“Broken” by Seether ft. Amy Lee, Friday, December 15, 2023

 

In 1999, Seether formed in Pretoria, South Africa, under the name Saron Gas. After a successful independent first album in their home country, American label Wind-Up Records became interested in the band, signing them. The band changed their name to avoid the association with sarin gas, a toxic chemical Nazis used as chemical warfare. The band chose Seether because of the 1994 song of the same name by Veruca Salt. Seether’s breakthrough in the United States came with the release of their album Disclaimer and their Active Rock single “Fine Again.” Disclaimer also featured an acoustic version of “Broken,” which would become the band’s biggest pop hit. 

I WANTED YOU TO KNOW, I LOVE THE WAY YOU LAUGH. In 1997, Alan and Diana Meltzer founded Wind-Up Records. The label’s first successful act was Creed with their 1997 record, My Own Prison. The label became a trendy label, churning out Hard and Active Rock hit makers, including Finger Eleven, Seether, and Drowning Pool. The label’s second-most successful act was Evanescence, whose lead singer, Amy Lee, is featured on a re-recording of “Broken.” Following the success of Creed, especially with a number of Christians buying the band’s records, the label started releasing Christian bands. Creed, due to their lead singer’s colorful antics, wasn’t played on Christian radio, but the label released 12 Stones and Big Dismal (and for a time, mistakenly, Evanescence) in the Christian Rock format. While Big Dismal only lasted for one album and had little crossover appeal, 12 Stones had a few minor Active Rock hits. Albums on Wind-Up Records often featured a singer from another band on their albums. For instance, Evanescence’s biggest hit, “Bring Me to Life” features 12 Stones’ Paul McCoy. Big Dismal’s “Missing You” features vocals by Amy Lee. Today’s song, “Broken” also features Amy Lee.

THE WORST IS OVER NOW, AND I CAN BREATHE AGAIN. A history of Wind-Up Entertainment would be remiss without mentioning the film soundtracks the label produced. In 2003, Wind-Up released  the soundtrack for Daredevil. Not every band on Daredevil: The Album, or any of the follow-up soundtracks Wind-Up released, was a Wind-Up band. However, the label heavily promoted their own bands. “Bring Me to Life” became a huge hit thanks to its placement on the soundtrack and placement in the film. While the film received mixed reviews and the 2005 sequel Elektra was panned, Wind-Up’s soundtrack to the film was perhaps the biggest hit. The next year, Wind-Up produced another pre-Disney Marvel soundtrack, this time the edgy R-rated action film The Punisher. Unlike Daredevil, the film-makers chose not to blast music throughout the entire film. Wind-Up made a soundtrack of music that Frank Castle might listen to when he was punishing his enemies. The exception was “Broken” by Seether, which appears in the film several times. The song reached number 20 on Billboard’s Hot 100, modest compared to “Bring Me to Life” with its peak at number 5. At the time of the duet, Amy Lee and Seether’s Shaun Morgan were dating. “Broken” is a break up song, and in the context of a movie in which the protagonist’s family is slaughtered in front of him, is pretty dark. Eventually Wind-Up’s empire of soundtracks, too, was broken. Their 2005 Elektra soundtrack didn’t produce another Evanescence, especially because the film wasn’t a hit. And while Fantastic Four was a bigger hit than Elektra, the soundtrack was no way comparable to Daredevil’s. Wind-Up also produced the pop-punk and Emo soundtrack for Josh Tucker Must Die. The label also produced the soundtracks for Scream 3 and Walk the Line. Wind-Up Records was dissolved in 2016 after being shuffled around by several distributors. 

Read the lyrics on Genius.