John Legend’s “Never Break” Lyrics Meaning

In the first verse of “Never Break”, John Legend refers to the addressee as “baby”. However, it is never actually specified that the relationship between them is a romance. But of course via the usage of such a designation that would be the presumption, even if Legend has described this piece in more of general, motivational kind of ways.

So when you combine those two ideas, the result would be what we term as an us-against-the-world song, where no setback is insurmountable in the eyes of the singer – so long as he and the addressee are together.

But in this case, the way that idea is put across is by the vocalist asserting that the two of them “will never break”. So more accurately put, it isn’t such that John is saying they will overcome any obstacle per se. 

Rather, it’s more along the lines of the vocalist recognizing that “the world is dangerous”, and in the grand scheme of things, you never know what troubles you’ll face down the line. But that understood, he firmly believes that he and the addressee, in unison, have the ability to prevail over any and all challenges.

Also, as alluded to earlier, despite this piece possessing a romantic undertone, it has been widely interpreted in a more general manner. 

Note

With that in mind, it also just so happened that “Never Break” was recorded just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it was released during an especially troubling year in the United States. This would be further reasons why it has been interpreted in a more general way, despite the addressee being identified as the vocalist’s “baby”.

John Legend talks about “Never Break”

According to Legend, this song is about the following key things:

• love
• hope
• resilience

Facts about “Never Break”

“Never Break” is from “Bigger Love”, John Legend’s sixth studio album, which was put out through Columbia Records on 19 June 2020.

At the time this project was released, Legend was shall we say well beyond his heyday. It is therefore not amongst the most-notable outings in Legend’s discography. Despite this, it still ended up topping the UK R&B Albums Chart.

However, “Never Break” ended up being a song associated with a tumultuous 2020 (even though it was written prior). Owing to this, it graced pertinent events that were held that year. One such events was the Democratic National Convention.

Also during 2020, Legend performed this tune at the Billboard Music Awards. During that performance, he used the opportunity to dedicate “Never Break” to his significant other, Chrissy Teigen.

It has been put forth that this song was created specifically for the soundtrack of a documentary it was featured on, Giving Voice (2020). John Legend executively co-produced the documentary in whole.

This track’s producers are as follows:

• Greg Wells
• Mr. Hudson
• Nasri
• Benjamin Rice

All of them, with the exception of Rice, also get songwriting credit alongside John Legend.