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Writers Behind Darius Rucker’s & Jennifer Nettles’ ‘Never Been Over’ Talk Bringing Multiple Meanings to a Slow Descent


The creators behind Darius Rucker and Jennifer Nettles' "Never Been Over" discuss the song's writing and recording process.

The chorus employs a series of separation images – splitting up the household items, burning old letters or waving goodbye – that often appear in songs about a breakup, but it notes in the process that the couple has no experience with that stuff: “We’ve never been over.” When Rucker eventually recorded it, he made an acoustic version at the Blackbird Studios with producer Ross Copperman (Dierks Bentley, Gabby Barrett) and just three or four musicians. During the first round of sessions, they discussed turning “Never Been Over” into a duet – “There was initial talk of Kacey Musgraves doing it,” Copperman remembers – though it remained a solo cut on the Carolyn’s Boy album, released by Capitol Nashville on Oct. 6, 2023.

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