Music historian George Case described "Never Going Back Again" as a "gorgeous" song with "bubbly SoCal philosophies about relationships." It is one of several songs on "Rumours" that Buckingham wrote in the wake of the breakup of his relationship with fellow Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks. Buckingham recalls it being one of the last songs written for the album, after he had started a rebound relationship with another woman. Buckingham regards it as a sweet and naive song and doesn't consider the lyrics to be very deep. He has described it as a "miniature perception of things." Though the song reflects a desire not to repeat previous mistakes. Buckingham accompanies himself on acoustic guitar played using a Travis picking technique. Buckingham drew further inspiration from session guitarist Ry Cooder. To capture the optimal sound, producer Ken Caillat asked Buckingham if they could restring his acoustic guitar every 20 minutes, which Buckingham agreed to. Even though Caillat pitied the guitar tech's job of restringing the acoustic guitar three times an hour for "the entire day", he approved of Buckingham's "magnificent" instrumental passages.