For many, Kelly Clarkson’s aptly titled breakout hit “Breakaway” brings to mind feelings of inspiration as the song conjures up imagery of venturing out on your own to make your dreams come true. More importantly, it helped Clarkson “break away” from her American Idol infamy. Until then, her only hits were the Matt Morris/Christina Aguilera pinned “Miss Independent” and her Idol-winning release “A Moment Like This.”
Breakaway was pitched to Kelly on tour supporting her debut album Thankful:
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“I was about to go on stage and my manager said, ‘Before you go on, there was an idea that was thrown to us about ‘The Princess Diaries 2’ movie… The first movie was really cute…so I listened to it and what I love about ‘Breakaway’ is it’s not a big power ballad. It’s not like ‘Miss Independent’ or Usher’s ‘Yeah.’ It’s a really simple little lullaby anthem, and it’s just pretty and the lyrics fit me to a ‘T.’ I thought it might be a great bridge song to hold the audience over until my next album.” — Kelly Clarkson via Billboard (2015)
Many probably weren’t privy to the fact that Avril Lavigne originally wrote the song for her debut album, Let Go. In hindsight, you can hear Avril’s desire to drive to throw caution to the wind and make her dreams come true in the song’s lyrics: “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly/ I’ll do what it takes ’til I touch the sky/ And I’ll make a wish, take a chance, make a change/ And break away.” The song also has some pop-rock flavors Lavigne danced around on her debut (i.e., “I’m with You”). Co-writer Bridget Benenate had the following to say about how the song came together in the original songwriting session:
“Avril came over to write with us… Avril talked about her life and what things were important to her… she was the inspiration for the song. Matthew began creating the melody and track, and I started working on the lyrics. I remember staying in bed for three days, writing 25 versions of the lyric. I love being in bed and writing lyrics, and having my dog Jet and my kitty Dash on the bed. Anyway, we finally finished the lyric, then we completed the demo.” — Bridget Benenate via Songwriting Universe (2005)
Ultimately, Avril would decide to pass along the song to Clarkson as she felt it didn’t fit with the overall sound of her album. Kelly’s version would be a huge success, making it into the Top 10 on the Billboard charts. Due to its popularity, her label moved to include the song on her sophomore album of the same name. At the time, Clarkson thought the track also didn’t gel with the pop-rock sound of the rest of the record:
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“I liked the song, I’m going to lead with that, but I’m going to be honest with you … it doesn’t sound [like the rest of the album] … My label was like look, if you do this, we’ll give you this, like with songs on the record. I just didn’t think it fit in.” — Kelly Clarkson via Uproxx (2023)
This would start the monumental success that was her sophomore album, including such iconic hits as “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Because of You,” “Walk Away,” and most importantly, the meteoric hit “Since You’ve Been Gone.” Giving the album the title Breakaway made sense as she shed her first American Idol winner status and solidified herself as a true pop star.
While leaks of Avril’s then-unreleased song cut have circulated the internet for over a decade, Lavigne would finally re-record her original cut for the 20th-anniversary re-release of her debut Let Go. It’s incredible how a song written about breaking free of the bonds that keep you from achieving your dreams would allow many people to do so.
