David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990 in Miami, Florida) is an Ame… Read Full Bio ↴David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990 in Miami, Florida) is an American pop/R&B singer. On May 21, 2008, he became the runner-up on the seventh season of American Idol receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes. Archuleta's first single "Crush" was released on August 1 2008, which debuted on Billboard in the No. 2 spot and stayed strong on the iTunes charts for both the song and music video as No. 1.

Early life
David Archuleta was born to Jeff Archuleta and Lupe Marie, a salsa singer and dancer from Honduras. Archuleta has four siblings. Archuleta's family moved to the Salt Lake Valley, to the city of Sandy, Utah, when Archuleta was six. He was raised in Murray, Utah after moving there when he was 6 years old.

Archuleta started singing at age six, inspired by a Les Misérables video. "That musical is what started all of this," he said. He started performing publicly at age 10 when he participated in the Utah Talent Competition singing "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton; he received a standing ovation and won the Child Division.

Archuleta was inspired by watching both Tamyra Gray and Kelly Clarkson to "see what performing and really getting into a song was like" during the beginning weeks of the premiere season of American Idol. He later made his television debut, at eleven years old, singing "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" on a Jenny Jones show for future Latino stars alongside season one finalist A.J. Gil. Through A.J. Gil he was able to meet and sing for Gray who had sung the song on American Idol as well as Clarkson (that year's winner) and Justin Guarini (the runner up).

Musical influences
Archuleta's mother is from Honduras, and much of the music he listened to as a child was Latin-influenced including watching his mom sing at events with her sisters. She also "was big on dancing" according to Archuleta, and would "make" him dance to traditional music with his older sister. He also listened to jazz music, he said, from his father's collection as well as gospel, pop, rock and "soulful music." In a later interview, he revealed that his father was a jazz musician. Archuleta also said he enjoys Broadway musicals.

On his American Idol "Fast Facts" page, Archuleta cites his musical influences as Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Kirk Franklin and Bryan Adams. When asked to list his top pop artists, he cited Natasha Bedingfield, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, Kirk Franklin, and Robbie Williams. Like Elliot Yamin and another singer he admires, John Mayer, Archuleta tries to infuse his pop selections with a soulful vibe.

Star Search
In 2003, at age 12, Archuleta sang on several episodes of the television show Star Search. He ended up as the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. On one episode, he sang against then-11-year-old Alexandréa Lushington, who also became a "top 20" semi-finalist on American Idol alongside Archuleta. Around the second year of being on Star Search he started focusing on the lyrics, "I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics when I was 12, 13".

Archuleta's competing on Star Search led to appearances on The Jenny Jones Show and CBS' The Early Show, and meeting the finalists from American Idol's first season, for whom he performed a spontaneous a cappella rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls, and received enthusiastic praise from Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson. The year after Star Search he found out he had partial vocal paralysis but declined risky surgery and has said he feels he is almost fully recovered. He limited his singing for specific occasions like Stadium of Fire, the Independence Day celebration at Brigham Young University Stadium.

American Idol
Archuleta won his ticket to the Hollywood final auditions (with a performance of John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change") with the help of idol judge, Randy Jackson, who sang the background "waiting" in the song. (at the San Diego tryouts held at Qualcomm Stadium July 30 and July 31, 2007) He was 16 during the Hollywood auditions (where he sang Bryan Adams' "Heaven" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" to unanimous praise) and because he was not yet 18, had to attend school while a part of American Idol's seventh season. His parents were there because he was a minor. Archuleta also took advantage of the decision to allow contestants to play musical instruments when he accompanied himself on piano for his performances of "Another Day in Paradise" and "Angels."

A Los Angeles Times article speculated why Archuleta avoided singing the first verse of "Imagine": because "of his religion (Mormonism), he's unlikely to espouse the song's agnostic ideal . . . with the line about 'no religion too.'" Archuleta did, however, sing the entire song on Good Things Utah when he was 13. During his first performance of Imagine on American Idol, when asked by judge Randy Jackson why he didn't sing the first verse, Archuleta said the third verse was his favorite because it has "a great message."

In the finale he sang "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," "In This Moment" and "Imagine." Judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta won the evening and even David Cook, who ultimately won, thought Archuleta would win: "I have to concede it, the kid came out all three songs and nailed it," said Cook. In the final tally, Archuleta received 44 percent of the votes. During the finale show, both Archuleta and fellow finalist Cook appeared in separate but nearly identical commercials for the game franchise Guitar Hero, mimicking a Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.

I'll Never Go
David Archuleta Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You always ask me
Those words I say
And tellin' me what it means to me
Every single day
You always act this way
For how many times I told you
I love you for this is all I know

Come to me and hold me
And you will see
The love I give
For you still hold the key
Every single day
You always act this way
For how many times I told you
I love you for this is all I know

I'll never go far away from you
Even the sky will tell you
That I need you so
For this is all I know
I'll never go far away from you

Come to me and hold me
And you will see
The love I give
For you still hold the key
Every single day
You always act this way
For how many times I told you
I love you for this is all I know

I'll never go far away from you
Even the sky will tell you
That I need you so
For this is all I know
I'll never go far away from you

I'll never go far away from you
Even the sky will tell you
That I need you so
For this is all I know
I'll never go far away from you

That I need you so
For this is all I know
I'll never go far away from you
That I need you so

For this is all I know
I'll never go far away from you

Overall Meaning

David Archuleta's "I'll Never Go" is a love song that talks about the singer's deep and lasting affection for his significant other. In the first verse, the singer talks about how his partner always asks him what certain words mean to him, and he confesses that he loves her, and that is all he knows. The second verse, which is a repetition of the first, seems to expand on the idea that the singer will always be there for his love interest, no matter how many times he says it or how many moments they spend together.

The chorus repeatedly affirms the singer's commitment to remain close to the loved one, never going too far away from her. The line "even the sky will tell you" underscores the depth of their connection, implying that the universe itself bears witness to the love they share.

Ultimately, "I'll Never Go" is a sweet and romantic song that celebrates unbreakable bonds and the power of love to keep people together.

Line by Line Meaning

You always ask me
You consistently inquire of me

Those words I say
The expressions I communicate

And tellin' me what it means to me
Explaining to me what it signifies

Every single day
Each and every day

You always act this way
You never cease this behavior

For how many times I told you
No matter how many times I shared with you

I love you for this is all I know
I express love to you because it is all I comprehend

Come to me and hold me
Approach me and embrace me

And you will see
You will perceive

The love I give
The affection I bestow

For you still hold the key
Because you possess the means

I'll never go far away from you
I will always remain near you

Even the sky will tell you
Even the heavens will persuade you

That I need you so
That I require you greatly