Breakdown
Breakdown is a noun describing the failure of a machine, vehicle, or system to function properly due to mechanical fault, wear, or overload, as in a roadside vehicle stoppage requiring recovery services.[1] It extends to broader collapses, such as the disintegration of negotiations, relationships, or social structures, where processes cease to progress effectively.[2] In analytical contexts, breakdown refers to an itemized summary or dissection of elements, like a cost or data categorization, facilitating detailed examination.[3] The term also colloquially applies to acute mental or physical exhaustion leading to incapacity, though this lacks precise clinical definition and often signals underlying disorders rather than a standalone condition.[4] Deriving deverbal from "break down," its usage traces to the late 18th century, initially denoting literal fracturing before evolving to abstract failures by the early 19th.[5][6] Less commonly, it names a vigorous American folk dance style or, in chemistry, molecular decomposition under stress.[7] These senses underscore breakdown's core implication of disruption from integrated wholeness to fragmented inefficacy, rooted in empirical observation of systemic limits.Technical Meanings
Mechanical Failure
Mechanical failure denotes the loss of functionality in a mechanical component or system due to physical degradation, exceeding design limits, or external stresses that compromise structural integrity. This phenomenon arises from inherent material properties interacting with applied loads, often manifesting as fracture, deformation, or complete cessation of operation. In engineering contexts, it is distinguished from electrical or chemical failures by its reliance on mechanical principles such as stress-strain relationships and material science fundamentals. Common types of mechanical failure include fatigue, where repeated cyclic loading induces crack propagation leading to sudden rupture; overload, characterized by excessive force causing immediate yielding or fracture beyond the material's ultimate strength; and creep, a time-dependent deformation under sustained high-temperature stress that results in progressive distortion. Brittle failure involves rapid crack growth without significant plastic deformation, typical in ceramics or cold metals, while ductile failure permits energy absorption through necking and elongation before rupture. Corrosion and erosion further contribute by thinning material surfaces, reducing load-bearing capacity over time.[8][9] Primary causes encompass design deficiencies, such as inadequate safety factors or overlooked stress concentrations; manufacturing defects like inclusions or improper heat treatment; and operational factors including misalignment, insufficient lubrication, or environmental exposures to vibration, heat, and humidity that accelerate wear. For instance, bearing failures often stem from contamination or overload, while gear failures arise from misalignment inducing uneven stress distribution. Human-induced errors, like improper installation or maintenance neglect, amplify these risks, as evidenced in industrial settings where lubrication failure accounts for a significant portion of breakdowns.[10][11][12] Notable engineering examples illustrate mechanical failure's consequences: the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster involved O-ring seal failure due to low-temperature embrittlement and pressure overload, leading to explosive decompression. Similarly, the 1919 Halifax Explosion traced to a mechanical pressure relief valve malfunction in a shipboard cargo hold, exacerbated by improper handling of volatile ammonium nitrate. In materials engineering, World War II Liberty ships suffered brittle fracture failures from weld defects and low ductility in hull plates under cold oceanic stresses, prompting advancements in fracture mechanics. These cases underscore how undetected fatigue cracks or overloads can propagate catastrophically, often revealed post-failure through metallurgical analysis.[13][14][15]Chemical Decomposition
Chemical decomposition refers to the process in which a single chemical compound breaks down into two or more simpler substances, typically requiring an external energy input to overcome the activation energy for bond cleavage.[16] These reactions are generally endothermic, as the products possess higher total energy than the reactant due to the formation of weaker bonds or increased entropy.[17] Unlike spontaneous decay in radioactive elements, chemical decomposition of stable compounds demands specific triggers such as heat, electricity, or light to initiate bond breaking, often proceeding through intermediates like free radicals or ions.[18] Decomposition reactions are classified into three primary types based on the energy source: thermal, electrolytic, and photolytic. Thermal decomposition occurs when heat provides the energy to destabilize the compound, as in the calcination of limestone where calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) decomposes above 840°C into calcium oxide (CaO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂): CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂.