Story Behind the Song: Danielle Bradbery, ‘Never Have I Ever’
Danielle Bradbery's "Never Have I Ever" didn't start out about a specific relationship, but in a funny turn of events, it's become about one. Although she was thinking in hypotheticals when she wrote the song with Laura Veltz and David Hodges, Bradbery says all of the feelings in its lyrics, she feels with her current beau.
The two met after Bradbery co-wrote the song, but an opening line from this guy (whose name is Bennett, per Bradbery's Instagram account) when they first started talking on social media brought the song to the forefront of her mind. Read on as Bradbery shares the story behind "Never Have I Ever," in her own words.
I co-wrote it here and Nashville, and Laura and David are unbelievable writers that, I was super lucky to be in the room with them.
You know, how every write happens for me personally is, we go in there and we just talk about what each other have been up to, and talk about life, and, you know, then then ask me, "So what is your music looking like right now? What's next for you?" And I say, "I'm looking for new songs, I'm starting to work on a new project, I need good songs."
And Laura actually had the title in her phone: "Never Have I Ever." And I was like, "Oh, I love that, and I don't think I've heard a song like that." We all know the game Never Have I Ever, but I haven't put in the perspective of the song.
At the time, I was actually single ... and I know a lot of people are says, "This has to be about your new boyfriend," which, I title it, it is. [Now], I'm like, "Oh, yeah, this is about him for sure," but in the moment, I was single and I wasn't dating around, and I was, you know -- this feel was something I was hoping for.
And Laura and David were telling me stories about their moments like this. And what the song is about is meeting somebody that's making you feel like you've never felt before, and they're completely sweeping you off your feet, and I was just hoping for that: I was hoping for somebody to come in and just save me from what I went through with the second record [2017's I Don't Believe We've Met].
And that's exactly what happened: I met somebody, and what's crazy -- a little quick story -- is, I reached out to him on social media, which is the first time I've ever done that, and I said, "Hey, have you ever been to Nashville?" His first response was, "Never have I ever. Have you been to LA?"
And I'm like, "Wait, what?!" And I had the song, "Never Have I Ever," I was sitting on, and I went back and listened to that song as soon as he said that, and it just all worked out the way it's supposed to. Every feel that I sing to you in that song is exactly how my current relationship started.
So, I just say it's about him, but in the moment, we were definitely talking about those feelings, and Laura had the title, and we just ran with that.
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