Lacrymosa (song)
| "Lacrymosa" | |
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"Lacrymosa" is a song by the American rock band Evanescence. It is the seventh track on their second studio album, The Open Door (2006), and was used in a promotional trailer for the album. The song is written by Amy Lee and Terry Balsamo and produced by Dave Fortman.
"Lacrymosa" incorporates the Lacrimosa sequence from Mozart's Requiem (1791) throughout the song. The song is an alternative and symphonic metal song set in slow tempo. It was originally written in the key of D-minor but Lee and Balsamo transposed it into E-minor.
The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics who called the song one of the "most memorable track" on The Open Door and Lee described it as an "awesome metal epic". It was part of the setlist for the promotion of the album.
Background and recording
During an interview with VH1, Amy Lee said,
I saw Amadeus when I was nine years old and fell in love with Mozart. The part of Mozart's Requiem called "Lacyrmosa" [sic] is my favorite piece of music ever. I always wished we could cover it, but with programming and guitars and make it cool. It's our moment to try all the things I wanted to and couldn't, so I started messing with it in Protools. Terry wrote some riffs and turned it into this awesome metal epic.
— Amy Lee, VH1 News[1]
David Campbell, who has previously arranged music for the band, led a 22-piece orchestra for the song. The Millennium Choir performed the Lacrimosa sequence and backing vocals throughout the song. It was recorded in a chapel near Seattle, Washington.[2]
Composition and music
According to the sheet music published on musicnotes.com, "Lacrymosa" is an alternative and symphonic metal song set in a common time and performed in slow tempo of 48 beats per minute.[3] Although the original Lacrimosa sequence was performed in D-minor, it was transposed into E-minor by Lee and Terry Balsamo.[3] The instruments in the song are piano, guitar, violins and drums. Lee's vocal range from rhe note of B3 and E5; the SATB choir ranges from the note of B2 to E4.[3] According to Rob Sheffield by Rolling Stone, in "Lacrymosa" Lee is "sobbing hysterically over a grand piano."[4] "Lacrymosa" was named as the "most memorable track" on the album that "takes the trademark Evanescence sound - Lee's celestial voice, and adds her brooding lyrics 'I can't change who I am, not this time, I won't lie to keep you near me and in this short life, there's no time to waste on giving up. My love wasn't enough'." by the IGN reviewer, Ed Thompson.[5]
Reception
Critical reception
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Add in electronic backing beats, symphonic string section and heavy guitar and the elements are there. But this time, Evanescence went one step further - they added an ethereal choir backing track, giving the track a contrasting representation of light and dark and making the song just that much more haunting." | |
Bill Lamb from About.com put the song in the list of Top Tracks on The Open Door alongside with "Sweet Sacrifice", "Call Me When You're Sober", "Your Star" and "Good Enough". He added "Elements such as the connection of the song 'Lacrymosa' to the Mozart 'Requiem' movement of the same name, or intense exploration of the benefits and costs of 'Lithium' give hints that Evanescence could add intellectual heft to their obvious command of emotion."[6]
Robert VerBruggen from RocknWorld.com said that "Lee's famed choral arrangements pop up from time to time, most notably on 'Lacrymosa,' and all the piano passages stand head and shoulders over the tedious chord clomping of Fallen's 'My Immortal.'"[7] An editor from The New York Times said that "Lacrymosa" is grandiose even by the album’s standards.[8] It was added that the song is "an audacious, exhilarating blast."
Chart performance
"Lacrymosa" peaked on ITunes Spain Alternative Music Chart on 22 March, 2010 at number forty-three and the song's last position on the chart was sixty-nine on 13 October 2010.[9]
Usage in other media
"Lacrymosa" appears as the backdrop for the promotional clips for the Showtime Original Series The Tudors.[10] According to Amy Lee, it was originally written for the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but was mysteriously not included.[11] However, according to producers Mark Johnson and Phillip Steuer, neither Lee or the band were approached to compose music for the film.[12] Lee also wrote another song for the movie, but it was rejected because of its dark sound. Lee went on to state that it was just "more great stuff [for The Open Door]".[13]
Lacrymosa means "related to sadness".[1] The track title is also the scientific name for a species of moth known as Catocala lacrymosa, also known as the 'Tearful Underwing'.[14] The species of moth are featured throughout The Open Door's cover booklet and on the cover of the "Sweet Sacrifice" radio promo CD. A clip of "Lacrymosa" was used in the video teaser for The Open Door.
Live performances
The song was played live by the band during their tour for the promotion of The Open Door. They also played the song live at the 2009 Maquinária Festival in São Paulo, Brazil, which took place on November 8 and their secret New York gig which took place on 4 November.[15][16]
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from The Open Door liner notes.[17]
- Songwriting – Amy Lee, Terry Balsamo
- Production – Dave Fortman
- Instruments – Amy Lee, Terry Balsamo
References
- ^ a b Bottomley, C (2006-09-18). "Evanescence: Amy Lee Explains the New Songs". VH1.com. VH1 News. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- ^ "Listen To Two New Tracks From Evanescence's Album 'The Open Door'". SonyBMG.com.au. Sony BMG News. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- ^ a b c "Lacrymosa Sheet Music (Digital Download)". MusicNotes.com. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (October 5, 2006). "The Open Door by Evanescence". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
- ^ a b Thompson, Ed (2006-10-03). "The Open Door (Evanescence)". IGN.
- ^ Lamb, Bill (2006-10-03). "Evanescence - The Open Door: Review The Open Door, the Second Album From Evanescence". About.com.
- ^ VerBruggen, Robert (2006). "Rocknworld.com: Evanescence- The Open Door Review". Rocknworld.com.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accesdate=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "New CD's - New Yrok Times". The New York Times. October 2, 2006.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accesdate=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Lacrymosa by Evanescence - Song Analysis". Itunes Music Chart. 2010-03-22.
- ^ Showtime original series: The Tudors trailer. [[Showtime (TV network)|]] via YouTube. 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
{{cite AV media}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Reesman, Bryan (2006). "The Essence of Evanescence". Metal Edge. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Wardrobe closed to Evanescence singer". The New Zealand Herald. 2004-11-27. Retrieved 2007-07-06.
- ^ Lee, Amy (December 2, 2005). "EvBoard - A Bunch Of Stuff!!!". EvBoard.com.
- ^ Oehlke, Bill. "Catocala lacrymosa". Catocala silkmoths. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
- ^ Harris, Chris (November 5, 2009). "Evanescence Return to the Stage at "Secret" New York Gig". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ "Evanescence Returns To Live Stage, Taps Finger Eleven Guitarist". Blabbermouth.net. November 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ (Media notes).
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External links
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