[19] This process is industrially vital for lime production, with global output exceeding 400 million tons annually as of 2020.[17] Electrolytic decomposition involves passing an electric current through an electrolyte to drive the reaction, exemplified by the electrolysis of water: 2H₂O → 2H₂ + O₂, requiring a minimum voltage of 1.23 V under standard conditions, though practical efficiencies are lower due to overpotentials.[16] Photolytic decomposition is triggered by light absorption, such as the breakdown of silver chloride in photographic film: 2AgCl → 2Ag + Cl₂, where ultraviolet or visible light excites electrons, facilitating bond rupture.[19] Mechanistically, these reactions involve the cleavage of covalent or ionic bonds, often following Arrhenius kinetics where rate constants depend exponentially on temperature or energy input.[18] For instance, thermal decompositions may proceed via unimolecular pathways with high activation energies (e.g., 200–400 kJ/mol for carbonates), leading to gas evolution that increases system pressure and entropy.[17] Catalysts can lower barriers, as seen in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (2H₂O₂ → 2H₂O + O₂), accelerated by manganese dioxide, reducing the half-life from months to seconds.[19] In complex systems, such as polymer degradation, chain scission predominates, yielding monomers and volatiles, with implications for waste management where incomplete decomposition contributes to microplastic persistence.[18] Empirical studies confirm that decomposition rates vary with molecular structure; for example, aromatic compounds resist thermal breakdown below 500°C due to resonance stabilization.[16]Engineering and Systems Analysis
In engineering, breakdown refers to the abrupt or gradual failure of a mechanical, electrical, or integrated system component, compromising functionality and often leading to downtime or safety risks. Systems analysis of such breakdowns involves dissecting failure mechanisms through empirical data collection, modeling, and probabilistic assessment to identify causal factors like material fatigue, overload, or design flaws. Reliability engineering quantifies breakdown likelihood via failure rate predictions, typically expressed as failures per unit time, using standards such as MIL-HDBK-217 for electronic systems or physics-of-failure approaches that simulate stress accumulations like thermal cycling or vibration.[20][21] A primary proactive method is Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), which systematically evaluates potential failure modes by assigning risk priority numbers (RPN) based on severity (impact of failure), occurrence (likelihood), and detection (ease of identification). Originating in military and aerospace contexts, FMEA prioritizes mitigation actions, such as redesigning components with higher margins or adding redundancies, and is applied across sectors including automotive and manufacturing to reduce unplanned breakdowns by up to 50% in documented cases.[22] Reactive breakdowns are investigated via Root Cause Analysis (RCA), a structured post-failure process employing tools like the 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, or Pareto charts to trace symptoms to fundamental causes, such as inadequate lubrication or operator error in process industries. RCA integrates with reliability metrics, including Weibull distribution modeling for breakdown time-to-failure data, enabling predictions of system MTBF and informing preventive maintenance schedules.[23][24] In combined applications, FMEA informs RCA by highlighting vulnerabilities, as seen in asset management where integrating both reduces recurrence rates through targeted interventions like enhanced monitoring.[25] Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) complements these by modeling breakdowns as top events derived from Boolean logic gates representing component interdependencies, particularly useful for complex systems like nuclear or aviation where cascading failures amplify risks. Quantitative FTA assigns probabilities to basic events, yielding overall system unreliability metrics, and has been validated in high-stakes engineering for prioritizing safety upgrades. These methods underscore causal realism in engineering, emphasizing verifiable data over assumptions to achieve quantifiable improvements in system resilience.[26]Psychological and Health Contexts
Mental or Nervous Breakdown
A mental or nervous breakdown refers to a colloquial, non-clinical description of an acute episode of severe psychological distress in which an individual experiences overwhelming stress that impairs their ability to perform daily activities, such as work, self-care, or social interactions.[27] The term gained popularity in the early 20th century, emerging from lay usage around 1901 in medical treatises and reflecting earlier concepts like neurasthenia, a diagnosis of nervous exhaustion prevalent in the late 19th century among urban professionals.[28] Unlike formal psychiatric categories, it lacks a standardized definition in diagnostic manuals such as the DSM-5, which the American Psychiatric Association maintains does not recognize it as a distinct disorder.