Never Tear Us Apart


"Never Tear Us Apart" is a single released by Australian rock group INXS in August 1988. It was included on the band's sixth studio album, Kick. The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded a blues-style demo; vocalist Michael Hutchence 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 ', the song was 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 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.
In February 2014, after the Channel 7 screening of ' 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.
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Never Tear Us Apart" was ranked number 18.

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. 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.
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. 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.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

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"

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" – 3:36
  2. "Precious Heart" – 7:40
  3. "Precious Heart" – 7:40
  4. "Precious Heart" – 8:41
  5. "Precious Heart" – 8:42
UK CD single
  1. "Precious Heart" – 3:36
  2. "Precious Heart" – 7:40
  3. "Precious Heart" – 8:42

    Official versions

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. 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 was to be the first single from the 2010 INXS album in November in France and Belgium.

Paloma Faith version

"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. Faith later confirmed that the song would be released as her next single on 23 September 2012. She commented "I have always loved this song and I feel honoured to sing it." "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. The artwork for the song shows the singer saluting, while wearing a metallic gold dress, with "a honeycomb-like bottom half".
Faith's version of the song can be heard on the opening scene of fifteenth season episode "Beast's Obsession." It is also heard in Netflix Series "Umbrella Academy".

Reception

's Lewis Corner gave Faith's version of the song four out of five stars. 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." He added that while it was always going to be tough topping the original, Faith comes "admirably close."

Track listing

; Digital download
  1. "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:05
  2. "Never Tear Us Apart" – 3:05

    Charts

Certifications

Release history