty marks the Love & Hate record. Kiwanuka told Q: "That brutal honesty, it's a bit addictive, it's like pure therapy. It's like if you've got a bad back and you go to a chiropractor and you realize how good it feels and you just want to keep clicking your back."
  • Asked by The Guardian what his fiancée thinks of such songs as this one, Kiwanuka admitted: "At first, I couldn't play songs like I'll Never Love. I would take them off the set list at gigs she was at, because they're dark, sad songs. But they've not got anything to do with our relationship – you can go to other parts of yourself, past times, old relationships."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

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

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.