[29] Symptoms typically include intense emotional turmoil, such as uncontrollable anxiety, panic attacks, or profound depression, often accompanied by physical manifestations like insomnia, fatigue, appetite changes, or somatic complaints without identifiable medical cause.[30] Cognitive impairments may arise, including difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness, or intrusive thoughts, leading to social withdrawal or isolation.[31] In severe cases, individuals report feelings of detachment from reality or suicidal ideation, though these overlap with diagnosable conditions like major depressive disorder or acute stress disorder.[32] Empirical studies on stress responses indicate that such breakdowns correlate with elevated cortisol levels and autonomic nervous system dysregulation, measurable via biomarkers in acute crisis scenarios.[33] Causal factors often involve cumulative stressors, including chronic work demands, relational conflicts, financial pressures, or unresolved trauma, which exceed an individual's coping capacity as assessed in psychological resilience models.[31] Predisposing elements include pre-existing vulnerabilities like generalized anxiety disorder or burnout, with longitudinal data showing higher incidence among those with prolonged exposure to uncontrollable life events, such as job loss or bereavement.[29] Evidence from cohort studies links these episodes to environmental triggers rather than isolated genetic factors, emphasizing interactions between biological stress responses and psychosocial demands.[34] In contemporary psychiatry, what is termed a nervous breakdown is reframed as an exacerbation of underlying conditions amenable to evidence-based interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to reframe maladaptive thoughts or pharmacotherapy with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for symptom relief, supported by randomized controlled trials demonstrating efficacy in reducing acute distress.[30] Short-term management may involve hospitalization for safety if suicidal risk is present, followed by lifestyle modifications like sleep hygiene and exercise, which meta-analyses confirm mitigate recurrence by 20-30% in follow-up periods.[27] Recovery timelines vary, with many regaining function within weeks through professional intervention, though untreated cases risk chronicity, as evidenced by prospective studies tracking untreated stress disorders.[31]Physical Exhaustion and Collapse
Physical exhaustion and collapse occur when prolonged or intense physical exertion depletes the body's energy systems, leading to acute incapacitation, most notably as exercise-associated collapse (EAC), defined as the inability to stand or walk unaided immediately following or during recovery from strenuous activity.[35] This phenomenon is prevalent in endurance sports, military operations, and high-demand labor, where skeletal muscle fatigue—a reduction in maximal force or power output due to repeated contractions—progresses to systemic failure if recovery is inadequate.[36] The core pathophysiology stems from postural hypotension triggered by the abrupt halt of the skeletal muscle pump, which normally aids venous return during exercise; upon stopping, blood pools in dilated lower-limb vessels, reducing cardiac preload and causing transient cerebral hypoperfusion.[37] Physical exhaustion amplifies this through accumulated metabolic byproducts like lactate, glycogen depletion, and autonomic nervous system dysregulation, while secondary factors such as dehydration (reducing plasma volume by up to 5-10% in prolonged efforts) and heat stress elevate core temperature, further straining thermoregulation and cardiovascular output.[38] In marathons, for instance, collapse rates can reach 20-30% among finishers under hot conditions, often misattributed solely to dehydration but more commonly linked to exhaustion-induced orthostatic failure rather than hyponatremia.[38] Symptoms typically escalate from localized muscle weakness and trembling to global signs including dizziness, syncope, nausea, and profuse sweating, with collapse resolving spontaneously in most cases within minutes via supine positioning to restore venous return.[35] In military contexts, such as operational training, acute fatigue from energy deficits impairs lower-body performance by 10-20% post-exertion, heightening collapse risk through compounded endocrine disruptions and immune suppression if chronic overtraining ensues.[39][40] Distinguishing EAC from severe pathologies like heat stroke (core temperature >40°C with central nervous system dysfunction) or cardiac events is critical, as benign postural collapse predominates (over 90% of cases in endurance events), but evaluation via orthostatic vitals, ECG, and labs rules out rarities like arrhythmias or rhabdomyolysis.[37] Treatment emphasizes supportive measures: immediate recumbency with leg elevation, fluid repletion (e.g., 500-1000 mL isotonic solutions), and monitoring for resolution, with prevention rooted in paced cool-downs, pre-event hydration (aiming for urine specific gravity <1.020), and workload acclimation to mitigate overtraining thresholds.[35] Empirical data from athlete cohorts underscore that while exhaustion is adaptive in moderation, unchecked progression to collapse signals mismatched demands exceeding physiological reserves, as evidenced by post-exercise performance drops persisting 24-48 hours without intervention.[41]Social and Relational Failures
