"No One Ever Does" was produced and composed by Trent Reznor for Saul Williams' third studio album, The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust!.
Saul Williams on "No One Ever Does"
"Another one of the original 14. [A CD of outtakes provided by Reznor] The first thing that I wrote to the music was a poem called Pedagogue of Young Gods which Trent and I recorded one morning in Syracuse. It was a cool recording because we did it in one take at about 10 am and it really worked nicely. Later that day, my girlfriend broke up with me or rather said that she needed space. With the same music in my head I began listening to the piano line and writing very simply on top of it. I remember sitting in the dressing room, trying to hide my tears as I wrote. Honestly, I rape my emotional life for arts sake. I knew that what I was feeling was a bit melodramatic since it was actually a very clean, in fact beautiful, split, but it felt good to let out the emotion constructively. I think I recorded the song straight into my lap top first before sharing it with Trent and Atticus. CX was drinking beer in the background."
Song Credits
- Music by Trent Reznor (Leaving Hope)
- Words by Saul Williams (Punk Rock of Gibraltar/EMI)
- Vox: Saul Williams
Appearances
Versions
No One Ever Does
This version is heard on The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust!.
Lyrics
Memories are like promises that are seldom kept.
Hence, why Jesus wept.
Every day,
We are torn away from the one we love.
There’s no God above.
Only if you would spend your gift to uphold the truth of just me and you.
And we represent all the time we’ve spent getting to this day. There’s no other way.
Aren’t we whom we claim to be the descendents of, whom we place above?
We must place within and slowly begin to love.
No one ever does.
Suddenly, who I thought was me was not me at all and I feel so small. Sitting way beneath who I want to be.
I don’t want to be who I’ve grown to be.
Only if I might somehow riff on the way before, let it be some more.
Lift me from this floor. If I can’t walk I’ll crawl to love.
No one ever does