The Evanescence Song Interpretation Thread

[Naeryn]

Originally Posted by KeyStone

Well, you all heard the man! Does he have to double post or something!? Let's get the discussion going people, jeez, you heard it right from the mods mouth! He clearly said that we should change songs, duh! Was i the only one to hear him!?

...heheheh


*tents fingers and waits for gullible people*

Ha! you din' get me! I was checking this page to see if a new one had been posted, and it HADN'T! muahahahaaaaa! *proud of not being tricked - an unusual occurance...*

[Euge]

Originally Posted by saida

Then I also see a more positive ending in these last lines. In it she wakes up, all the lines are spoken by her now, the "Hello I'm still here" is hers now and not the mind-persons like it was everytime earlier in the song. She stands up and even if she's shattered and hurting, she now demands the attention and not just tries to ask for it quietly. The end isn't horrible positive, maybe it was the wrong word. She's still messed up and sees the problem of not being able to move forward (All that's left of yesterday, which could also mean for the people hurting her that she's a reminder of the things they did wrong, they must take responsibility) and doesn't know what to do, doesn't know how to live, but is still angry and finds her own voice and isn't a victim anymore. Also, she has to break her own shell, her coffin and be strong, not to hide in her own head, that's the only way for her to grown into her own person.

Wow Saida, I really liked you interpretation. I've never thought of it so much, and less like that.
I thought of a child that was always by herself before making all that messy interpretation of mine, but.. from now on I will think different when listening Hello.
That last part... the one I quoted, nice... and yes, I think it's positive

[saida]

Originally Posted by Eugenia

Wow Saida, I really liked you interpretation. I've never thought of it so much, and less like that.
I thought of a child that was always by herself before making all that messy interpretation of mine, but.. from now on I will think different when listening Hello.
That last part... the one I quoted, nice... and yes, I think it's positive

Thanks You're a sweetie <3333

[Cfw828]

I think we've now fulfilled discussion on Hello.

The next discussion will feature....

Farther Away

[Euge]

I take this song as for a person that did everything posible to be liked - loved by the person she loves, but finds a void instead.

She made her seem happy, even though maybe she was sad for a previous relationship, weary ("I took their smiles and I made them mine").
"I sold my soul just to hide the light", the same, she made herself the way she thought the other person wants her to be, even if that made her less of what really she is.

And she sees even though all the effort she's made for that person, all that she changed, she can see how they are both distancing from each other.
She doesn't give up on that love, she runs to and calls out that person, and she knows the other person knows what she feels... she sees that, but still, can't help feeling nothing from the other side, as if the other person does not care.

Even she has tried to be away herself, maybe 'cause she realized that they aren't going anywhere.. like no future in that relationship ("tried to forget you") but you can't forget true love ("but without you I feel nothing") so she asks that person to see her and to love her, because alone without the other person's love, she feels dying ("don't leave me here, by myself I can't breathe").

No matter how, she wants to be with that person, no matter anything, so as above, she runs and calls and begs to be loved back.

[Katya]

Hmmm...Eugenia's is a great one. I can see that.

I kinda see the song as a few different things, something like Eugenia's being one of them. I'll just put two out there, though.

First Concept

The speaker is talking about how she has tried and tried to fit in with everyone else, and how all her efforts are turned against her in mockery. She tried to become one of them (I took their smiles and I made them mine/I sold my soul just to hide the light), burying her true self so deeply that she doesn't know who she is anymore. She has come to the point where she realizes that she doesn't know who she is and that she's lost her sense of self in taking from what others do and say and making it her own (And now I see what I really am/A thief, a whore, and a liar).

Because she's been trying so hard to get with the in crowd, she's ignored her friends for awhile (unintentionally). She turns to her best friend for help, but her best friend either can't or doesn't want to help her. She distances herself from the speaker, probably because she doesn't like what the speaker is trying to become. (I run to you/Call out your name/I see you there/Farther Away)

Her friends had tried to tell her that she was okay as she was, but she didn't listen to them. She is so used to the ruthlesness of those she aspires to be that she almost doesn't care anymore. She feels like something is wrong with her, that she just can't do anything right, and no one will tell her what she should do (I'm numb to you; numb, deaf and blind/You give me all but the reason why). She keeps trying to reach out to her old friends from within her prison of self-hatred and despair, but they just let her struggle on by herself, not offering any help. (I reach, but I feel only air and night/Not you, not love. Just nothing)

She realizes that her best friend, who she left behind, is the one who really matters. She realizes that her friend had always been there for her and tried to help her. She's terrified now, because she sees that her friend is giving up on her, and she's about to lose the only support and lifeline that she had. (Tried to forget you, but without you I feel nothing/Don't leave me here by myself/I can't breathe)

The last two choruses can show how she's falling faster and faster down this neverending spiral of self-destruction, and how she's crying for help but no one seems to answer.


