You probably know the song. It is one of those rare tracks that feels like it belongs to everyone. Whether you’re hearing the soulful, adolescent longing of Michael Jackson in 1971, the high-energy disco pulse of Gloria Gaynor in '74, or the synth-pop melancholy of The Communards in the 80s, the melody is unmistakable. It’s a classic. But when people ask who wrote Never Can Say Goodbye, they often expect to hear the name of a Motown staff writer or a professional hit-making duo like Holland-Dozier-Holland.
The truth is actually way more interesting.
It wasn't a veteran songwriter or a keyboard-pounding studio shark who penned those lyrics. It was an actor. A guy named Clifton Davis. If you grew up in the 80s, you know him as the Reverend Reuben Gregory from the sitcom Amen. If you’re a theater geek, you know him from Two Gentlemen of Verona or his later work in Aladdin on Broadway. But before the TV fame and the Tony nominations, Davis was just a struggling artist with a broken heart and a pen.
The accidental songwriter
Clifton Davis didn't sit down with the intention of creating a gold record for The Jackson 5. Honestly, he wasn't even a songwriter by trade at the time. He was an actor. He was also going through a messy breakup. You know that feeling when you're done with someone but you're not really done? That frustrating, circular logic where you know you should leave, but the door just won't stay shut? That’s where this song came from.
He wrote it in about 20 minutes. Just 20 minutes sitting at a piano, venting his personal frustration. It was a demo. A sketch. He wasn't thinking about the Billboard charts. He was thinking about a girl.
Music history is littered with these "lightning in a bottle" moments. Sometimes the most calculated attempts at a hit song fail, while a raw, emotional outburst becomes an anthem. Davis took the song to Motown, but not as a writer. He was actually trying to get a job as an actor or a performer. Instead, he ended up handing over a cassette.
Motown takes notice
Berry Gordy and the team at Motown had a legendary ear for hits. When they heard the demo of what Clifton Davis had written, they knew it was something special. Originally, there was some talk about the song potentially going to The Supremes. Can you imagine that? A post-Diana Ross Supremes version would have been smooth, sure, but it wouldn't have had that specific "lightning" the world eventually got.
Instead, the song was handed to a group of brothers from Gary, Indiana.
The Jackson 5 were at a turning point. They were moving away from the "bubblegum soul" of I Want You Back and ABC and moving toward something slightly more mature—even if Michael was still just a kid. When Michael Jackson stepped into the booth to record who wrote Never Can Say Goodbye, he brought a vulnerability that Clifton Davis hadn't even fully realized was in the lyrics. Michael was barely a teenager, yet he sang about the "helpless and hopeless feeling" of a failing relationship with the weight of a man three times his age.
📖 Related: Zach Williams There Was Jesus: The Story Behind the Song That Surprised Everyone
Why the song worked across genres
It is a masterpiece of structure. That's why it survived the transition from Motown to Disco. When Gloria Gaynor took it on a few years later, she changed the vibe entirely. She turned it into a dance floor survival anthem. This version is historically significant because it was part of the first-ever continuous "disco mix" on a side of an album. It proved that Davis’s writing was sturdy.
A bad song falls apart when you change the tempo. A great song, like this one, just reveals a different side of itself.
In Gaynor’s hands, the song became a massive hit for the second time. It reached the top ten. It became a staple of the New York club scene. And then, a decade later, it happened again with Jimmy Somerville and The Communards. Three different decades. Three different genres. One songwriter who was mostly known for his acting.
The royalty check that changed everything
Clifton Davis has been very open about how this song changed his life. In various interviews over the years, he’s joked—and he’s probably only half-joking—that the song allowed him to survive the lean years of being an actor. When you write a song that Michael Jackson and Gloria Gaynor both turn into classics, you don't just get a trophy. You get a steady stream of mailbox money that lasts for decades.
It’s a wild trajectory. Davis went from being a guy worried about his next acting gig to being the answer to one of music's most popular trivia questions. He eventually wrote other songs, including Lookin' Through the Windows for the Jacksons, but nothing ever quite reached the stratosphere like his first big hit.
Debunking the Motown "Machine" myth
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Motown era is that everything was manufactured by an in-house assembly line. While they did have a system, they weren't closed off to outside brilliance. If a song was good, it didn't matter if it came from a staffer or a random actor who walked in off the street.
People often assume Berry Gordy wrote it. He didn't.
People think Michael Jackson wrote it. He was twelve.
People think Isaac Hayes wrote it (he did a famous cover, but no).
The credit belongs solely to Clifton Davis. It’s important to give him his flowers because, in the 70s, Black artists often struggled to maintain ownership of their publishing. Davis was savvy enough—or lucky enough—to be credited properly, ensuring his legacy was tied to the track forever.
The song's technical brilliance
If you look at the composition, it’s actually quite complex. The bridge—"Every time I think I've had enough / And start heading for the door"—shifts the energy in a way that creates genuine tension. It mimics the heart rate of someone in an argument.
- Vulnerability: The lyrics admit defeat.
- The Hook: It’s repetitive but never annoying.
- Universal appeal: Everyone has stayed in a relationship too long.
Davis managed to capture a universal human experience without using clichés. He didn't use "moon" and "june" rhymes. He used "pain" and "strain." It was gritty for a pop song.
What this means for songwriters today
There is a lesson here. You don't need a 50-person writing camp or a degree in music theory to write a standard. You need a 20-minute window of absolute honesty. Clifton Davis was feeling a specific type of pain, and he put it on paper.
Today, we see songs with fifteen credited writers. Never Can Say Goodbye has one. That’s why it feels so cohesive. It’s one man’s perspective. When you listen to it now, whether it's the Jackson 5 version or a modern cover, you're hearing the residue of a breakup that happened over fifty years ago.
💡 You might also like: Piano no Mori: Why This 2007 Movie Still Hits Different for Music Fans
That is the power of a well-written song. It immortalizes a moment that would otherwise be forgotten.
Checking the legacy
If you want to dive deeper into the catalog of the man who wrote Never Can Say Goodbye, don't just stop at the Jacksons. Check out Clifton Davis’s own performances. He’s a powerhouse. He has a smoothness that explains why he was able to navigate the worlds of Broadway, Hollywood, and the church so effortlessly.
The song has been covered by everyone from Isaac Hayes to The Communards to Nicole Scherzinger. It has appeared in movies, commercials, and TV shows like The Simpsons and Glee. It’s a permanent part of the cultural furniture.
To truly appreciate the track, listen to the different versions back-to-back. Listen to how Michael Jackson treats it like a tragedy. Listen to how Gloria Gaynor treats it like a celebration. Then remember it all started with an actor at a piano, just trying to figure out why he couldn't walk away from a girl.
Next Steps for Music Enthusiasts:
- Compare the stems: Find the isolated vocal tracks of Michael Jackson’s 1971 recording. You can hear the raw emotion in his voice before the orchestration swells.
- Study the "Disco Edit": Look up the history of Tom Moulton’s mix of the Gloria Gaynor version. It changed how dance music was produced forever by introducing the "extended mix."
- Explore Clifton Davis’s broader work: Watch clips of Amen or his Broadway performances to see the range of the man behind the pen. It’s rare to find someone who conquered two entirely different industries so completely.
The song is a reminder that sometimes, your "side hustle" or your "venting" might actually be your greatest contribution to the world. Davis thought he was an actor who wrote a song. The world decided he was a songwriter who happened to act. Either way, the music isn't going anywhere.