| Breaking Down | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | I Prevail |
| Album: | Trauma |
| Recorded: | 2018 |
| Genre: | Rock[1] |
| Label: | Fearless |
| Producer: | Tyler Smyth |
| Prev Title: | Bow Down |
| Prev Year: | 2019 |
| Next Title: | Hurricane |
| Next Year: | 2019 |
"Breaking Down" is a song by American rock band I Prevail, released as the second single from their second studio album Trauma. In July 2019, it peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart.[2]
The song was first released on February 26, 2019, a month before the release of its respective album, Trauma.[3] It was released within twelve hours of the first single released from the album, "Bow Down".[4] A music video accompanied the release, which contained lead singer Brian Burkheiser covered in a black sludge, said to be "lyrical and visual representation of depression".[4] It was later debuted in a live setting on March 11, 2019, at the Download Festival.[5]
Thematically, the song's lyrics are self-referential to the band's recent struggles with their rising fame, depression, and mental health.[6] [7] After working hard to establish themselves as a band, and succeeding in gaining popularity with their cover of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" and their first album, Lifelines, a doctor diagnosed Burkheiser with polyp on his vocal cords that required surgery. The experience caused him to suffer from depression and almost give up on the band.[8] [6] Burkheiser explained of the song:
Burkheiser states that writing the song was therapeutic, and that it "given [him] a breath of life that [he] honestly never thought [he] would feel again."[9]
Band