Second Concept

The speaker is getting over a death. The death of her boyfriend/husband, who she loves very, very much.

She tried to get over his death by pretending that she was okay. (I took their smiles and I made them mine/I sold my soul just to hide the light) She hides her grief and anguish, only showing her former, happy self, which now seems like a fake, horrible mask. (And now I see what I really am/A thief, a whore, and a liar)

She wants to run back to her lover's arms, to the warmth and security and love she felt when she was with him. But whenever she wants to do that, she is reminded that he is gone, farther away than any distance across the world (chorus).

When she is by herself, she lets out her anguish, speaking aloud as if he could answer back. Why? she asks, Why did you leave? Why can't you come back? She cries so hard that she reaches that sense of numbness that you get after you've had a good, hysterical cry. (I'm numb to you, numb, deaf, and blind/You give me all but the reason why) She wants to be with him again, for without him, she can't feel anything good anymore (I reach but I feel only air and night/Not you, not love, just nothing)

(chorus again)

She can't get him out of her mind. She can't seem to feel anything positive without him there, and she feels suffocated by the grief and anxiety that she's feeling (Tried to forget you, but without you I feel nothing/Don't leave me here by myself/I can't breathe)

The last two choruses can portray how she falls deeper into the pit of sorrow, grief and despair, and how she still looks to him to help her, even though he can't.

[Mallory]

I think this song is talking about how you don't want to accept that something you loved is gone.

First verse-I took their smiles and I made them mine.
She has been pretending to be happy, acting like nothing is wrong. But now she knows that the person she was pretending to be isn't her (and now I see what I really am, a thief, a whore, and a liar)
Next, she has been seeing the thing she loved is gone. (I see you there, Farther away) She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, and is sure her loved one is there. But she awakes to find nothing there. She is trying to forget this loved one, but she can't be there without her loved one. She keeps trying to reach her loved one, but each time he's farther away from her.

[Naeryn]

She's feeling dark. Like something... wrong. Similar to Everybody's Fool in one respect, she was wearing a mask, and refusing to see who she thinks she is. Through this, she's driven away the people who care about her. She's finally waking up and seeing it, but it's too late, and no one is there for her anymore.

~
The first verse is her taking off the mask, but she still believes she's something malevolent. Somehow not right. Her self-esteem plummets, and she falls into a cycle of self-destructive behavior.

The chorus is her seeing everyone distancing themselves from her.

The second verse is her not understanding what's happening to her, she doesn't like who she is and she wants to know why.

Then we have the chorus again.

Her getting scared, not knowing what will happen to her, what she'll do to herself when everyone is gone, and there's no one to keep her alive any more.

With the last repetitions of the chorus, we have her falling further into self-destructiveness and self-loathing, and she obsesses over what once was, convinced it's all over, there's nothing left, an no one hears her silently screaming for help.
~

Similar to Katya's first concept, I know... especially at the beginning.

[KeyStone]

First and foremost, might I say that their recent live rendition of this song... *ahem*

FUCKIN' ROCKS!!


Now that that's out of my system, onto the interpretation.

This song makes me think of a kinda emotional transition from Lies to Going Under, it's about living falsely and trying to be someone you're not, and feeling cold inside. Being fake for someone else, and when this fascade starts to bring you down, you turn to that person for comfort and find nothing. You start to realize how stupid you were for being fake for someone that doesn't really care about you. You start to hate the self-loathing they put you through, you hate the dependence you now have, and even though you tried to change for them... they were never ever there for you.
They were farther away. And you are pissed.

[Shivercide]

I always hear Farther Away as the after effects of a relationship gone bad, and ending in a horrible way.

When you're completely in love with someone, but they don't treat you right and you are so far in denial that you don't want to admit it...and eventually the relationship ends with a horrible experience against you. You know that what happened was wrong, how you were treated was wrong, and yet you don't want to accept it... "And now I know what I really am...a thief, a whore and a liar."

And all you want is to be with that person still, no matter what they've done to you in the past. Because, for some reason, you love them, and can't seem to let them go. "I run to you, call out your name, I see you there, farther away..."

But at the same time you know that they only treat you badly, and know the denial you are in. ""I'm numb to you, numb and deaf and blind..." But you also don't care as much as you care about being alone, and not feeling any love at all. "I reach but I feel only air at night...not you, not love, just nothing."

And so you try to go on with your life, but nothing seems to work, and you feel trapped within the pain and embrace of your abusive loved one, without the love and comfort. "Try to forget you, but without you, I feel nothing...don't leave me here by myself, I can't breathe."