"My Last Breath" by Evanescence from Fallen

"Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms / holding my last breath…"

One thing I really like about Evanescence's 2003 album Fallen are all these fun little stories from the perspective of someone dying in a tragedy. (I know, I know—I'm morbid.) I even used the "fade to black" to entitle a fan fiction I wrote taking place in the Jedi Purges. This song's narrator is being held by her lover (in the traditional sense) who's weeping as she dies.

The music style definitely requires you to like rock or metal, but it's lovely despite the synthesis (unless you can't stand the electronic style instruments). Reverberating synthesis mixes with "clean" orchestral to produce a song that'll stick with you.

Which is why, if you find "dark" songs depressing, I strongly advise you not to listen to this song. If, like me, they don't affect your emotional health and you don't mind things like electronic guitar, I suggest you listen.

Amy Lee sings on her better end here, too, though it could've been a tad louder to stand out a bit more. That probably would've improved it, but it's still a very strong song. I was entranced by it the first time I heard it.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

30-Second Song Preview:

"My Immortal" by Evanescence from Fallen

Two versions exist to this song. Those who've heard and disliked the other album single "Bring Me to Life" have often been surprised to learn that this is the same artist, particularly for the regular piano-violin version.

The band version (Fallen's bonus track) climaxes with the addition of drums, cymbals, and electric guitar. You may not recognize this song when it's spoken of, but chances are you'll recognize the song the instant someone starts playing the piano part on the radio.

Different people prefer different versions, though I personally perfer the band version. It sounds better mixed, and Amy Lee's voice is less "fuzzy."

"I'm so tired of being here… suppressed by all these childish fears…" but Amy Lee sadly still can't seem to get past her little sister's death. "My Immortal" and "Hello" are Fallen's tribute to that sister.

The lyrics are clean, like much (though not all) of Evanescence, without a blaspheme or curse. The song laments a loved one's death and the song narrator's inability to get past it. "My Immortal" was meant to refer to Amy Lee's sister, true, but it's written in such a way that it's more universally applicable, as well, which I believe is part of its power.

Amy Lee's voice is at top (digitalized?) quality, at least in the band version of "My Immortal". (I'm not sure if I want to hear her voice live, after the live version of "Going Under" I heard from Anywhere But Home.) "My Immortal" is a pleasing song to hear, but…

I'm still convinced that similar-styled rock ballad beauties like "Eva" by Nightwish and "See Me in Shadow" by Delain are better.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Broken" by Seether (feat. Amy Lee) from Disclaimer

Watching an Andromeda fanvid—yes, I'm a sci-fi fan (and gamer) despite my gender—I frown and look for the video credits. That sounds like… Indeed, it is Amy Lee in this song I vaguely recognize from my little exposure to the radio.

The acoustic guitar-based rock reminds me a bit of Jars of Clay, though Seether's singer isn't nearly as good as that other band. Nor is Seether Christian. But at any rate, the music flows prettily, more relaxed on the verses and rising on the chorus. Amy Lee compliments the singer of this South African band well.

"Broken" covers some of the sweeter aspects to a relationship. Having to be open to someone we love hurts, as does separation from that person. "Broken" refers to both instances. ("I'm broken when I'm open, and I don't feel like I'm strong enough" and "I'm broken when I'm lonesome, and I don't feel right when you're gone away.")

The song's not great, but its melodic sound and the sweet subject matter are refreshing. It's nice to have a song that's not about an emotionally tumultuous breakup or a sexually-charged relationship. It's the normal (probably overly-romanticized) pain involved in a steady relationship, and I find that sweet.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Hello" by Evanescence from Fallen

Those who like Evanescence's hit "My Immortal" will likely enjoy the sound of this soft lament for Amy Lee's lost baby sister and her struggle to come to terms with it.

"Has no one told you she's not breathing? Hello?!" she asks. Her sister is missing from life, where she should be, and one seems to realize it. She might tell others she's fine, but "I'm the lie, living for you so you can hide… Don't cry." If you're not disturbed by someone's obvious lingering scars from a sibling's death, you'll likely enjoy this song and its clean lyrics.

The piano is lovely, that element alone making it one of Evanescence's best on the music. A slightly "wet" (echoing) quality further encourages the image of emptiness developed in the song, with accents of the type of sound that make "Haunted" sound so much like the ghost story it is. The accents are just enough to give the imagery that someone's likely died without making you feel like someone's physical ghost is supposed to be present.

Amy Lee has an excellent voice (on this album), and she uses it well in this lament for her baby sister. "Hello! I'm still here—all that's left of yesterday…"

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Tourniquet" by Evanescence from Fallen

"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.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Lithium" by Evanescence from The Open Door

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?

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Lyrics: *2/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: *6/10 *The song blasphemes.

"Anywhere" by Evanescence from Anywhere But Home

"I have dreamt of a" song that's better than this one, though "Anywhere" is certainly beautiful as the narrator asserts that the twosome can only love each other somewhere else free of deterrents (like their station and others' prejudices, from my impression). It's a pretty cliché addition to Evanescence's song listing on Anywhere But Home.

The lyrics themselves go a bit beyond such songs as Fefe Dobson's "Take Me Away" by mimicking a discussion instead of the demands that narrator makes of her love interest. The lyrics are still cliché, though they like those of "Take Me Away" don't swear, cuss, blaspheme, or have inappropriate topics.

"Anywhere" demonstrates the fetching voice of Amy Lee many call the soul of Evanescence—or at least they did before Evanescence lost it in The Open Door. Now they realize how big a part the songwriter played, who left the band after the production of Anywhere But Home.

The music of "Anywhere" is more than just a beat, with only somewhat stock music. "Anywhere" is one of the band's softer songs, like the hit "My Immortal". It's not Evanescence at its best, but it's not the band at its worst, either. Anywhere But Home was mainly a release of live versions of Fallen's songs, from what I understand, so maybe Evanescence wasn't too worried about the new songs on the CD.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 4/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 7/10

"Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence from Fallen

For a song crying out to be woken up and "save me from the dark," Evanescence's "Bring Me to Life" is surprisingly good, like much of Fallen. It's not quite complaining, the narrator begging for release from the internal prison that holds her captive. (That the narrator might be the selfsame person as the singer Amy Lee is a side issue.)

As one of Evanescence's top songs, it was overplayed on the radio from the time it was released till their latest CD The Open Door came out two years after Fallen. Many people have hated "Bring Me to Life" from overexposure.

Now that "Call Me When You're Sober" has replaced "Bring Me to Life" on the radio's overplay list, "Bring Me to Life" is a bit easier to appreciate. It's gothic rock, the music mixing some different speeds and genres. As one of the harder songs on Fallen, many who like even "My Immortal" dislike this song because of its metal.

The narrator's plea for release from her (selfmade?) prison draws the attention, but the song still leaves the question of what now? Had it addressed the question, added action to the plea, it would have been a much stronger song.

Overall, it is a really fun song with good music like most of Fallen, though I don't find the occasional scream particularly appealing as a form of singing. The lyrics also could have probably used some revision.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 5/5
Vocalist(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10