"Broken English" is a song recorded by English singer

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

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 Barry Reynolds (born 27 October 1949, in Bolton, Lancashire) is a British guitar player, songwriter, composer and producer, best known for his long-lasting collaboration with Marianne Faithfull. Reynolds first emerged with the band Pacific Drift ...

, Joe Mavety, Steve York and

Terry Stannard Terence Philip Stannard (28 June 1949 – 25 October 2019) was an English drummer. Born in Plaistow, West Ham, he moved to Wiltshire with his family at age 12. When he was 17 he returned to London to play drums for The Freddie Mack Road Sho ...

, the song's lyrical theme revolves around

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. The inspiration behind the song was

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...

, a co-founder of the terrorist group

Baader-Meinhof Gang The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section " Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. Th ...

. 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". "Broken English" received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Faithfull's new musical direction and the political theme of the song. Despite the positive reception, it failed to chart in either the United Kingdom or the United States. It managed to peak in the top forty in other countries, such as Germany, New Zealand and Sweden.

Music

"Broken English" is a mid-tempo

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song with a strong influence from new wave. The song is set in the simple

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

of 4/4, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 122 beats per minute. It is built around a simple rhythm guitar motif and synthesizer effects. Faithfull's vocals sound lower and cracked compared to her earlier work due to severe laryngitis coupled with heavy smoking and drug abuse during the 1970s. No accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was made for "Broken English". The song was used along with "Witches' Song" and "

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" is a song by American poet and songwriter Shel Silverstein. It was originally recorded in 1974 by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, with the name spelled "Jordon". The song describes the disillusionment and mental deter ...

" in a short promotional film for the album directed by

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

Critical reception

"Broken English" received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. Dave Thompson from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

praised Faithfull's vocals but criticized the electronic production of the song. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' 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 John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

flinch.".

Live performances

Faithfull performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' in February 1980. During the performance her voice cracked and she seemed to strain to even vocalize at times.

Track listings and formats

;UK 12" vinyl *A. "Broken English" (Long Version) – 5:54 *B. "Why'd Ya Do It" – 6:35 ;UK 7" vinyl *A. "Broken English" *B. "What's the Hurry" ;US 7" vinyl *A. "Broken English" (Edit) – 3:00 *B. "Brain Drain" – 4:12 ;European 12" vinyl (1982 re-release) *A. "Broken English" (Long Version) *B. "

Sister Morphine "Sister Morphine" is a song written by Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Faithfull released the original version of the song as the B-side to her Decca Records single "Something Better" on 21 February 1969. A different ver ...

Credits and personnel

– lead vocals, songwriting * Mark Miller Mundy – producer, *

– songwriting * Joe Mavety – songwriting * Steve York – songwriting *

– songwriting * Bob Potter –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Ed Thacker – mixer Credits adapted from the album liner notes.

Charts

Cover versions

Co-writer

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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1993, from their debut album ''O₃''. The song was also covered by the industrial band Schaft on the album ''

Switchblade A switchblade (aka switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, Stiletto, flick blade, or spring knife (Sprenger,Benson, Ragnar (1989). ''Switchblade: The Ace of Blades''. Paladin Press. pp. 1–14. . The sw ...

''. This version would be used as an insert song for '' Hellsing Ultimate''s trailer at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first w ...

2005 and then used in the actual series for the 5th episode. The song was featured in the film '' The Outsider'' (1980). It has also been covered by

Winston Tong Winston Tong (born 1951 in San Francisco, California) is an actor, playwright, visual artist, puppeteer, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his vocals in Tuxedomoon and for winning an Obie award in puppetry for ''Bound Feet'' in 1978. E ...

and

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership for ...

Notes

References

* * * {{authority control 1979 songs 1980 singles Marianne Faithfull songs British new wave songs 1992 singles Sunscreem songs Island Records singles S2 Records singles