Breakdown in Negotiations and Agreements
A breakdown in negotiations and agreements refers to the collapse or impasse in discussions where parties fail to achieve a mutually acceptable resolution, often resulting in the termination of talks without a deal. This phenomenon arises when interdependent parties, facing conflicting interests, cannot bridge gaps through compromise, leading to a deadlock that halts progress.[42] [43] Common causes include lack of trust, which fosters suspicion and reluctance to concede; miscommunication or insufficient information exchange, eroding willingness to collaborate; and hard-bargaining tactics such as extreme initial demands followed by minimal concessions, which provoke resentment or exhaustion. Other factors encompass incompatible objectives, where core interests remain irreconcilable, and external pressures like time constraints or third-party influences that amplify rigidity. Personality clashes and intangible elements, such as cultural differences or emotional commitments to positions, further exacerbate impasses by prioritizing ego over rational trade-offs.[42] [44] [45] Historical examples illustrate these dynamics. The 2000 Camp David Summit between Israel and Palestinian leaders collapsed due to disagreements over territorial concessions and security guarantees, with mutual distrust preventing a final peace accord despite prior interim agreements. In business, the 2000 AOL-Time Warner merger, valued at $165 billion, unraveled post-closing amid cultural clashes and overvalued assets, leading to a $98 billion write-down by 2002 as synergies failed to materialize.[46] [47] Consequences of such breakdowns extend beyond immediate failure, often entailing escalated conflicts, foregone economic gains, and damaged relationships that hinder future dealings. Failed trade or bilateral investment treaty negotiations can result in persistent barriers, with empirical studies estimating welfare losses from unexploited trade potentials in the billions annually for involved economies. In international contexts, breakdowns may precipitate military escalations or sanctions, as seen in stalled arms control talks, while corporate impasses lead to opportunity costs, including lost market shares or innovation delays.[48] [49]Familial and Relational Collapse
Familial collapse refers to the erosion of stable nuclear family units, marked by declining marriage rates and a surge in single-parent households. In the United States, the marriage rate fell from 68.2 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women in 1900 to 31.3 in 2022, representing a 54% decline, with rates reaching historic lows since the 1970s.[50][51] Similarly, in the European Union, the crude marriage rate has decreased by 50% since 1964.[52] Divorce rates, which peaked in the U.S. at 22.6 per 1,000 married women around 1980, have since declined to 2.4 per 1,000 people in 2022, though this follows a sharp rise post-1960s no-fault divorce laws.[53][54] The proliferation of single-parent families underscores this instability, with the U.S. exhibiting the world's highest rate: approximately 23% of children live in such households, compared to lower figures in other nations.[55] In 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 9.8 million one-parent households, predominantly mother-led (7.3 million), comprising 80% of single-parent groups.[56][57] This shift, accelerating from the 1970s, correlates with fewer children in two-parent homes: from 85% in 1968 to about 70% by the 2020s, with father-only households rising modestly from 1.1% to 4.2% of children between 1970 and 2023.[58] Relational collapse extends beyond family to broader interpersonal bonds, manifesting as a "friendship recession" and widespread loneliness. The proportion of U.S. adults reporting no close friends quadrupled from 3% in 1990 to 12% by 2021, reaching 17% in 2024.[59][60] Americans now spend less than three hours per week with friends, down from over six hours a decade prior, amid trends of fewer confidants and reduced social interaction.[61] Approximately half of U.S. adults experience loneliness, with rates highest among young adults (18-34), where 30% report daily feelings; this epidemic links to heightened anxiety and depression, affecting 81% of chronically lonely individuals.[62][63] Globally, loneliness contributes to over 871,000 annual deaths, equivalent to 100 hourly, underscoring causal risks akin to smoking.[64] These trends reflect causal factors including economic pressures, delayed family formation (e.g., 25% of 40-year-olds never married in 2021, up from 6% in 1980), and cultural shifts prioritizing individualism over communal ties.[65] Government data from sources like the Census Bureau and Pew Research provide robust empirical backing, though academic analyses often underemphasize biological imperatives for pair-bonding and child-rearing stability in favor of socioeconomic narratives.[55][66]Societal and Institutional Breakdown
