On Coming From A Broken Home

Album: I'm New Here (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • I'm New Here is the thirteenth studio album by American Soul artist and poet Gil Scott-Heron, and this two-parted ode to his upbringing bookends the record.
  • This track is split into two parts, which open and close I'm New Here. It is a tribute to the women in Scott-Heron's family, especially his maternal grandmother Lily Scott, with whom he was sent to live at the age of three in Jackson, Tennessee and who held the family together. He told The Daily Telegraph: "Lillie Scott was a different kind of woman. She only had a bit of schooling, but she put four kids through college."
  • Both parts of the song features samples from Kanye West's "Flashing Lights." West previously borrowed from Scott-Heron's 1971 track "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" for his 2005 number, "My Way Home."
  • I'm New Here was Scott-Heron's first album of original material in sixteen years, following a period of personal and legal troubles with drug addiction. Recording sessions for the album took place between 2007 and 2009 with XL Recordings-owner Richard Russell handling the production.
  • Here's a piece of football trivia. Scott-Heron's Jamaican father, Gilbert "Gil" Heron was a soccer player who was nicknamed "The Black Arrow." In the 1950s he became the first black footballer to play for Glasgow Celtic.

Comments: 1

  • Beth L from NashvilleWho wrote the gorgeous, heartbreaking lyrics to Kansas' song "Broken Home"? It sounds like Steve Walsh's mentality; but, of course, he & Kerry did occasiinally co-write. Unless, of course, it was religious prosyletizing which Steve most intelligently avoided at all cost!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Graham Parker

Graham ParkerSongwriter Interviews

When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Tim Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Tim and his brother Richard are the Furs' foundation; Tim explains how they write and tells the story of "Pretty In Pink."

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.