The early 2000s were, among other things, a time for broodiness and angry white boy feelings. We had Linkin Park, we had Puddle of Mudd. To an extent we had Default? Anyway, at some point there had to be some kind of counteract to all these bands. Enter the female companion for broody white girls everywhere, Amy Lee.
Evanescence's major debut in pop culture came in 2003, with the release of their smash hit "Bring Me to Life", reaching #10 on the year-end chart of 2003. Their second hit, "My Immortal", nearly equaled its popularity, soaring to #19 on the year-end chart of 2004. And it's not hard to see why. After bands like Linkin Park and Puddle of Mudd, and to an extent Default, we needed some kind of counterpart. And the brooding energy and beautiful voice of Amy Lee was the perfect counterpart to that. And nowhere, I think, is the versatility of Evanescence shown better than "My Immortal".
I should note that this version is called the "band version" or "alternate version", which was made later than the original. The original "My Immortal" did not have the band kick in after the bridge, but rather more strings and piano.
I think it definitely needed the boost of the band to really come together and make this one of Evanescence's best songs. Without it, the song's still good. But it doesn't really go anywhere at the end. While the video for the new version is kind of goofy (oh look, there's the band!) the musical idea works much better.
The song, as you might guess from the title, is about the death of a loved one.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
There's still a grieving period here, as evidenced by these lines. This person is gone, but not forgotten.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
It's a very dark song. It almost gets to the point where Amy Lee seems to resent the person for not going away in her mind.
Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me
I really do love this song. Amy Lee's beautiful voice come together with the beautifully dark lyrics to make it really work. Honestly, I might like "Going Under" a little better if we're talking absolute favourites by artists, but this one has everything Evanescence is good at: soft piano ballad mixed with hard rock to tell a sad story. Basically, if you've never heard Evanescence before (and if you haven't, where have you been?) start here.
Also, as much as I made fun of the angsty period of the early 2000s, I do like a lot of music that came out of it, whether it's guilty pleasure (there is no way anyone can take that "Crawling" song 100% seriously) or because I think it's legitimately good music. Or maybe I just fit the angry white boy archetype. Whatever the case, rock on, angst00s.
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