The Story Behind the Song: “Broken People”

I began writing “Broken People” in the spring of 2015, not long after the death of my partner. I was watching Casablanca, of all things, on TV while noodling on my guitar. It took a few days to complete the song. It became part of Chameleon Red’s repertoire, and was played live a few times. It became #4 in the Covid Isolation series, recorded in late June. A friend had suggested I make a video inspired by Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” video, and this seemed like a good song to use to develop that idea. It was fun to execute the idea of the “clones” turning into individual band members, though all those costume changes made for a tiring video shoot. As with “Sing Open the Circle,” the crowd singing was recorded by individuals at their homes and then sent to me for integration into the mix.