Damiano David stopped by the Genius office to break down his single “Born With A Broken Heart.” Produced by Jason Evigan and Mark Schick, the track marks the Måneskin frontman’s second solo release. On this episode of VERIFIED, the Italian singer dives into the deeply personal story behind the song, why he chooses to go by his full name, how he channels heartbreak into his music, his approach to crafting musical bridges, and more!
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00:00I decided to go by my full name as a solo artist because as the singer of the band,
00:05I've always been referred to as Damiano from Måneskin.
00:09Of course, it makes total sense, but on the long run, I started feeling like my last name,
00:15my family name, got stolen.
00:17It's kind of a way for me to reclaim it, and also, it sounds good, Damiano David, I mean.
00:31This song was one of the first in the process of the album, and I was still in a very different
00:37mental space compared to the one I am today.
00:40I was in the process of healing from, I wouldn't say toxic, but like wrong relationship that
00:48I had in that moment, and that really made me realize how fragile I actually was and
00:54how much I was relying on external approval to feel validated and stuff.
00:59When I met the person that today is my partner, and everything was so beautiful and perfect
01:05and loving, but at the same time, I was so scared of my own ability of judging people,
01:11and I was trying to find, I don't know, the bad behind the curtain, you know, stuff like
01:16that, and thank God there was nothing bad to find.
01:30Oh no, but I end up in the same damn place again, hoping I could be different, but I'd
01:42be playing pretend.
01:44In the last two years, I've been through a lot of change.
01:49I ended a very long relationship, I started another one, it was wrong, and so I really
01:56felt like everything I touched was rotting in that moment, and I was like cursed, and
02:03so I think it came automatic for me to just say it out loud, first sentence, so just to
02:09make it clear, you know?
02:26I saw people around me expecting certain things from me, and enjoying certain things, and
02:41I was being exactly what they wanted, and I was having the same experiences, going to
02:46the same parties, meeting the same people, and I was like, why do I not feel good about it?
02:52I want to feel the same as you, for me, it's again related to my girlfriend, because I
02:56was seeing her being so sure of who she is, and not needing that external validation.
03:01I was like, oh, this is cool, this is doable, and maybe there's someone that feels like me.
03:20When I'm doing this type of changes in the melodies, I don't really think about it, it
03:24really comes natural, it's like my brain wants to go there.
03:28Like I have the melody, I have the lyrics, but then I don't think about it too much,
03:33I just go to the mic, and I sing it in, and it's like, hmm, this doesn't feel right.
03:38And then you listen back, you have a different feeling, and you're like, oh, I could have
03:42belted more here, I could push more here, I could be softer here, but that comes later.
03:47I fight a lot about semi-tones, because I'm like, my body doesn't naturally go there,
03:53my brain doesn't want to go to that note, it wants to go there.
04:14In that moment, my biggest fear was not being able to read people, and read the good and
04:22the bad in people.
04:24That sentiment was kind of a feeling of guilt towards my girlfriend, because in that moment,
04:32we were not together yet, and she was so open, and so patient, and so understanding to me,
04:38and I was trying so hard to not make her fall in love, because I was like, I'm not ready,
04:44I'm gonna be bad to this person, I don't want to break her heart.
04:48I am the problem, of course it's not her, it's me, the one who's broken, who's like
04:52defected, and that's where the line, baby you can fix me, I was born with a broken heart,
04:58comes from.
05:23Okay, this is my favorite line, because it's just a funny story.
05:29I was scrolling on Instagram, and I saw this meme of this cactus, and this balloon, and
05:36both had super sad faces, because they wanted to be together, but they couldn't.
05:40I thought it was so cute, and so I came into the room, and I was like, okay, okay, I want
05:45to put this in the song, I want to put this in the song, it makes sense, it makes sense,
05:48and they were like, are you sure, and I was like, it makes sense, it makes sense, you
05:51get it, you get it, no, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, I guess I get it.
05:55Further on, it became like the iconic thing of the song, I think it's just so cute, and
06:00innocent, and it's like, if a kid was explaining that feeling, and I think that sometimes reaching
06:07back to our inner kid to explain feelings, and really go on the baseline of what we feel,
06:12it's actually important, it's actually good.
06:21One rule I have in music is, only do a bridge if it's the best part of the song.
06:32If it's a filler, no.
06:34We got to that part, and everything was like, how can we beat the hook?
06:40And so I went just for the craziest thing that came to my mind, this scale, in my head
06:47I was thinking, that's too crazy, everyone's gonna hate it.
06:50And the room went like, that's sick, okay, let's do it.
07:09I think, lyrically, also looking back, would have been a good idea to change the last part
07:15for a maybe, and make it, but maybe you can fix me.
07:20For me, it's not really thought, and it's not about making a version, and then making
07:25a better version, it's like, everything has to be very instinctive and authentic, and
07:29in that moment, I didn't feel like that.
07:32So I don't feel like lying in songs, and songs are like Polaroids of a moment, it's like
07:37a still, it can change.
07:39And I think that the song has to respect the feeling of the moment, so in that moment,
07:44that's how I was feeling.
07:46Maybe live I'm gonna sing it differently.
07:50I think sometimes the fact of not being first language, like English modern language, helps
07:56me because I put together sentences, not really translating from Italian, because thank God
08:02I stopped doing that, but like, in the first way that they make sense to me, and so a lot
08:06of times songwriters are like, that's cool, because I would have never said it that way,
08:11but in this way it's more direct.
08:12Sometimes it's like I talk like a kid.
08:14What if I said I'm trying to save your love from dying, it's like a very simple choice
08:19of words, but then they create this very intense feeling, and when you layer it on
08:25this very up-tempo music, it plays this kind of brain fuck that in my head is very satisfying
08:32and really helps me to express the range of emotion, because of course I went through
08:37a lot of sadness and healing and da-da-da, but also this brought me so much joy, and
08:42so like this duality, it's very human and very personal for me.