The single reached No. 25 on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1972, with
Doug Clifford's "Tearin' Up the Country" as the B-side.
Record World called it "perhaps the strongest cut" on the
Mardi Gras with "outstanding lyrics [and] vocals." Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist
Stu Cook considered "Someday Never Comes" to be Fogerty's finest song, saying it "brought tears to my eyes." Drummer
Doug Clifford called it Fogerty's most personal song and felt it did not make the impact it should have as a result of being on the unheralded
Mardi Gras.
Robert Christgau of
The Village Voice wrote that while "Someday Never Comes" may be a "major" song, he felt that Fogerty's vocal was uninspired.
Greil Marcus of
Creem lauded the song: "I found myself in the midst of a song so overwhelming, so true and so unflinching I started to cry and would have called John Fogerty to thank him if his number was listed. I played it again and again and finally quit when I realized the song was stronger than I was." ==References==