Broken English (song)

"Broken English" is a song recorded by English singer Marianne Faithfull for her seventh studio album Broken English (1979). It was released as the second single from the album on 25 January 1980 by Island Records. Written by Faithfull, Barry Reynolds, Joe Mavety, Steve York and Terry Stannard, the song's lyrical theme revolves around terrorism. The inspiration behind the song was Ulrike Meinhof, a co-founder of the terrorist group Baader-Meinhof Gang. Faithfull allegedly got the idea for the song after watching a documentary about the group and was intrigued by its subtitle "broken English... spoken English".

For other uses, see Broken English (disambiguation).

"Broken English"
Single by Marianne Faithfull
from the album Broken English
B-side"Why'd Ya Do It"
Released25 January 1980 (1980-01-25)
Recorded
  • May–July 1979
  • Matrix Studios, London
Genre
Length4:35
LabelIsland
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mark Miller Mundy
Marianne Faithfull singles chronology
"The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"
(1979)		 "Broken English"
(1980)		 "Sweetheart"
(1981)

Musically, "Broken English" is a mid-tempo rock song with a strong influence of new wave music. It is built around a simple rhythm guitar beat with synthesizer sound effects. It shows Faithfull's vocals cracked and lower in pitch compared to her earlier work as a result of severe laryngitis coupled with heavy smoking and drug abuse during the 1970s. "Broken English" received positive reviews from music critics who praised Faithfull's new musical direction as well as the political theme of the song. Despite the positive reception, it failed to chart in both United Kingdom and the United States. However, it managed to peak inside the top forty in other countries, such as Germany, New Zealand and Sweden.

No accompanying music video was filmed for "Broken English", although it was used along with the songs "Witches' Song" and "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" in a promotional short film for the album directed by Derek Jarman. Faithfull performed the song on Saturday Night Live in February 1980. During the infamous performance her voice cracked and she seemingly strained to even vocalize at times. The song was featured in the film The Outsider (1980) and was covered by a number of artists, such as Winston Tong, English band Sunscreem, The Mars Volta, and Japanese group Schaft.

Composition

"Broken English" is a rock song with a strong influence of new wave music. The song is set in the simple time signature of 4/4, with a tempo of 122 beats per minute.

Critical reception

"Broken English" received positive reviews from music critics. Dave Thompson from AllMusic praised Faithfull's vocals but criticized the electronic production of the song.[2] Pitchfork included the song on their "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s" list at #200, calling it a "prophetic merging of punk and dance, with lyrics that plumb the depths of her losses" with "a bloodless snarl that would make Johnny Rotten flinch.".[3]

Live performances

Faithfull performed the song on Saturday Night Live in February 1980.[4]

Track listings and formats

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.[9]

Charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] 25
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 17
West Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 36

Cover versions

Co-writer Barry Reynolds released his own version of the song on his 1982 solo album I Scare Myself. A version by English dance music group Sunscreem was released in late 1992 and reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1993, from their debut album O3.[13] The song was also covered by the industrial band Schaft on the album Switchblade. This version would be used as an insert song for Hellsing Ultimate's trailer at Anime Expo 2005 and then used in the actual series for the 5th episode.

Notes
  1. Pitchfork Staff (22 August 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 13 October 2022. The chilling title track is a prophetic merging of punk and dance...
  2. Thompson, Dave. "Broken English - Marianne Faithfull". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork.
  4. O'Dell 2013, p. 16
  5. Broken English (UK 12" vinyl liner notes). Marianne Faithfull. Island Records. 1980. 12WIP 6542.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. Broken English (UK 7" vinyl liner notes). Marianne Faithfull. Island Records. 1980. WIP 6542.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. Broken English (US 7" vinyl liner notes). Marianne Faithfull. Island Records. 1980. IS 49121.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. Broken English (European 12" vinyl liner notes). Marianne Faithfull. Island Records. 1982. 12MF 100.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. Broken English (LP). Marianne Faithfull. Island Records. 1979. M1.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. "Marianne Faithfull – Broken English". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  11. "Marianne Faithfull – Broken English". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Marianne Faithfull – Broken English". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  13. "Broken English | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.

References
  • O'Dell, Cary (2013). June Cleaver Was a Feminist!: Reconsidering the Female Characters of Early Television. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786493296.
  • Hodkinson, Mark (2013). Marianne Faithfull: As Years Go By. Music Sales Group. ISBN 978-0857129932.
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