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Broken Flower was an original poem written by Mary Lou Harrell, Helen McKueon sometime during the school year of 1941 while she lived in Douglas, Georgia.

Back in those days, just before the radio made it's debut, poems were a popular thing for kids and young adults to recite back and forth to each other.
Some kids would spend hours reading and writing them, always trying to out do one another. Perhaps Broken Flower was inspired by a Dear John letter or maybe a break up note that a girl might give a boy friend, Helen doesn't remember, but it was the one poem that she would never forget. She remembered it by heart and could recite it on request.

One day I was working for Helen's daughter, Michele Baskette on a few things at their house as a house painter. I noticed a Lap Steel guitar in the corner and was surprised to find that Helen was the person that played it. I was mostly surprised that she played it at her age I suppose, but nonetheless she picked it up and started strumming out tunes through a small amplifier at her feet. I told her I played guitar and could sing a little and before I knew it I brought my acoustic guitar over and was strumming out some of my tunes in front of their whole family. A wonderful relationship started and shortly after, Helen shared her old poem with me. I fell in love with the words. They were old and fancy, rich, painful and beautiful. That "I feel I am just a flower, broken, folded, and thrown away" line really got my attention. She wanted me to try to turn the poem into a song. Nickie, Helen’s granddaughter wrote out the poem for me and I worked on it for a while. I think I had a great chorus section but I still needed a bridge or something, so I had it stuffed in my guitar case for sometime with a small collection of other unfinished songs.

Fast forward a few years to the summer of 2008. I was spending a family vacation with my brother and his and my family in the Outer Banks (Kitty Hawk) North Carolina. My brother and I were trading licks on our guitars and then I sang what I had of “Broken Flower” and he was flabbergasted! He asked me where I’d been hiding that song and then made me play it for other family members and friends when they came in. He told me I should finish it and record it as soon as possible. With this new energy and excitement everyone seemed to have about it, I was motivated to finish writing it and shortly after it became what it is today. It’s a short sweet, lowly tune, a tear jerker the way I heard it the first time when Helen recited it to me. You can’t help but feel the emotion of the words in this old poem and I’m glad we got it into song. It’s a true classic and very probably the best song I’ll ever sing.

-Cliff Meekins a.k.a. Earl Clifton

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