The track appears on the I Am... disc, including songs which give a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Beyoncé's life stripped of her make-up and celebrity trappings.

"Broken-Hearted Girl" was initially announced as the sixth single from I Am... Sasha Fierce in the United States and the fourth elsewhere, but was replaced with "Sweet Dreams".

Sophie Muller directed a monochrome accompanying music video for the song, in which Beyoncé's character reminisces about her relationship on a beach in Malibu, California.

Beyoncé wrote "Broken-Hearted Girl" alongside the Norwegian production team Stargate, which consists of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen.

[1] The duo initially composed "Broken-Hearted Girl" as a traditional rhythm and blues song but co-writer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds changed one chord and added falsetto vocals.

[2] His recording a demo version preceded a rewrite of the backing track chords and the addition of a four-on-the-floor piano;[2] the result was a "grand-piano ballad".

[3] According to the sheet music published by EMI, "Broken-Hearted Girl" was composed at a tempo of 84 beats per minute using common time in the key of D minor.

[13] Beyoncé's vocals are accompanied by strings,[7] a drum machine beat[8] and a cascading melancholy piano that opens the song.

[8] While her lover is out cheating on her, at home the woman wonders if she has the courage to continue the relationship, "now that her rock has turned out to be made of mud", as interpreted by Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music.

[22][23] A CD single, featuring the album version of "Broken-Hearted Girl" and an extended remix of "Video Phone", was released in Germany on October 20, 2009.

[24] French electronic musician Alan Braxe produced a different version of "Broken-Hearted Girl" that was released in Europe.

[34] A writer for the Eastern Daily Press noted that it is a ballad in the vein of Beyoncé's 2008 single "If I Were a Boy" and that Dion would be proud of its "insipid [and] sentimental" balladry.

[35] David Riva of The Michigan Daily saw "Broken-Hearted Girl" as "a powerful and emotionally stirring ballad with universal resonance" and one that shows Beyoncé's growth as a songwriter.

[37] Mayer Nissim of Digital Spy commended "the pleasant mix of cascading piano and tender strings", but criticized the drum sounds for their hollowness.

[10] Nissim concluded that although "the emotion-filled vocals offer yet more proof that [Beyoncé] is one of the finest pop singers of her generation", "Broken-Hearted Girl" is not as catchy as her best work.

[11] Ben Westhoff of Las Vegas Weekly wrote that it was difficult to guess what inspired the development of the breakup ballad as Beyoncé married Jay-Z a few months before the album's release.

The video transitions into color,[56] as Beyoncé's character appears on the beach in a green dress and holds a rose without its petals, which she later restores.

[61] Jay Lustig of New Jersey On-Line commented that the song's performance at the Madison Square Garden on June 21, 2009, had "plenty of blues grit".

[64] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times criticized the performance, writing that it was "the evening's most comical moment, in a concert involving a bustier made with motorcycle lights".

[65] Michael Cragg of musicOMH highlighted that Beyoncé's performance of "Broken-Heated Girl" was better than those of the previous two ballads "because it is allowed to exist on its own terms; a simple song, sung beautifully".

[59] The Observer's Barbara Ellen commented that Beyoncé, singing in Zurich in May 2009, was "clawing pathos" on "Broken-Hearted Girl" and "can shape-change at will".