The song is about the back pain that Pantera's vocalist Phil Anselmo 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 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 Far Beyond Driven. Two versions of the single were released. Both contained the b-side "Slaughtered", but each version included a differing pair of live tracks. All live tracks were recorded in Moscow, USSR at the Monsters of Rock concert in 1991. The single garnered the band its second top 40 U.K hit reaching #19 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's highest charting single worldwide. It also reached #49 on the Australian Charts and #32 on the Swedish Charts. The song was also nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1995 Grammy Awards. Allmusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia called "I'm Broken" a "wisely chosen first single".
Live performance
A live version of the song can be found on the band's live album . During live performances of the song, the band would have Dimebag Darrell performing backup vocals and would end the song with the outro of "By Demons Be Driven".
Cover art
The covers for parts 1 and 2 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 2 of the single, the colors are inverted.
Track listing
;CD Single 1
All tracks written by Pantera
"I'm Broken" - 4:25
"Slaughtered" - 3:57
"Domination " - 6:33
"Primal Concrete Sledge " - 3:56
;CD Single 2
All tracks written by Pantera
"I'm Broken" - 4:25
"Slaughtered" - 3:57
"Cowboys from Hell " - 5:10
"Psycho Holiday " - 5:49
Covers
"I'm Broken" was covered by Malefice for Metal Hammer's Dimebag Darrell tribute album, Getcha' Pull: A tribute to Dimebag Darrell.
"I'm Broken" was covered by Trepalium on their fourth album, H.N.P
Appearances in the media
The song was released as downloadable content for Rock Revolution and Rock Band 3.
It is a playable track in .
The music video was featured on Beavis and Butt-head 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. and Hardee's television commercial, starting in December 2015. The commercial features a burger flying through the air after the song's opening riff.
