"Never Say Never" is a song by Canadian singer Justin Bieber. The song is used as the theme song for The Karate Kid, and features a rap verse from the film's star, Jaden Smith. Originally a risque demo with sexual lyrics performed by American singer Travis Garland, it was written and produced by The Messengers, and Omarr Rambert. However, Bieber was tapped to record the song for the film. He re-wrote the song with the original artists along with Jaden Smith and his vocal producer Kuk Harrell, to feature inspirational lyrics to foil the film's theme.
The song was released for digital download in the United States on June 8, 2010. The song was later included as an acoustic track on the remix album My Worlds Acoustic (2010) and both the acoustic and single versions were on the compilation album My Worlds: The Collection (2010). To promote Bieber's 3D concert film of the same name, the song was released as the lead single and the only single from Bieber's second remix album, Never Say Never: The Remixes.
"Never Say Never" peaked within the top twenty in Canada, Norway, and New Zealand, while reaching the top forty in Australia, as well as charting in other international markets. After it was re-released as the lead single and the only single from – The Remixes, promoting his film, the single peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Bieber's second top-ten single in the United States. Its accompanying music video, directed by Honey, features Smith and Bieber in a recording studio playing around and dancing, and is intercut with scenes from the film. He has notably performed the song on Today and on his My World Tour. Smith joined Bieber during the tour's stop at Madison Square Garden to perform the song for scenes in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Background
A demo of the song, "Sexy Together" was originally recorded by Travis Garland. Reportedly the song was re-written by its original writers Adam Messinger, Nasri, Omarr Rambert, and his vocal producer Kuk Harrell, while Smith added lines. Carina Adly MacKenzie of Zap2it preferred Bieber and Smith's version, commenting, "No wonder Bieb skipped this version -- it's a total snoozer. You'd think that a song about dying would be more interesting than a song about little kids doing karate... but no." Bieber hinted at the collaboration by posting a promo photo of himself and Smith on his Twitter, and also posting that a video of his would premiere before "Somebody to Love," the second single from his studio album debut, My World 2.0. The song was confirmed when the track listing for the soundtrack was revealed. It was released on iTunes in the United States on June 8, 2010.
Composition
"Never Say Never" is a teen pop track which includes hip hop elements. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, "Never Say Never" is set in common time with a metronome of 96 beats per minute, which is described as "steady, not too fast." It is composed in the key of A minor with vocals spanning from the low-note of G3 to the high-note of C6. The song follows in the chord progression of Am–C–G–D Bieber provides lead vocals in the song while Smith provides the backing with rap interludes. The song is a "motivational track," containing inspirational lyrics, such as Bieber singing about a life filled with adversity, through lines like, "I never thought that I could walk through fire / I never thought that I could take the burn/ never had the strength to take it higher". Idolator thought the song as a tween-friendly version of Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Smith's lines reference his father, and puns in the phrase, "raised by the power of Will". He also makes reference to his lineage by saying "Born from two stars so the moon's where I land.", as he is the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who are both Hollywood stars. Smith also makes references to Luke Skywalker and Kobe Bryant in his lines.