Societal breakdown refers to the erosion of social cohesion, norms, and structures that sustain collective order, often marked by declining interpersonal trust, weakened family units, and failing public institutions. Empirical indicators include plummeting public confidence in government, media, and other bodies, alongside rising indicators of fragmentation such as increased non-marital births and divorce. Institutional breakdown manifests as systemic inefficiencies, policy failures, and loss of legitimacy, where bureaucracies prioritize self-preservation over public service, leading to outcomes like delayed crisis responses or misallocated resources.[67][68] Trust in institutions has sharply declined in recent decades. In the United States, confidence in government fell from 77% in 1964 to 20% in 2022, reflecting perceptions of incompetence and partisanship. Gallup polls indicate average confidence across major U.S. institutions reached a near-record low of 28% in 2025, with small businesses as the sole exception amid broader skepticism toward corporations, media, and higher education. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer highlights low trust in government (around 40% globally, lower in polarized nations), attributing it to inconsistent policy delivery and elite disconnects. Scholars note that such erosion correlates with rising grievance and alternative-seeking behaviors, exacerbating fragmentation.[69][70][71] Family structures, foundational to societal stability, show parallel decay through elevated divorce rates and fertility declines. U.S. divorce rates, after peaking in the 1980s, stabilized at around 40-50% of marriages but remain high relative to historical norms, with early childhood divorce linked to 50% of the gap in teen birth rates between children of intact versus disrupted families. Non-marital births rose from 6% in 1980-1984 to 26% in 2010-2014, disproportionately affecting lower-income groups and correlating with poorer child outcomes in health and education. Fertility rates have fallen below replacement levels in many developed nations, from 2.1 children per woman in 2007 to lower in 2023, driven by economic pressures and cultural shifts away from marriage, per OECD and Census data. These trends contribute to intergenerational instability, as single-parent households (now over 25% of U.S. families) face higher poverty and crime exposure risks.[72][73][51] Government institutions exhibit operational failures through bureaucratic inertia and resource mismanagement. Recent U.S. examples include major IT project overruns, such as the IRS modernization efforts costing billions with minimal functionality gains by 2025, and healthcare.gov's 2013 launch debacle, which exposed systemic underestimation of complexity. Bank failures totaled 570 from 2001-2025 per FDIC records, often tied to regulatory lapses amid financial deregulation. Broader critiques, as in Cato analyses, point to structural incentives like agency capture and vote-seeking over efficacy, resulting in policy gridlock—e.g., delayed infrastructure repairs despite trillions allocated post-2021. In international contexts, the UN's declining trust (per 2025 surveys) stems from inefficacy in conflict resolution, with member states bypassing it for bilateral deals. These failures foster cynicism, as public services increasingly fail to meet basic needs like security and welfare, per collapse literature emphasizing capacity loss over mere hierarchy flattening.[74][67][75][76][77] Causal factors include elite overreach, economic inequality, and cultural atomization, though empirical studies stress complexity traps where interconnected systems amplify small failures into cascades. For instance, structural demographic theory links elite competition and wage stagnation to revolts, as seen in historical collapses. While some academic sources downplay immediacy due to adaptive capacities, data on polarization—e.g., U.S. partisan trust gaps widening post-2020—signals heightened vulnerability. Addressing breakdown requires restoring competence through decentralization and accountability, though entrenched incentives resist reform.[78][79]Analytical and Descriptive Uses
Data and Cost Breakdowns
In analytical and descriptive contexts, a data breakdown refers to the segmentation of a dataset into meaningful subsets or categories to enable detailed examination and pattern recognition, often using criteria such as demographics, geographic regions, or temporal intervals.[80] This process supports descriptive and inferential statistics by isolating variables that influence outcomes, reducing aggregation bias, and facilitating hypothesis testing.[81] For example, in epidemiological studies, incidence rates of a disease might be broken down by age cohorts to reveal disparities not apparent in overall figures, as demonstrated in analyses of public health datasets where subgroup variances inform targeted interventions.[82] Cost breakdowns, conversely, entail the systematic decomposition of total expenditures into granular components, typically organized via a Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS)—a hierarchical framework that classifies expenses from high-level budgets to line-item details like labor, materials, and contingencies.[83] In project management, this structure aligns costs with work breakdown structures, enabling precise allocation and monitoring; for instance, a software development project might delineate 40% of the budget to personnel, 30% to hardware, and 20% to testing, with the remainder for overhead, drawn from standard industry templates.