We Ain't Good At Breaking Up

Album: Brothers Osborne (2023)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "We Ain't Good At Breaking Up" is a playful honky-tonk tune about a relationship that stands the test of time. The title and theme started out as a jokey response TJ Osborne gave when friends asked if he and his boyfriend, Abi Ventura, were still together.

    "There was a time early in our relationship where we felt like it didn't make a lot of sense, we didn't live near each other, we were both so busy and other different things, that we tried to call it off, but we would try to break up and we just wouldn't," TJ recalled to Billboard.
  • When TJ Osborne shared his experience with friend and songwriter Jesse Frasure, he suggested they bring the song idea into co-write with Miranda Lambert scheduled the following week.

    A gender-neutral midtempo ballad emerged from the collaborative songwriting session featuring TJ Osborne, John Osborne, Miranda Lambert, and Jesse Frasure. "It doesn't get into super specifics, necessarily, of my sexuality or anything," TJ told Apple Music. "All along we've always had gender-neutral songs intentionally and we've still stuck with that theme, which I personally like."
  • Lambert's vocals on the demo were such an enhancement, they decided to add her harmony vocals on the actual track. "It just really makes the song, sends it into a dreamy, almost Fleetwood Mac kind of thing," said TJ.
  • The song was recorded for Brothers Osborne's self-titled fourth studio album. TJ and John recruited Mike Elizondo (Sheryl Crow, Dr. Dre, Twenty One Pilots, Lin-Manual Miranda) to produce the record, entrusting him with curating his own band of studio musicians, including Paul McCartney's drummer, Abe Laboriel Jr. Elizondo played bass and keyboards on the set.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.