"Am I too lost to be saved?" cries Amy Lee as the narrator, dying by suicide as she remembers her Christian upbringing. That is, perhaps, the most clear element of this song; the rest is open to a myriad of interpretations. The song is confusing, to say the least, but I believe that is in itself one of its strengths, for the narrator of this mini-story is herself confused.
Perhaps a more common interpretation, especially among those people eager to demonify the song's tragic genre, says the song blasphemes, calling the suicide God and the narrator's tourniquet for the pain. However, if that's the case, the second verse doesn't make much sense. Who is the narrator asking "will you be on the other side or will you forget me"?
My preferred interpretation might be less common because it's less definitive. I believe the narrator wants "to be saved" from the pain, to have a tourniquet for it, but she's confused about what that salvation truly is, Christ or suicide. "My wounds cry for the grave; my soul cries for deliverance," she says. She therefore longs for both—"I want to die!" she screams (in the background). That confusion on the narrator's behalf also explains why Evanescence chose such convoluted and confused lyrics for "Tourniquet."
Children and depressed individuals might want to avoid this rather hopeless song, though the narrator might be saved from her intended suicide at the end, when the background insists, "Return my salvation."
Amy Lee's vocals are excellent in Tourniquet, though the opening line's synthesized quality might not have been necessary. It does fit the music of this song, though, which has a highly electronic element for the background. The music could've been better, but it does manage overall to leave with a haunting impression.
Unfortunately on the music component, Evanescence has done better.
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10
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