A classic Motown song finds new life in viral ‘Supergirl’ trailer

By now, tens of millions have watched the trailer for the summer film “Supergirl,” which quickly went viral when released Tuesday.

And once again, a certain 1966 Motown classic has gotten a chance to work its magic.

“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” — sung by Jimmy Ruffin, recorded in Motown’s Studio A and prominently featured in the new trailer — stands as one of the iconic songs in Detroit’s prodigious music legacy. Although it peaked at just No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in ’66, the track is esteemed among Motown aficionados and is regularly singled out for film and TV projects.

Through the decades, the song has been covered by many artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Tom Jones and Paul Young. But it’s the original recording, with its aching tone and expressive vocals from Ruffin — brother of the Temptations’ David — that endures as the standout.

Detroit musician Paul Riser, who was 22 when he cowrote and arranged “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted,” reflects on the making of the song.

It was created atop a chord structure from Riser

“Brokenhearted” grew from a musical foundation built by Riser, fleshed out with lyrics and melody by Motown songwriters William Weatherspoon and James Dean. The initial recording was spontaneous, Riser recounts: The Funk Brothers’ instrumental track was tucked into the end of a three-hour session at Motown in early ’66, with vocals by Ruffin and strings from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Riser) added later.

“I had developed those chords — no title, just chords — about two years earlier,” Riser says. “There was no name, no direction, nothing. I do that all the time. So here we were in the studio with some time left, and I said: ‘Well, I’ve got these chords. What can we do with them?’

“From there, they developed the title, and the song happened quickly after that.”

A clever musical device gives the song its emotional impact

Dean’s lyrics of loss and heartache matched the feel of Riser’s chord movement, and for the listener, the song conveys a sense of unresolved grief and yearning for a peace of mind that never comes.

Riser points out a key feature that explains the song’s lasting appeal:

“I think it’s haunting, and the chordal structure is very, very intriguing,” he says. “If you know what’s meant by a tonic (a root chord) in music — it never reaches that. Never in the whole song. It’s all (chord) inversions, but not the tonic. So that tension is never relieved.

“I was brought up in the church with good choral instructors, and I heard a lot of those inversions. I think that that’s a big part of what’s in me with music.”

He’s ecstatic that people are still drawn to his song

While Riser arranged strings on many of Motown’s most significant works — from “My Girl” to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — “Brokenhearted” is his most successful credit as a songwriter.

This week, he’s gotten a kick out of watching the track become part of another big pop-culture moment, this time via “Supergirl,” due out June 26.

“Sixty years later!” says Riser, 82. “I’m proud that here we are, and they still appreciate our work effort from back then. It’s amazing, I’m telling you. I’m really honored.

“There are a few more of those kinds of songs in my gut and on paper here. I’m looking to go back into the studio and start creating more. That’s what I’m working on as we speak. But that’s a story for later weeks and months and years.”