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Bring Me to Life

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"Bring Me to Life"
Song
B-side"Farther Away", "Missing"

"Bring Me to Life" is the first single from Evanescence's multi-platinum debut album Fallen. At the 2004 Grammy Awards the song was honored with the award for Best Hard Rock Performance.

When the single was released, the track order of Fallen had not yet been finalized; although the single states the B-side "Farther Away" is the Album Version, it was eventually dropped from Fallen. The Bliss Mix of "Bring Me to Life", another B-side on the single, is the original version of the song before Paul McCoy's vocals were written for the Daredevil soundtrack.

Different versions of the "Bring Me to Life" single have been released, such as promos, DVDs and versions with altered track orders. A well known version, considered to be a collector's item, is the first pressing of the Australian single. On this version, the fourth track was not the video version of "Bring Me to Life", but another B-side titled "Missing". This track was removed in subsequent pressings, and was eventually released with Anywhere but Home.

There are two other demo versions of "Bring Me to Life" known to exist, both having been leaked onto the Internet. Both are often referred to as an 'acoustic version'; however, neither are available on any album; instead they can occasionally be found through websites or peer-to-peer networks. Both versions are similar in composition, with only a few differences — such as Amy Lee's voice being warped in the intro to one — setting them apart. The song itself is mainly made up of electric guitar and assorted digital sound effects. Neither of the demos feature the vocals of Paul McCoy like their Fallen counterpart. This original cut of the song lacks the piano in the intro, and features a guitar solo during the breakdown.

During live performances featuring "Bring Me to Life", McCoy's lines were sung by former Evanescence guitarist John LeCompt. This song is a downloadable track in the Rockband console series and in the Band Hero console series

Story behind the song

Amy Lee became inspired to write the song after an incident that occurred while she was sitting in a restaurant.

"I was inspired to write it when someone said something to me — I didn’t know him, and I thought he might be clairvoyant," says Lee from a tour stop in Tulsa. "I was in a relationship and I was completely unhappy. But I was hiding it. I was being completely abused and I was trying to cover it up; I wouldn’t even admit it to myself. So then I had spoken maybe 10 or 15 words to this guy, who was a friend of a friend. We were waiting for everyone else to show up, and we went into a restaurant and got a table. And he looked at me and said, ‘Are you happy?’ And I felt my heart leap, and I was like, he totally knows what I’m thinking. And I lied, I said I was fine. Anyway, he’s not really clairvoyant. But he is a sociology major."

— Amy Lee, The Boston Phoenix[1]

Lee has also stated the previous in an VH1 interview:

VH1: What's the song about ("Bring Me to Life")?
Lee: Open-mindedness. It's about waking up to all the things you've been missing for so long. One day someone said something that made my heart race for a second and I realized that for months I'd been numb, just going through the motions of life.

— Amy Lee, VH1 News[2]

In an interview titled "Amy Lee: Back In Black", she said she wrote "Bring Me to Life" about her long time friend Josh, to whom she is now married.[3]

The song initially topped Christian rock charts, partly because its lyrics were (and are still often) misinterpreted as a call for new life in Jesus Christ (the lyrics use some decidedly Bible-like imagery).[4][5] The misconception of the lyrics led John Tesh to cover the single for his worship album A Deeper Faith II.

Track listing

The single for "Bring Me to Life" was released shortly before Evanescence's debut album Fallen. These are two of the most widely available versions of the single; other, mainly localized, versions have also been released worldwide. All songs were written by Ben Moody, Amy Lee and David Hodges.

CD Single (First pressing; Australia only) (Released April 22, 2003)

No.TitleLength
1."Bring Me to Life" (Album version)3:56
2."Bring Me to Life" (Bliss Mix)3:59
3."Farther Away" (Album version)3:58
4."Missing" (Album version)4:15

CD Single (Subsequent pressings) (Released May 20, 2003)

No.TitleLength
1."Bring Me to Life" (Album version)3:56
2."Bring Me to Life" (Bliss Mix)3:59
3."Farther Away" (Album version)3:58
4."Bring Me to Life" (Music video)4:14

Chart performance

"Bring Me to Life" was Evanescence's first international hit. In the United States, the song topped out at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, in addition to topping the Modern Rock Tracks chart for two weeks, and reaching #11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. In the UK, the song debuted at the top of the charts, and remained there for four weeks. In Australia, the song topped the charts for six straight weeks. Elsewhere, the song was a top-ten hit in virtually every country in the world, becoming Evanescence's biggest hit overall.

Chart (2003)[6] Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 1
Austrian Singles Chart 3
Belgian (Flemish) Singles Chart 7
Belgian (Wallon) Singles Chart 2
Danish Singles Chart 2
Dutch Singles Chart 6
European Hot 100 Singles[7] 1
Finnish Singles Chart 11
French Singles Chart 5
German Singles Chart 2
Irish Singles Chart 2
Italian FIMI Singles Chart 1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 3
Norwegian Singles Chart 2
Swedish Singles Chart 2
Swiss Singles Chart 6
UK Singles Chart 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 5
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[8] 1
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[8] 11
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40[8] 1
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Canadian Singles Chart[8] 3
Chart (2006) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs[8] 35
Chart (2009) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 97

References

  1. ^ Carioli, Carly (2003-09-12). "Amy Lee on bringing Evanescence's 'Bring Me to Life' to life". BostonPhoenix.com. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2003-05-09). "Evanescence: Fallen To the Top". VH1 News. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  3. ^ Eells, Josh (October 2006). "Amy Lee: Back in Black". Blender. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  4. ^ Breimeier, Russ (2003). "Fallen (Wind-Up)". Christian Music Today. Retrieved 2007-10-29. 'Bring Me to Life,' as excerpted above, reads as a solid plea for spiritual revival.
  5. ^ Breimeier, Russ (2006). "Comatose (Ardent/SRE/Lava/Atlantic)". Christian Music Today. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  6. ^ "International charts". Hit Parade. 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  7. ^ Evanescence Tops U.K. Singles, Album Charts Billboard magazine
  8. ^ a b c d e f Billboard magazine (2004). "Billboard charts". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
Preceded by Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
May 18, 2003 - June 22, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
March 29, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
June 8, 2003 - July 6, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Un'emozione per sempre" by Eros Ramazzotti
 Italian FIMI Singles Chart number-one single (first run)
June 26, 2003 - July 10, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Italian FIMI Singles Chart number-one single (second run)
July 24, 2003 - July 31, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Italian FIMI Singles Chart number-one single (third run)
August 4, 2003 - August 11, 2003 		Succeeded by
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