RECORDS Nashville hitmaker Matt Stell reaches out to fellow broken hearts in “Born Lonely,” delivering a confessional dose of Country-Rock compassion in his “truest song” to date. Available across all streaming platforms and digital retailers today (2/16), listen here.
“My parents got divorced not long after I was born. My mom and I moved to Florida, and I spent my childhood splitting time between there and Arkansas – where most of my family still is. I could not ask for better parents, stepparents included. The truth is, though, that being from a broken home had an effect on me especially when it came to relationships,” shares Stell. “‘Born Lonely’ is about the way I am and why I think I’m that way. It’s also about seeing that same kind of thing in other people.”
Co-written by Stell with Jake Mitchell and Benjy Davis, the wounded-soul anthem speaks directly into Stell’s childhood and family separation, revealing how a traumatic beginning can have painful repercussions. Lost in the lonely realization that he just repeats the past, the song’s main character finds it all too easy to leave – and that’s what he does, until eventually recognizing the same hurt in someone else. Even as she pushes him away, their star-crossed path offers a glimmer of hope, and the chance to make a change.
“I was kind of embarrassed to release this song initially. I thought that a grown man should be over this kind of thing, and also there are people who have it way worse than me when it comes to family stuff. But then I realized that the reason I felt this way might be because I hadn’t ever really heard someone like me talk about this,” Stell admits. “Also, acting like something’s not an issue doesn’t make it not an issue – it’s the opposite actually. So that’s when I decided to not only release the song, but write a record around it.”
Produced by Joe Fox, the story unfolds as a blistering power ballad, with overdriven electric guitars and drums pounding like the heart in Stell’s chest. All along, the warm buzz of his MULTI-PLATINUM vocal offers soothing empathy, and reason to believe you can both remember where you came from, and do better for yourself – or maybe even heal the oldest, deepest scars.
“Born Lonely” is both a song and message Stell is so proudly committed to, that he’s had it tattooed on his arm. Symbolically now wearing his broken heart on his sleeve, he documented in his adjoining music video – directed by Dustin Haney – the tattoo process inside Nashville’s Welcome Back Classic Tattoo, as he got his first personalized ink. “In the way that I have scar tissue from things that happened when I was a kid, and from relationships that I have sabotaged, messed up, or have chosen poorly in terms of fit, there’s collateral damage – that’s part of what this video portrays and this tattoo is a permanent reminder of where I have been and how I want to change for my future,” adds Stell.
