"Broken Year" will be the first single I release in 2021. I've performed it many times over the years (with The BeeKeepers), but never got around to recording it. "Broken Year" feels like the perfect song for the New Year even though it was written at the end of 2016.
I guess every song I write starts with an emotional experience/story. "Broken Year" was about forgiveness in the wake of a breakup that caused me a lot of heartache. It is a song about the disappointment of second chances that didn't work out.
The judges in my head were questioning the fallout from an avoidant love. Avoidant love is when a person, through many complex behaviors, avoids emotional intimacy. "You say it is what it is...You’ve got nothing left to give." But, sometimes you just have to look back with a different lens. "Broken Year" is a song about looking back and being kind. I also came to a place of empathy. Being avoidant is very sad.
Since performing the song with The Beekeepers, Mandy and I added a new bridge section that completes the song. This new section also brings home the idea that all the whiskey in the world couldn't "get it back to good." :) Some things can't be fixed.
Here are the lyrics to "Broken Year."
"We’ve traveled this road before Crossed every bridge and more You say it is what it is You’ve got nothing left to give. Let the judges be fair This was a broken year Let the judges be kind Lookin’ back on our sweet time. We’ve climbed this mountain before Aimed for the skies and more And wasn’t I the scent on your skin And you were my only reason Let the judges be fair This was a broken year Let the judges be kind Lookin’ back on our sweet time. We’ve walked this valley before Found comfort on familiar shores And didn’t I put our love first; didn’t I quench your thirst? Let the judges be fair This was a broken year Let the judges be kind Lookin’ back on our sweet time
We played fiddles by the fire Singing songs of love and desire We drank whiskey like it was wine And we laughed until we cried And we drank more than we should Tryin’ to get it back to good Oh, we drank more than we should Tryin to get it back to good Oh, we drank more than we should Tryin to get it back to good
But We did the best we could
We did the best we could We did the best we could We did the best we could We did the best we could We did the best we could"
#SylviesSongs #SylvieAbate #BrokenYear #Songwriting #TheMakingOfASong #WhenSecondChancesFail #AvoidantLove