{{short description|1993 single by Liz Phair}} {{Infobox song | name = Never Said | cover = | alt = | border = yes | type = single | artist = Liz Phair | album = Exile in Guyville | released = 1993 | recorded = | studio = Idful, Chicago, Illinois | genre = * Indie rock | length = {{duration|m=3|s=16}} | label = Matador | writer = Liz Phair | producer = Brad Wood | chronology = Liz Phair | prev_title = Carnivore | prev_year = 1993 | next_title = Stratford-on-Guy | next_year = 1994 | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|m1tMfKl5b8M|"Never Said"}}}} }}
'''"Never Said"''' is a song by American singer-songwriter Liz Phair from her debut studio album ''Exile in Guyville'' (1993). It was released as the lead single from the album in 1993 by Matador Records.
==Writing and inspiration== "Never Said" was written collaboratively between Phair and Brad Wood. Phair intended to write a "big radio hit" for ''Exile in Guyville'', stating that she believes the fifth song on an album's track listing is the most important song.<ref name="RS">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/he-said-she-said-how-liz-phair-took-the-rolling-stones-to-guyville-73618/|title=He Said, She Said: How Liz Phair Took the Rolling Stones to 'Guyville'|last=Ganz|first=Caryn|date=May 21, 2010|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=December 12, 2020|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The song was written as an answer song to The Rolling Stones's 1972 single "Tumbling Dice", with Phair commenting that she wanted to create a "female version" of the song.<ref name="RS"/> "Never Said" was originally written under the title "Clean" for Phair's ''GIRLSGIRLSGIRLS'' bootleg cassette. In an interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Phair said that the concept of the song was developed through her observations of members from the alternative rock band Urge Overkill and how she can be just as "unaccountable".<ref name="RS"/> However, Phair has also stated that the song can more broadly relate to the music scene as a whole.<ref name="RS2">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/liz-phair-breaks-down-exile-in-guyville-track-by-track-628853/|title=Liz Phair Breaks Down 'Exile in Guyville,' Track by Track|last=Spanos|first=Brittany |date=May 4, 2018|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=December 12, 2020|df=mdy-all}}</ref> She further explained the meaning of the song: <blockquote> [This was] just kind of like about the music scene and how catty it was. People were always getting upset about something that someone had said about their band or whatever the latest gossip was. To me, I love the way that song is speaking in a rock shorthand. Like, “I ain’t done nothing wrong, I never said nothing.” There’s something insouciant and punk rock to just overtly speak in street language or street lingo or something. There’s just something that I always liked about that.<ref name="RS2"/> </blockquote>
==Composition== Phair has described the song's lyrics as "about the music scene and how catty it was. People were always getting upset about something that someone had said about their band or whatever the latest gossip was",<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/liz-phair-breaks-down-exile-in-guyville-track-by-track-628853/ Liz Phair Breaks Down ‘Exile in Guyville,’ Track by Track ]</ref> and given every song on ''Exile in Guyville'' is supposed to be a response to The Rolling Stones album ''Exile on Main St.'', "Never Said" was a parallel to "Tumbling Dice" in that "I could be just as unaccountable" in not saying certain things, just like men are regarding going out with as many women as possible.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/he-said-she-said-how-liz-phair-took-the-rolling-stones-to-guyville-73618/ He Said, She Said: How Liz Phair Took the Rolling Stones to ‘Guyville’ ]</ref>
==Airplay== "Never Said" received substantial play on college radio stations, and eventually went into rotation on mainstream alternative rock stations,<ref name="encyclopedia">{{cite web|last1=Brennan|first1=Carol|last2=Gibner|first2=Jason|title=Phair, Liz (encyclopedia entry)|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/liz-phair|website=Encyclopedia.com|accessdate=2 March 2017}}</ref> including WTCX and WLOL.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Borzillo|first1=Carrie|title=Can Radio Handle 2 Modern Rock Webs?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQgEAAAAMBAJ&q=liz+phair+never+said+airplay&pg=PA76|website=Google Books|date=5 March 1994|publisher=Billboard/Nielsen Business Media|accessdate=2 March 2017}}</ref>
==Music video== The official music video for "Never Said" was shot at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory by Katy Maguire.<ref name="popmatters">{{cite web|last1=Vallese|first1=Joe|title=Strange Loops Liz Phair – "Never Said"|url=http://www.popmatters.com/post/171859-strange-loops-liz-phair-never-said/|website=PopMatters|date=28 May 2013 |accessdate=2 March 2017}}</ref> The video includes footage of Phair pretending to drown in the water and strolling through a greenhouse, an animated photo strip in which Phair is shown making funny faces, and two boys giggling in a dark room.<ref name="popmatters" />
==Legacy== "Never Said" continues to be highly regarded by many critics. In a retrospective review of "Exile in Guyville," ''The New Yorker'''s Bill Wyman reflected that the song "contains one of Phair’s most enduring tricks, stirring in youthful, almost adolescent concerns to a very adult admixture, worked out over another set of enticing chord changes [....] The song’s not about truth or lies, and not whether you believe the character but whether, in the end, you understand that, lying or telling the truth, she’d probably say the same thing."<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Wyman|first1=Bill|title="Exile in Guyville" at Twenty|url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/exile-in-guyville-at-twenty|magazine=The New Yorker|publisher=Conde Nast|accessdate=2 March 2017}}</ref> PopMatters' Joe Vallese reflected that "Phair was aiming not high, but pointedly, wishing to prove herself capable and courageous to select naysayers in the Chicago indie scene."<ref name="popmatters" /> MTV commented that Phair "comes across like your cool big sister who's home from college and showing off her newfound grown-up skills."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Snyder|first1=Julene|title=Ushering in the Era of Estrogen|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/514296/ushering-in-the-era-of-estrogen/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303044951/http://www.mtv.com/news/514296/ushering-in-the-era-of-estrogen/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 3, 2017|website=MTV|publisher=Viacom|accessdate=2 March 2017}}</ref>
In 2007,<ref name="imdb">{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152814|title=100 Greatest Songs of the 90's (TV Movie 2007) - IMDb|work=IMDb|publisher=Amazon|accessdate=November 16, 2021}}</ref> the song was listed as the 89th greatest song of the 1990s by VH1.<ref name="prnewswire">{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vh1s-100-greatest-songs-of-the-90s-grunges-up-as-nirvanas-smells-like-teen-spirit-takes-the-1-spot-58674152.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324062542/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vh1s-100-greatest-songs-of-the-90s-grunges-up-as-nirvanas-smells-like-teen-spirit-takes-the-1-spot-58674152.html|title=VH1's '100 Greatest Songs of the 90s' Grunges Up as Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' Takes the #1 Spot|work=PR Newswire|publisher=Cision|archivedate=March 24, 2014|accessdate=November 16, 2021}}</ref>
==Credits and personnel== Credits and personnel are adapted from the ''Exile in Guyville'' album liner notes.<ref>{{cite AV media notes|others=Liz Phair|title=Exile in Guyville|year=1993|type=Inlay cover|publisher=Matador|id=OLE 051-2}}</ref> *Liz Phair – writer, guitar, vocals *Brad Wood – bass guitar, drums, producer *Casey Rice – lead guitar
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{AllMusic|song|id=mt0007272790|label="Never Said"}}
{{Liz Phair}}
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Category:1993 debut singles Category:Liz Phair songs Category:Matador Records singles Category:Songs written by Liz Phair Category:1993 songs Category:Song recordings produced by Brad Wood