The Evanescence Song Interpretation Thread

[saida]

I think the song is sort of obsessive (well, duh). The person Amy is singing about was very in love with somebody and he then died. It almost seems to me that maybe he wasn't that much in love with her, maybe not at all. She just got obsessed with him. He might not have even known her or then it was common knowledge that she was very in love with him, even to the point of being dangerous and then he died and she goes to his grave to even maybe physically take his body to keep as her own, she imagines that thus she could make him love her, she could own him.

Sometimes I think that he's been dead for a long time and she actually had his body tucked somewhere (very Psycho) or maybe she even killed him, maybe she only loved the person she made him to be, the tone of the song is so obsessive and excessive in its declarations of love. Eventually it was found out that she has his body and it was taken away from her and buried and maybe the song is about the last night she has, she goes to the grave and kills herself to be with him. Uselessly perhaps, since it seems to me he wasn't that in love with her. The love in this song is in her head to me. She ties herself to him in this almost mystical way. There's no mention of his character or his feelings towards her, compare the lyrics to My Immortal where the person she lost had a face and a presence and features and the singer can recognize bad features in him, can criticize him even if she loves him, she's realistic in her feelings. Even in Death is strictly from her point of view, her imagination.

[Eleanor]

I don't think that she killed him or even took the body home. She's just carrying the memory of him. She thinks that it's good to live with the memory. If she still accepts that he's dead it may really give her strength. But like you said there can be the possibility that she just keeps living in a dream.

[saida]

Originally Posted by Eleanor

I don't think that she killed him or even took the body home. She's just carrying the memory of him. She thinks that it's good to live with the memory. If she still accepts that he's dead it may really give her strength. But like you said there can be the possibility that she just keeps living in a dream.

Well, this is an interpretation thread so there are millions of possibilities of what the song is about. I just think there are a lot of physical aspects in the song, describing concrete things

Moonlight on the soft brown earth
It leads me to where you lay

I will stay forever here with you, my love

But no bonds can hold me from your side

These seem actual happenings, not just yearning for a memory and suggest actions instead of just thoughts. The song is also interesting when you look at how everything is strictly from her point of view. She says

They don't know you can't leave me
They don't hear you singing to me

saying he can't leave her and not that she can't leave him, which would seem more obvious if she was only missing a lost love. Also she refers a lot to "them" and "others", people who have opinions, negative obviously about her and her actions and how she truly believes they don't understand but at the same time the lyrics clearly indicate others think she's insane. That indication could have been dropped if the song was meant to be only about the same sort of spiritual missing MI is about. She only talks about herself. She says I will stay here forever, she urges him to give her a reason he's really gone but since he's dead he can give no such reason and she convinces herself that he still lingers with her.

And when it comes to the I'm taking you home part, I don't see how that could be explained other than as an physical act. Nobody could stop her thinking about him and keeping his memory in her mind. There'd be no reason to take him home then.

[Naeryn]

I have "They don't know you can't leave me, they don't hear you singing to me" written in my binder...

I think a lot of people find that line creepy... but it's not in my head. More like her lover has passed on, and yet some part of him will always be with her - the singing to me part I believe is like he's talking to her, maybe singing a lullaby or something. Telling her he's okay... right at the end of the song, I have this little clip that plays in my head - she runs around a corner in a forest, slips, and falls. The ghost of her lover appears, offering her a hand... she stands, then he holds out his hand in front of him and walks through her... except he doesn't come out the other side. So it's like he's living inside her... *claps* I love this song.

I wrote a music video for this song ... we start shooting in a couple of months. When we all finish, I'll post it here for all to enjoy! (really hope Amy sees it...)

[Eleanor]

Originally Posted by saida

Well, this is an interpretation thread so there are millions of possibilities of what the song is about. I just think there are a lot of physical aspects in the song, describing concrete things.

I didn't say that you were wrong and I was the only person who has the right interpretation. I just told my opinion. I don't see that she would have killed him but if you see it that way, it's OK. Like you said, many interpretations are possible. Maybe the only thing that's sure is that she is thinking about someone she loved who is dead now.

[Crystal Tears]

My interpretation is not that she literally dug up her husband/lover, but that she did physically go to the cemetary to be with him . The lines "They took you away from me, but now I'm taking you home" gives me an image of first people leading her away from the cemetary struggling after the funeral, and then her returning late at night to be near his grave. "Home", I believe is meant to represent her heart. As she continues to do this night after night, family and friends begin to grow concerned, and one night they try to convince her to come home, to move on. I think that with the lines "They don't know that you can't leave me, they don't hear you singing to me" give the impression that he is trying to communicate with her, and tell her it's okay to leave because he will always be with her in spirit. However, she still isn't ready to let go of him physically.

I love this song. It is haunting, and beautifully poignant.

[Invisible-one]

Well, ok, I think it's just about how you love someone soooo much that even though the person is dead, you can't accept it to be real. You remain in denial.
XxAmyxX

[Rowan]

My interpretation is:

Someone who loves their..er. loved one very much. Even in death! Lol! Anyway, she goes to her loved one's grave and digs him up. She doesn't want to let go of him yet. She loves the person so much, she can't give him anymore love, which is the reason why they think she's crazy and she can't move on.

Ok, I can't explain things well, but it makes sense in my mind. LOL! And of course everyone gets pretty much the same type of feeling or interpretation from it. Well, similar ones anyway.

I was showing my newly converted to Ev aunty some older songs. She fell in love with them immediately. When EID began playing, she was like, "what's this about." Then I told her basically what I thought. (above) And she was like, . I think this song really touched her b/c a similar thing happened to her a long time ago that she never really got over (But she didn't dig the person up).

[Naeryn]

ROFL almost the same second as I opened this thread to check out new interperetations of EID... the song started playing XD

[wiccan]

Digging up your dead lover?? Isn't that a little bit disturbing?

I just think it's about a loved one that died, but she can't accept it.
And she knows the person isn't 'gone' because she still thinks of him...
Of course she'll go to the cemetery to visit him... maybe every day, to stay with him, to never leave him...
The "I see your shadow" could also mean that she's still thinking of him all the time, she still sees him in everything, and that everything reminds her of him.
I also think the "singing to me" isn't litteraly, it's not like he's a zombie singing to her from the grave or anything...
It could also refer to a memory she had of him, and she can still hear him singing in her head or something.

So basically I think it's about a loved one that's dead, but not 'gone'
"People die, but real love is forever"
That's what I think, but of course, I could be wrong