Jimmy Ruffin - What becomes of the brokenhearted

First performance: no live dates

Coverinfo

Bruce Springsteen released the song on his 2022 album Only The Strong Survive.
 
 
The album was anounced with the single Do I love you ( indeed I do ). Do I love you ( indeed I do ) is the leading single from Only The Strong Survive album. It was released on digital platforms on 29 Sep 2022, the same time the album was officially announced. A music video for the song was simultaneously released on Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel. The video was directed and edited by Thom Zimny. Only The Strong Survive is Bruce Springsteen's twenty-first studio album. It is officially released on 11 Nov 2022 on Columbia Records. It consists of 15 tracks, all of which are covers. This marks the second time that Springsteen releases a cover album following We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions in 2006. The album is "a collection of fifteen soul music greats," as described in the press release. It "celebrates soul music gems from the legendary catalogues of Motown, Gamble and Huff, Stax and many more." Springsteen commented: "I wanted to make an album where I just sang. And what better music to work with than the great American songbook of the Sixties and Seventies? I've taken my inspiration from Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Jimmy Ruffin, the Iceman Jerry Butler, Diana Ross, Dobie Gray, and Scott Walker, among many others. I've tried to do justice to them all and to the fabulous writers of this glorious music. My goal is for the modern audience to experience its beauty and joy, just as I have since I first heard it. I hope you love listening to it as much as I loved making it."
The announcement was made by Springsteen himself who addressed fans in a pre-recorded video posted online.
In anticipation to the announcement, Springsteen dropped hints on his social media accounts over the course of the previous three days. On 26 and 27 September, he shared each morning a photo of a road and of a steering wheel respectively, without any caption or comment. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On 28 September, he posted a 26-second promo clip of a vintage car FM radio dial turning to different stations and listening in for a few seconds, each station playing a different song from the upcoming album.
 
 
  
 
 
 
Only The Strong Survive track list:

Only the strong survive (Jerry Butler cover)
Soul days  (Dobie Gray cover)
Nightshift (Commodores cover)
Do I love you (Indeed I do ) (Frank Wilson cover)
The sun ain't gonna shine anymore (Frankie Valli cover)
Turn back the hands of time (Tyrone Davis cover)
When she was my girl (Four Tops cover)
Hey, Western Union Man (Jerry Butler cover)
I wish it would rain (The Temptations cover)
Don't play that song ( you lied ) (Ben E. King cover)
Any other way (Jackie Shane cover)
I forgot to be your lover (William Bell cover)
7 rooms of gloom (Four Tops cover)
What becomes of the brokenhearted (Jimmy Ruffin cover)
Someday we'll be together (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover) 
 
Media:
 

Songinfo

"What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" is a hit single recorded by Jimmy Ruffin and released on Motown Records' Soul label in the summer of 1966. It is a ballad, with lead singer Jimmy Ruffin recalling the pain that befalls the brokenhearted, who had love that's now departed. The song essentially deals with the struggle to overcome sadness while seeking a new relationship after a breakup. The tune was written by William Weatherspoon, Paul Riser, and James Dean, and the recording was produced by Weatherspoon and William "Mickey" Stevenson. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" remains one of the most-revived of Motown's hits. Composers Weatherspoon and Riser and lyricist Dean had originally written "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" with the intention of having the Spinners, then an act on Motown's V.I.P. label, record it. Jimmy Ruffin, older brother of Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, persuaded Dean to let him do the tune, as its anguished lyric about a man lost in the misery of heartbreak resonated with the singer. Ruffin's lead vocal is augmented by the instrumentation of Motown's in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, and the joint backing vocals of Motown session singers the Originals and the Andantes. 
The song originally featured a spoken introduction by Ruffin, similar in style to many of Lou Rawls' performances at the time. The spoken verse was removed from the final mix, hence the unusually long instrumental intro on the released version. The spoken verse is present on the alternative mix from the UK 2003 release Jimmy Ruffin - The Ultimate Motown Collection, and as a new stereo extended mix on the 2005 anthology, The Motown Box:
 

A world filled with love is a wonderful sight.
Being in love is one's heart's delight.
But that look of love isn't on my face.
That enchanted feeling has been replaced.
 
 
  

Bruce on the artist

Lyrics

As I walk this land with broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe
The roots of love grow all around
But for me they come a-tumblin' down
Every day heartaches grow a little stronger
I can't stand this pain much longer
I walk in shadowsm searching for light
Cold and alone, no comfort in sight
Hoping and praying for someone to care
Always moving and goin' nowhere
What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Help me
I'm searching, though I don't succeed
But someone look, there's a growing need
Oh, he is lost, there's no place for beginning
All that's left is an unhappy ending
Now, becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that's now departed?
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
I'll be searching everywhere
Just to find someone to care
I'll be looking everyday, I know I'm gonna find a way
Nothing's gonna stop me now
I'll find a way somehow
And I'll be searching everywhere
I know I gotta find a way
I'll be looking