Drake Jensen’s Anthem of Perseverance

Modern Reworking of 80s Smash “Never Surrender”

By James Barker, Staff Writer

Drake Jensen is starting the new year with a new song: “Never Surrender”. Featuring Lisa Thompson, Jensen transforms Corey Hart’s 80’s power ballad into a song for 2021 that’s a tribute to essential workers, a statement of solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and a beautiful (90s-esque) country duet all in one.

The song starts off softly with Jensen’s country crooning against a backdrop of acoustic and steel guitar before building to its big chorus. Jensen’s recording of this song manages to give a feeling of quiet intimacy alongside bombast. At this moment in a global pandemic, it is our individual, everyday actions that are vital and have collective significance. The song is a tribute to essential workers around the world: nurses, doctors, cleaners, store clerks and teachers.

Country as a genre has often acknowledged the people behind the everyday labor that is too often taken for granted. This track is made for the moment.

The gorgeous music video for “Never Surrender” was shot in Quebec, featuring Jensen and Thompson in a sublime pastoral snowy landscape interspersed with footage of Black Lives Matter, protests against Trump, and healthcare workers. All as if to say, alongside the song’s seemingly apolitical sentimentality and in the isolation of the rural landscape, is a strong resolve to engage and interact with the world right now. “Never Surrender” masterfully manages its scope, so that it is both an easy listening love song and a political anthem dedicated to those striving against the odds for a better world in 2021.

“Never Surrender” is available now on all major streaming services.