I'm Broken

Album: Far Beyond Driven (1994)
Charted: 19
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Songfacts®:

  • Pantera's vocalist Phil Anselmo told Loud Wire that the single was inspired by a sudden onset of back pain. He said: "This is right when I started feeling the pain in my lower back, and it felt scary. I think this is one of the first times in my life, man, that I had this thing called 'vulnerability' kick in, and that was a very uncomfortable feeling."

    Anselmo adds, "I think that was really my first glimpse into kind of screaming to the world, 'F--king... I am broken! Somebody f--king help me here!'"
  • Pantera's guitarist Dimebag Darrell explained how the song came together: "'I'm Broken' was a soundcheck riff - one of them ones where I'd walk in with a hangover from ripping it up night after night with everyone in every town. That's where a lot of the best riffs I ever wrote came from. I just played the first riff I thought of, Vinnie [Paul, drummer] started kickin' in on it, Rex [Brown, bass guitarist] joined in - we didn't write the entire song on the spot, but we kept toying with it and finally worked on it once we got into the studio."
  • The song soundtracked a commercial for the Steakhouse Thickburger from Carl's Jr., an American fast-food restaurant chain which predominantly operates in the Southwestern and Western states. The ad debuted in December 2015.

Comments: 1

  • Ken Zi from PhilippinesThe guitar hook from one of my favorite Bowie songs, "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" from Outside (1995) is similar to the outro of one of my favorite Pantera songs "I'm Broken" from from Far Beyond Driven (1994).
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