Broken

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General information

Written by: Shaun Morgan

Broken is a song by the South African band Seether that also features Amy Lee, who was dating lead singer Shaun Morgan at the time. The song was written about Shaun's daughter, Jayde. “She was just born and I had to come to the States (from South Africa) and I wrote the lyrics for her, it’s about leaving somebody behind, you know that is really painful to do, and ultimately you’re looking to the future saying ‘we’ll see each other again and everything will be fine.’”

Amy Lee and Double G did the string arrangement. Broken was written before Shaun had met Amy. When Seether was recording Disclaimer in 2002, the band wanted Amy to collaborate before the world even knew about Evanescence. The label did not agree until two years later when The Punisher's soundtrack was compiled.

Amy said in an interview in May 2004:

I was originally supposed to sing on Broken two years ago, before our album ever came out. And I really wanted to do it because out of all the bands on Wind-Up (Records, her band's label), Seether was my favorite. I didn't know them at all. I wrote the part . . . and then I just didn't get called. I forgot about it. And then I met Shaun and we started dating and I told him, "I was supposed to sing on your song." And he had no idea. Everybody just liked Broken and Shaun was like, "We could just record it and put it out on the Internet and release it as a B-side." And of course the label gets their hooks in it and it becomes this huge thing.

Shaun revealed it wasn't his idea to do a duet with Amy on the song and regretted it after they broke up:

It wasn't really my idea to do that. We had done it as a duet live a couple of times, and it was always something that I was willing to try. Originally we were open to try that and end up doing the acoustic version, but having it sort of be a milder, more mellow version of what eventually became the single. And our label, obviously, they smelled dollars. So they sent us into the studio and we did that version. There are times when I'm quite proud of that version, but other times when I feel like I should have just stuck with my guns and kept the original version of the way I prefer it. But in 2004 we didn't have any say at our record company, so it was mostly a lot of decisions were made for us and we just went with them.

The video for the song is a live performance video filmed in an abandoned area of the Lancaster Desert in California. The video was filmed in mid-March 2004. The director was Nigel Dick, who is also known for directing the MTV Video Music Award winner "Hero". There used to be a crystal meth lab there, before it blew up twice. They filmed the video on the scene as it was. This is the second single off of The Punisher soundtrack (Drowning Pool's "Step Up" was the first) and the first single off of Seether's remixed album Disclaimer II.

Versions

Broken [Original version]

• Recording date: 2002
• Status: Released
• Released on: Disclaimer (track #12)
• Length: 4:17

Broken [Latest version]

• Recording date: 2004
• Recording location: Hensen Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA
• Status: Released
• Released on:

"Broken" single (track #1)

The Punisher soundtrack (track #5)

Disclaimer II (track #20 in the American version, #16 in the European version)

• Length: 4:21

Lyrics

I wanted you to know that I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I’m lonesome
And I don't feel right when you’re gone away

You've gone away
You don't feel me here... anymore

The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

‘Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

You've gone away
You don’t feel me here... anymore

Video

An image from the video

The song's video was filmed in early March 2004. It consists in an exhibition of the band filmed in an abandoned area of the Lamkaster desert, California. The director is Nigel Dick, known for having directed the "Hero" video, winner of the MTV Video Music Award.

Watch the behind the scenes here.

Commercial release

"Broken" single

The Punisher soundtrack

The album was released on March 23, 2004 by Wind-up Records and it is the official soundtrack of the film The Punisher.

Broken single

1. "Broken" (feat. Amy Lee) - 4:21
2. "69 Tea" - 3:31
3. "Something in the Way" ("Live X" Session at 99X, Atlanta) - 3:09
4. "Out of My Way" - 3:51

Some UK versions also include "Got It Made" - 5:10.