"I'm Broken" is a song by American heavy metal band

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

, released on their 1994 studio album, ''

Far Beyond Driven ''Far Beyond Driven'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 21, 1994 in the UK and March 22 internationally by Elektra Records and East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at n ...

''. It was the first single released from the album.

Meaning

The song is about the back pain that Pantera's vocalist

Phil Anselmo Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American musician best known as the lead singer for groove metal band Pantera, southern metal supergroup Down (band), Down, and Hardcore punk, hardcore band Superjoint, amongst other musical proj ...

felt. Phil Anselmo said "This is right when I started feeling the pain in my lower back, and it felt scary," says Anselmo. "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, 'Fucking... I am broken! Somebody fucking help me here!'"

Origin

Pantera's guitarist

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founde ...

spoke about the song saying:

""''I'm Broken''" was a sound check 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 started kickin' in on it, Rex 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."

Release and reception

"I'm Broken" was released as the band's first single for ''

''. Two versions of the single were released. Both contained the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

"Slaughtered", but each version included a differing pair of live tracks. All live tracks were recorded in Moscow, USSR at the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as th ...

concert in 1991. The single garnered the band its second top 40 UK hit, reaching number 19 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's highest charting single worldwide. It also reached number 49 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

and number 32 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...

. The song was also nominated for

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

at the 1995 Grammy Awards.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia called "I'm Broken" a "wisely chosen first single".Rivadaiva, Eduardo
"''Far Beyond Driven'' - Pantera"

Live performance

A live version of the song can be found on the band's live album '' Official Live: 101 Proof''. During live performances of the song, the band would have

performing backup vocals and would end the song with the outro of "By Demons Be Driven".

Cover art

The covers for parts one and two each show half of Pantera vocalist Phil Anselmo's face. When compared, it can be seen that they are a mirror image of one another, and on part two of the single, the colors are inverted.

Track listing

;CD single one ("I'm Broken/Slaughtered" part one) *All tracks written by Pantera #"I'm Broken" – 4:25 #"Slaughtered" – 3:57 #"Domination" (live) – 6:33 #"Primal Concrete Sledge" (live) – 3:56 ;CD single two ("I'm Broken/Slaughtered" part two) *All tracks written by Pantera #"I'm Broken" – 4:25 #"Slaughtered" – 3:57 #"Cowboys from Hell" (live) – 5:10 #"Psycho Holiday" (live) – 5:49

Personnel

Pantera

– vocals *

– guitar *

Rex Brown Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964) is an American musician. He is the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, having joined the band in 1982. Following the band's reunion in 2022, Brown is the longest-serving member of the band. He i ...

– bass *

Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, ...

– drums

Production

* Terry Date – producer

Covers

* "I'm Broken" was covered by Malefice for ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

''s

tribute album, ''Getcha' Pull: A tribute to Dimebag Darrell''. * "I'm Broken" was covered by Trepalium on their fourth album, ''H.N.P''.

Uses in media

* The song was released as downloadable content for '' Rock Revolution'' and '' Rock Band 3''. * It is a playable track in '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''. * The music video was featured on ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

'' on the episode "The Pipe of Doom", where it received a rave response from the duo. * The song was featured in a

Carl's Jr. Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain store, chain owned by CKE Restaurants, CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., who also owns Hardee's, with franchisees in North and South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa. ...

and

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American Fast food restaurant, fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants, CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has ...

television commercial, starting in December 2015. The commercial features a burger flying through the air after the song's opening riff. * As of February 4, 2020, the song is used as the opening theme for the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

digital series '' NWA Power''.

Charts

References

External links

Official music video
{{authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Pantera songs Song recordings produced by Terry Date Songs written by Dimebag Darrell Songs written by Vinnie Paul Songs written by Phil Anselmo Songs written by Rex Brown