St. Vincent

Broken Man

1 Meaning

Add Yours

Q&A

Video

Broken Man Lyrics

On the street, I'm a king-sized killer
I can make your kingdom come
On my feet, I'm an earthquake shakin'
So open up, my little one

Hey, what are you looking at?
Who the hell do you think I am?
And what are you looking at?
Like you never seen a broken man

Lover, nail yourself right to me
If you go, I won't be well
I can hold my arms wide open
But I need you to drive the nail

Like, what are you looking at?
Well, who the hell do you think I am?
Hey, what are you looking at?
Like you never seen a broken man

Well, how do you see me now?
You built my tower to tear it down
But how could you see me now?
If I stopped cracking up myself
I stopped cracking up

Who the hell do you think I am?
Hey, hey
Like you never seen a broken man
Like you never seen a broken man
Like you never seen a broken man
Hey, hey, hey
(Who the hell do you think I am?) Lover, nail yourself right to me
(Like you never seen a broken man) If you go, I won't be well
(Who the hell do you think I am?) I can hold my arms wide open
(Like you never seen a broken man) But I need you to drive the nail
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
Hey, hey
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
What are you looking at?
Hey, hey, hey

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Writer

Annie Clark

Duration

3:21

Producer

Annie Clark, Ernest Greene

Release date

2020-10-01

Sentiment

Positive

Submitted by

bayofangels On Sep 18, 2024

On the street, I'm a king-sized killer
I can make your kingdom come
On my feet, I'm an earthquake shakin'
So open up, my little one

Hey, what are you looking at? 
Who the hell do you think I am? 
And what are you looking at?
Like you never seen a broken man

Lover, nail yourself right to me
If you go, I won't be well
I can hold my arms wide open
But I need you to drive the nail

Like, what are you looking at?
Well, who the hell do you think I am?
Hey, what are you looking at?
Like you never seen a broken man

Well, how do you see me now? 
You built my tower to tear it down
But how could you see me now? 
If I stopped cracking up myself
I stopped cracking up

Lyrics saved successfully! Thanks!

These lyrics are currently locked and can only be edited by moderators and administrators.

You must be logged in to edit lyrics.

Unable to save lyrics. Please try again.

Lyrics cannot contain links.

Lyric edit submitted successfully and is pending approval. Approvals usually take 24 hours.

Keep it true to the song

Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite what the artist wrote. Stick to the official released version — album booklet, label site, verified lyric video, etc. If you’re guessing, pause and double-check.

Respect the structure

Songs have rhythm. Pages do too. Leave line breaks where they belong. Don’t smash things together or add extra empty space just for looks.

Punctuation counts (but vibe-editing doesn’t)

Correct typos? Yes. Re-punctuating a whole verse because it ‘looks better’? Probably not. Keep capitalization and punctuation close to the official source.

Don’t mix versions

If you’re editing the explicit version, keep it explicit. If it’s the clean version, keep it clean. No mashups.

Let the lyrics be lyrics

This isn’t the place for interpretations, memories, stories, or trivia — that’s what comments are for. Keep metadata, translations, and bracketed stage directions out unless they’re officially part of the song.

Edit lightly

If two lines are wrong… fix the two lines. No need to bulldoze the whole page. Think ‘surgical,’ not ‘remix.’

When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

bayofangels

Submitter

2024-09-18 19:53:59

1 Meaning

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Sort by

by Humminbird

9m ago

A lover who has unconditionally loved someone has been crucified by their loved one becomes a powerful self-reflection to the loved one who doesn’t quite understand that what he is looking at is his own brokenness.

[Edit: Added more thorough explanation]

Negative

Subjective

Sadness

Love

Betrayal

Reflection

Pain

Brokenness

Users:

Reply · 0 Share

Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Video