The story behind Not Broken
Not Broken is a love letter to a few important people in my life and a reflection of my own experiences with grief and trying to navigate it over time.
There are already a lot of songs about being broken (there is one in particular that always comes to mind for me, that I'll talk about in a moment!) But I wanted to flip the “I’m broken” narrative. Feeling broken is innately human, so maybe we’re not broken at all. Grief isn’t a bug. It’s a feature and an important part of being human and experiencing life. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:
You’re not broken
You’re just human
Don’t apologize for
hurting, healing, grieving, believing…
something deep inside your bones
When we were recording, there is a part where I sing the chorus quietly down an octave, and during one of the takes I cried in the vocal booth. That’s when I knew the vocals were on the right track.
A quick side tangent: A few people have said to me over the years, “You sound like the singer from Evanescence!” Amy Lee’s vocals are powerful in those angsty 2000s recordings, but I’ve always had mixed feelings about the comparison. It’s become a running joke with Owen, and we’ll sing, “Cuz I’m BROOOOOO-KEN!” to each other in the most ridiculous ways possible.
Broken is actual a Seether song featuring Amy Lee. If you’re not sure what the heck I’m talking about, or you want a fun jaunt down memory lane, this is the song I’m talking about.