About The Song
Released on June 6, 1987, “I’ll Never Be in Love Again” served as the fifth single from Don Williams’ album New Moves on Capitol Records. The album itself had arrived on January 17, 1986, marking Williams’ first project for the label after years with ABC/Dot. Co-produced by Williams and Garth Fundis, the three-minute-ten-second track featured “Send Her Roses” on the B-side and reflected the slightly more polished yet still understated arrangements that defined the record’s ten songs.
New Moves represented a transitional chapter for the Texas-born singer. By the mid-1980s, Williams had already compiled more than three dozen top-ten country hits, earning the nickname Gentle Giant for his warm baritone and relaxed delivery. The album, his fifteenth studio release, reached number 29 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and included other singles such as “Señorita” and “Heartbeat in the Darkness.” Sessions took place with Williams actively shaping the sound from the control room alongside Fundis, a longtime collaborator known for clean, effective production work since the early 1970s.
The song came from writer Bob Corbin, one half of the duo Corbin/Hanner. Williams had previously scored success with material from Corbin, and this track fit neatly into his catalog of straightforward emotional stories. Recording maintained the acoustic leanings that had long defined his style, with sparse instrumentation supporting the vocal without drawing attention away from the message.
The single climbed to number four on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, marking Williams’ 35th top-ten hit overall. It entered the chart at number 68 as one of the week’s strongest debuts and spent a career-high 26 weeks on the best-sellers list at the time. The track also reached number 15 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks survey, contributing to year-end positioning at number 30 on the U.S. country chart for 1987.
In the lyrics, the narrator addresses a departing partner with calm acceptance. Lines acknowledge the freedom to move on while quietly admitting that the heart will not mend. The chorus repeats the resolve never to fall in love again, tempered by the admission of finding occasional companionship but nothing deeper. This gentle resignation, delivered without bitterness, captured the everyday heartbreak that listeners had come to expect from Williams’ recordings.
The performance extended Williams’ run of consistent success into the late 1980s. It preceded his next hit “I Wouldn’t Be a Man” and demonstrated how his unhurried approach continued to connect even as country music edged toward more contemporary production. The extended chart stay reflected sustained radio support for the kind of measured storytelling that had defined much of his work since the early 1970s.
Years later, the song stood as another example of Williams’ ability to turn personal farewell into something universal and understated. It bridged his earlier folk-influenced days with the Capitol era, reinforcing the direct emotional honesty that kept his music relevant across decades until his death in 2017.
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Lyric
You can write your own ticket now
I’ll get by without you somehow
Don’t you worry ’bout what I’ll do
I’ll be fine without you
You say you think the change will do you good
If you feel that way well I guess it would
I can live my life without you
I’ve got places to go and things to do
But I’ll never be in love again
My poor old heart will never mend
Oh I’ll find someone to hold now and then
But I’ll never be in love again
Something went wrong along the way
And there’s nothing I can do to make you stay
Well I never tried to put holds on you
That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do
So you go your way, I’ll go mine
And if our paths should cross somewhere down the line
I’ll just say hello and shake your hand
But if tears come to my eyes please understand