[84] Such breakdowns enhance financial transparency, variance detection, and resource optimization, as evidenced in construction projects where early identification of overruns in material categories averages 15-20% cost savings through adjustments.[85] Both practices underpin evidence-based decision-making in business analytics, where data breakdowns reveal operational inefficiencies—such as regional sales variances leading to 10-25% revenue gains via localized strategies—and cost breakdowns curb overruns by quantifying causal factors like supply chain fluctuations.[86] Empirical studies indicate that firms employing rigorous breakdowns achieve up to 5-6% annual cost reductions and improved predictive accuracy in forecasting models.[87]| Component | Typical Allocation Example (Construction Project) | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Direct Labor | 25-35% of total budget | Tracks workforce hours against deliverables for productivity assessment.[88] |
| Materials | 30-40% | Monitors procurement variances to mitigate inflation impacts.[89] |
| Equipment/Overhead | 15-20% | Allocates indirect costs, enabling overhead recovery analysis.[90] |
| Contingencies | 5-10% | Reserves for uncertainties, adjusted via real-time tracking.[91] |
Procedural Dismantling
Procedural dismantling refers to the systematic deconstruction of established processes, protocols, or mechanisms into their fundamental components, often for purposes of analysis, optimization, reconfiguration, or invalidation.[92] In engineering and manufacturing contexts, it involves reverse-engineering assembled systems to facilitate maintenance, recycling, or material recovery, prioritizing sequences that minimize damage to reusable parts. For instance, optimal disassembly planning algorithms address factors like part wear, corrosion, and interconnection complexity to generate efficient step-by-step removal orders, reducing time and cost in end-of-life product handling.[93] In legal and institutional frameworks, procedural dismantling entails the targeted erosion or reconfiguration of evidentiary or operational rules, as observed in judicial interpretations that alter burdens of proof in discrimination cases. The Roberts Court, for example, has been critiqued for incrementally weakening structured proof mechanisms in employment discrimination litigation, shifting emphasis from procedural safeguards to substantive outcomes.[92] Similarly, in international law, partial procedural dismantling has occurred through precedents like the Monetary Gold case, where jurisdictional prerequisites were relaxed to accommodate community interests over strict bilateralism.[94] Analytical applications extend to systems design and process improvement, where dismantling procedures reveals inefficiencies or dependencies. In operational contexts, such as equipment decommissioning, it requires permits and sequenced steps—including hazard surveys, material removal, and safety implementations—to ensure compliance and prevent structural failures.[95] Frameworks like design for disassembly (DfD) quantify liaison strengths between components, enabling time-based models that prioritize high-value separations.[96] This approach, while computationally intensive (often NP-hard), supports sustainability by maximizing recoverable resources from complex assemblies.[93]Cultural and Entertainment References
Music
In music, a breakdown denotes a song section where the arrangement is stripped down, typically by muting drums, bass, or other elements to reduce energy and foster tension before a return to fuller instrumentation or a climactic "drop." This contrasts with more constant verse-chorus forms and is prevalent in electronic dance music (EDM), where it shifts focus to melody or atmosphere, and in rock subgenres.[97][98] In heavy metal and metalcore, breakdowns emphasize slow, palm-muted guitar riffs with open-note chugs at half-time tempo, designed for audience moshing and providing rhythmic relief from faster sections.[99][100] In traditional fiddle traditions, such as old-time American or Irish music, a breakdown refers to an up-tempo instrumental reel or dance tune featuring rapid string bowing or picking on fiddle or banjo.[101] Notable recordings titled "Breakdown" include:- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' track from their self-titled debut album, released November 9, 1976, as the band's first single; it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on November 5, 1977, and peaked at number 40 on February 18, 1978.[102][103]
- Mariah Carey's collaboration with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony from her 1997 album Butterfly, released as a single in 1998; the soul ballad, detailing emotional aftermath of a relationship's end, peaked at number 53 on Billboard's Radio Songs chart and exemplifies a lyrical and vocal buildup mirroring the structural term.[104]
- Guns N' Roses' piano-led composition from Use Your Illusion II (1991), developed amid internal band disputes over its unconventional structure, diverging from the album's harder rock orientation.[105]