14 Songs About Being Broken
Feeling broken usually means that you feel like there’s something you don’t know how to change but want to. For someone of the most important step in dealing with brokenness is first learning to accept that you can’t control everything and sometimes bad things happen. All you can learn is how you respond to events and cope with things that cause pain in a healthy way.
Below is a list of songs about being broken:
1. Tate McRae – You Broke Me First
During an interview with outnowmagazine, Tate stated that the song is about someone in a relationship who couldn’t care less for the other person. They end up breaking up but six months later he returns and wants to rekindle the painful relationship. Tate encourages people who have been in such a situation to tell off the person since they shouldn’t expect someone to welcome you back with open arms after treating someone badly.
The song debuted at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #17 on the chart.
2. Brad Paisley – Whiskey Lullaby feat Alisson Krauss
The hit song was composed by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was able to win the 2005 Country Music Association Song of the Year award and is one of Paisley’s three songs certified Platinum by RIAA.
The song tells a story of a soldier who returned from deployment only to find out that his wife has been unfaithful to him while he was away. This breaks him completely thus leading to him turning to out-of-control drinking to drown his heartbreak. However, alcoholism leads to his eventual death. His ex-girlfriend feels guilty for being responsible for the heartache that caused the death of her ex. She is broken by this and develops a drinking problem which led to her death.
3. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
This is the second single off Miley’s fourth studio album Bangerz released in 2013. It was praised by critics for its emotional delivery. It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and ended up being Miley’s first No 1 single.
It was inspired by Mozella’s recent breakup. She was very emotional on that day and was very frail because she had broken off her wedding. It is about her toxic relationship and the courage to say she can’t go through with that.
4. Lifehouse – Broken
The song is off the album Who We Are which was released in 2007. Jason Wade said this song was written for a friend who was in need of a kidney transplant. He wasn’t trying to make it too specific about anything so the lyric can be interpreted with whatever emotion is going on in one’s life.
Lyrically, the song is about being broken especially after a heartbreak. He waits against his own knowledge for someone who wol never be there for him.
5. Linkin Park – Nobody Can Save Me
The song held a new meaning after the tragic death of Chester Bennington. The lyrics show how he was broken by his daily struggles with mental health. We also see the realization that the solution to these problems isn’t to be found in the external but resides within oneself. We should act as our guiding light.
The track is the opening track of the 2017 album One More Light. The album has a recurring theme of fighting your demons.
6. Demi Lovato – Dancing With The Devil
‘Dancing With The Devil’ is a track that talks about Demi’s struggle with addiction to the point where they encountered a near-fatal overdose in July 2018. It was first teased in the trailer for Demi’s four-part YouTube documentary that gives more detail into their relapse, overdose and psychological aftermath they had to go through.
Demi suffered three strokes and a heart attack during the 2018 drug overdose after taking aftermarket pills that were most likely laced with fentanyl.
7. Linkin Park – Heavy
During an interview on radio, Chester Bennington stated that the song is of enlightenment whereby a person takes a step back and realizes that a great deal of emotional strain is self-inflicted. One gets really broken by all the baggage they keep carrying around that they feel they can’t take it anymore.
The single is part of the album One More Light which was released in 2017.
8. Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You
This is a song of empathy that was written for the 2015 film The Hunting Ground, a documentary-style movie that follows sexual assault cases and rape crimes committed on college campuses across the United States. In 2014, Gaga revealed that she is also a victim of sexual assault.
Lyrically, the song is about sexual assault and the title states that you may not know exactly how broken a person could be till you experience what they had experienced. It encourages one to have empathy and understanding for rape victims. We shouldn’t approach the topic with the general mentalities that people who have not experienced rape exhibit since they can be skewed and inconsiderate to the victim.
9. Justin Bieber & Benny Blanco – Lonely
This is the second single from his 2020 studio album Changes. Justin describes how becoming very famous at the young age affected him negatively. He had everything most people desire such as popularity, money, girls, booming career etc. However, he still felt like he had nothing and no one. He sacrificed his privacy and adolescence for fame and wealth and this didn’t end up without any consequences.
Justin felt like no one truly cared and no one was truly there for him even though everyone could do anything for him. He stated that the song is hard for him to listen considering how tough it was to get through those chapters in his life.
10. Logic – 1800
Logic tries to pass the message that suicide is never the answer to anyone’s problem no matter how broken you feel. He wants people to know that there is always someone ready to help such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The track starts out with a young man calling the hotline and confessing that he wants to commit suicide. The second hook we see it from the perspective of the operator on the other line who tries to convince the young man that he should reconsider. They continue to talk and in the end the caller learns that his life still matters no matter the hardships he has to face.
11. Rascall Flatts – Why
This is the 11th track on the album Unstoppable. Lyrically the track is about Rascall trying to understand why his friend decided to commit suicide since it’s not like him to give up just like that. He wonders if there is anything he could have done to maybe prevent him from going ahead with suicide.
In addition to this, Rascall had no idea that his friend was battling depression.
12. Lund – Broken
This is a 2016 single where Lund sings about a relationship that had ended after both partners caught each other cheating. He is now contemplating suicide but he knows death will not help take the pain away. It can also be interpreted as him trying to change but failing.
13. Ed Sheeran – Drunk
This is the fourth single from Ed Sheeran’s debut studio album + (Plus) on February 2012. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 63 and peaked at number 9.
Lyrically, Ed sings about wanting to be drunk as a way to express his unhappiness due to the loss of his girl. Love has left an emotional scar after his significant other leaves. He also get drunk because she isn’t there to make him feel loved.
14. Tove Lo – Habits (Stay High)
The song describes engaging in unhealthy behaviors as a way to cope with the pain of a breakup. Tove Lo stated that the song was inspired by a personal relationship she was in.
Lyrically she feels like there is no other option for getting over her breakup other than turn to drugs, alcohol or sex clubs just to feel the ‘high’ she had when she was with her lover. It is just a way to replace her love addiction for him and avoid the reality of things.