Never Ending Story

Album: The Neverending Story soundtrack (1984)
Charted: 4 17
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Keith Forsey and Giorgio Moroder wrote this song for The NeverEnding Story, a 1984 film about a boy, Atreyu, who enters a magical land and must save it from destruction. It's a fantasy film, and the song matches the tone, with magical keyboards, windy sound effects, and mysterious lyrics like "Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds."

    Moroder was an architect of the disco era, writing and producing most of Donna Summer's hits. In the '80s, he updated his sound and teamed up with Forsey to write the theme song to Flashdance. Forsey also co-wrote the Simple Minds hit "Don't You (Forget About Me)."
  • Limahl (real name: Chris Hamill), is best known as lead singer of Kajagoogoo, who had a hit in 1983 with "Too Shy." That same year, he was ousted from the group and embarked on solo career. "Never Ending Story" gave him a solid solo hit, but he never had another hit in America and had just a few minor hits in Europe. Kajagoogoo carried on without him, releasing a moderately successful album in 1984 called Islands, but going into steep decline soon after and splitting up after their next album. In the '00s, Limahl reunited with the band for various appearances.
  • The female voice on this track is the American singer Beth Anderson.
  • Shooter Jennings recorded this song with Brandi Carlile for his 2016 album Countach (For Giorgio), a tribute to Giorgio Moroder. Carlile is a huge fan of the movie and has the logo tattooed on both of her arms. When Jennings met her at a Johnny Cash tribute concert, he noticed them and asked her to sing on this track.
  • "Never Ending Story" plays a key role in the Netflix series Stranger Things. In the last episode of season 3 (2019), Dustin needs help from his girlfriend, Suzie, to save the world, but she won't do it until he agrees to sing the song with her - they really love the movie.

Comments: 8

  • Lio from StockholmIt is actually about a boy named Bastian who enters the magical land where he later meets Atreyu
  • Zan-d Mack from Springfield, MoThe sitar in this song really makes it sound New Agey. Awesome!!
  • Eddie from Ba, ArgentinaOn the back cover of the original UK single release (both 7" and 12"), Beth Anderson is credited in big letters. But neither the German nor the US release make mention of her name. One important thing to mention - the song was composed and produced by Giorgio Moroder, and the lyrics by Keith Forsey.
    The UK and the German 12" releases featured the 12" Mix, with the 7" version and 'Ivory Tower' on the flipside. The US 12" is completely different, featuring the Club Mix and an Instrumental Version (which isn't 'exactly' instrumental, rather a Dub Version with almost full lyrics, just the 2nd verse missing - a great version, by the way).
  • Mike from Santa Barbara, CaI never liked the song "Too Shy," but I always enjoyed this one. And Beth Anderson does great back-up.
  • Nelson from MelbourneGood song, great movie!
  • Patrick from Tallapoosa, GaYes, it was. A short version was played during the opening credits; the full version during the closing credits. I think the movie came out at a fairly appropriate time. The movie was about how a young boy is asked to save a fantasy land in danger of being destroyed by a "Nothing", an unseen force that wipes everything out of existence. I think the major message of this movie is that children are slowly losing their gift of imagination, due to television, video games, and the like.
  • Liz from Massapequa, Nywas this used in the movie "Never Ending Story"?
  • Dave from Cardiff, WalesThe female vocals in the chorus were sung by actress Beth Anderson (who is actually seen in the video for the song more than Limahl!). Some singles creditted the song to 'LIMAHL (featuring Beth Anderson)', although by and large she's not creditted as a performer in her own right officially on this song. Following the acrimonious split from Kajagoogoo, Limahl also had a solo hit with "Only For Love".
see more comments

Editor's Picks

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's Songs

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's SongsSong Writing

"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?