The NeverEnding Story (song)

"Never Ending Story" is the title song from the English version of the 1984 film The NeverEnding Story. It was produced and composed by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder and performed by English pop singer Limahl. He released two versions of the song, one in English and one in French. The English version featured vocals by Beth Andersen, and the French version, titled L'Histoire Sans Fin, featured vocals by Ann Calvert. It was a success in many countries, reaching No. 1 in both Norway and Sweden, No. 2 in Austria, West Germany and Italy, No. 4 in the UK, No. 6 in Australia and No. 6 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Background and writing
The song was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, though it (and other electronic pop elements of the soundtrack) is not present in the German version of the film, which features Klaus Doldinger's score exclusively.

Beth Andersen recorded her words in the USA separately from Limahl's. Andersen does not appear in the music video; frequent Limahl back-up singer Mandy Newton lip-syncs Andersen's part.

Legacy
In the final episode of the third season of Stranger Things, set in 1985, "Never Ending Story" is sung by Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and his long-distance girlfriend Suzie (Gabriella Pizzolo) as a way to reconnect after not seeing each other for some time. Following the season's release on July 4, 2019, interest in "The NeverEnding Story" surged; viewership of the original music video had increased by 800% within a few days according to YouTube, while Spotify reported an 825% increase in stream requests for the song. Limahl expressed gratitude towards Netflix for this; while he had not watched the series, he was told of the song's inclusion by his nephews and watched clips of the duet. Limahl had previously found a similar increase in his past work when the network used his band Kajagoogoo's song "Too Shy" in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. In June 2024, ITV used an arrangement of the song in their opening for coverage of the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship.

Track listings

 * 7" single
 * 1) "Never Ending Story"
 * 2) "Ivory Tower" by Giorgio Moroder


 * 12" single
 * 1) "Never Ending Story" (club mix) – 6:09
 * 2) "Never Ending Story" (instrumental version) – 5:28


 * 12" maxi
 * 1) "Never Ending Story" (12" mix) – 5:17
 * 2) "Never Ending Story" (7" mix) – 3:30
 * 3) "Ivory Tower" (12" mix) (instrumental) by Giorgio Moroder – 5:54


 * iTunes single
 * 1) "Never Ending Story" (12" mix) – 5:20
 * 2) "Never Ending Story" (Giorgio 7" mix) – 3:31
 * 3) "Never Ending Story" (Rusty 7" mix) – 3:54
 * 4) "Never Ending Story" (12" dance mix) – 6:08
 * 5) "Never Ending Story" (12" dub mix) – 5:27
 * 6) "Ivory Tower" by Giorgio Moroder – 3:08
 * 7) "Ivory Tower" (12" mix) by Giorgio Moroder – 5:55

Official mixes

 * "Never Ending Story" (7" mix) – 3:28
 * "Never Ending Story" (12" mix) – 5:17
 * "Never Ending Story" (club mix) – 6:09
 * "Never Ending Story" (instrumental version) – 5:28

Personnel

 * Limahl – lead vocals and backing vocals
 * Beth Andersen – lead vocals and backing vocals
 * Dee Harris – electric guitar
 * Giorgio Moroder – synthesizers, sequencer and sampler
 * Keith Forsey – drum machine

Cover versions

 * For The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, the song was performed by Joe Milner, heard during the closing credits.
 * J-pop group E-Girls covered a Japanese version of the song in 2013. It debuted in the second place of the Oricon weekly singles chart.
 * American pop punk group New Found Glory covered the song on their 2000 EP From the Screen to Your Stereo.
 * Shooter Jennings and Brandi Carlile covered the song on Jennings' 2016 Giorgio Moroder tribute album Countach (For Giorgio).