Never Is a Promise

Apple wrote it at fifteen, after a boy she was seeing took an interest in another girl; it grew out of a diary entry and was on a high-school demo tape that reached the label through a babysitting friend and a publicist. PopMatters calls it the only track from that demo to make it onto Tidal, while Far Out says the tape held three songs. Tidal came out on July 23, 1996 on Work and Clean Slate (Sony), catalog OK 67439, produced by Andrew Slater and recorded in 1995 and 1996 at Sony in Los Angeles, Ocean Way in Hollywood and 4th Street in Los Angeles. Mark Endert recorded and mixed, and Ted Jensen mastered.

On this track Apple sings and plays piano, with Van Dyke Parks arranging strings played by Ralph Morrison and Claudia Parducci on violins, Evan Wilson on viola and Larry Corbett on cello. MusicBrainz gives 5:54 for the album track. Critics and fans read it as high-school heartbreak explained to the boy without pleading, or as a lover's broken promises; Apple has not confirmed either. It was not a single and has no chart entry. Elizabeth Burda has a cover listed on Last.fm. We found no confirmed video or setlist count.