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By now, tens of millions have watched the trailer for the summer film \u201cSupergirl,\u201d which quickly went viral when released Tuesday.<\/p>\n And once again, a certain 1966 Motown classic has gotten a chance to work its magic.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Becomes of the Brokenhearted\u201d \u2014 sung by Jimmy Ruffin, recorded in Motown\u2019s Studio A and prominently featured in the new trailer \u2014 stands as one of the iconic songs in Detroit\u2019s prodigious music legacy. Although it peaked at just No. 6 on Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 in ’66, the track is esteemed among Motown aficionados and is regularly singled out for film and TV projects.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 brother of the Temptations\u2019 David \u2014 that endures as the standout.<\/p>\n Detroit musician Paul Riser, who was 22 when he cowrote and arranged \u201cWhat Becomes of the Brokenhearted,\u201d reflects on the making of the song.<\/p>\n \u201cBrokenhearted\u201d 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\u2019 instrumental track was tucked into the end of a three-hour session at Motown in early \u201966, with vocals by Ruffin and strings from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Riser) added later.<\/p>\n \u201cI had developed those chords \u2014 no title, just chords \u2014 about two years earlier,\u201d Riser says. \u201cThere 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: \u2018Well, I\u2019ve got these chords. What can we do with them?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cFrom there, they developed the title, and the song happened quickly after that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean\u2019s lyrics of loss and heartache matched the feel of Riser\u2019s chord movement, and for the listener, the song conveys a sense of unresolved grief and yearning for a peace of mind that never comes.<\/p>\n Riser points out a key feature that explains the song’s lasting appeal:<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s haunting, and the chordal structure is very, very intriguing,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you know what\u2019s meant by a tonic (a root chord) in music \u2014 it never reaches that. Never in the whole song. It\u2019s all (chord) inversions, but not the tonic. So that tension is never relieved.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n While Riser arranged strings on many of Motown\u2019s most significant works \u2014 from \u201cMy Girl\u201d to \u201cAin\u2019t No Mountain High Enough\u201d \u2014 \u201cBrokenhearted\u201d is his most successful credit as a songwriter.<\/p>\n This week, he\u2019s gotten a kick out of watching the track become part of another big pop-culture moment, this time via \u201cSupergirl,\u201d due out June 26.<\/p>\n \u201cSixty years later!\u201d says Riser, 82. \u201cI\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a few more of those kinds of songs in my gut and on paper here. I\u2019m looking to go back into the studio and start creating more. That\u2019s what I\u2019m working on as we speak. But that\u2019s a story for later weeks and months and years.\u201d<\/p>\nIt was created atop a chord structure from Riser<\/h2>\n
A clever musical device gives the song its emotional impact<\/h2>\n
He\u2019s ecstatic that people are still drawn to his song<\/h2>\n