Evanescence unwittingly speaks of itself in "Lithium." "I can't hold on to me—wonder what's wrong with me!" sings Amy Lee, expressing many fans' feelings of The Open Door. (Lithium is a medication for bipolar that kills your ability to feel anything.)
The Lithium user's powerful cry drags me into the song, enjoying its beauty despite the blaspheme that makes me wish I had the software to edit it out. And blaspheme the song does—twice in the lyrics, once in the sung version, though the lyrics per se needn't blaspheme if God's the audience. The way Amy Lee sings it, though, leaves no doubt that He's not.
The rock music of "Lithium" is strong on the cymbals without the excessive reliance on them that plagues The Open Door. For a band known for its beautiful music, Evanescence puts a lot of irritating discord on this CD, and I'm relieved that "Lithium" is more of an exception than a follower of that.
Particularly at the beginning, a soft piano accents Amy Lee's strong voice. The shift to stronger music threatens to but doesn't (thankfully) drown out Amy Lee. It still would have been a lot better if the music was slightly muted a few decibals in a few points to keep the vocals at the fore, since they sound on a similar point on the musical scale or something. (I can't be any more precise than that in my description, but I do know it sounds wrong.)
The music video offers an interesting cinematic accomplishment of darkness produced with white. Snow and ice (and a pretty white dress) express the coldness, and Amy Lee's natural color is minimized for a virtually monochromatic effect offset by her mild colors. Some points of the video seem perhaps a bit overused, like when she's on the pillow, but it's overall a better one, I think.
As even my brother admits—and he's a heavy metal fan—it's a lovely song. But why did she have to blaspheme?
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: *6/10 *The song blasphemes.
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