Released 1993 (1993) Length 3:16 Writer(s) Liz Phair | Genre Indie rock Label Matador | |
"Never Said"
(1993) "Stratford-On-Guy"
(1993) | ||
"Never Said" is a song written and performed by Liz Phair, released as a radio-only single from her debut album Exile in Guyville. It was the first single released from the album. Although no physical single was released for the song, a music video was released, directed by Katy McGuire.
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Airplay
"Never Said" was an airplay hit. The song received substantial play on college radio stations, and eventually went into rotation on mainstream alternative rock stations, including WTCX and WLOL.
Music video
The music video, which was a minor hit on MTV, was shot at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory. 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.
Legacy
The song 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." 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." MTV commented that Phair "comes across like your cool big sister who's home from college and showing off her newfound grown-up skills."