Bring Me to Life
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| “Bring Me to Life” | |||||
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| Single by Evanescence featuring Paul McCoy from the album Fallen |
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| B-side | "Farther Away", "Missing" | ||||
| Released | April 22, 2003 | ||||
| Format | CD single, DVD single, digital download | ||||
| Recorded | 2003 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 3:57 | ||||
| Label | Wind-up | ||||
| Writer(s) | Amy Lee, Ben Moody, David Hodges | ||||
| Producer | Dave Fortman | ||||
| Certification | Silver (BPI) 2x Platinum (ARIA) |
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| Evanescence featuring Paul McCoy singles chronology | |||||
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| Fallen track listing | |||||
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| from the album Anywhere but Home | |||||
| Length | 4:43 | ||||
| Label | Wind-up | ||||
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| Bring Me to Life UK DVD | |||||
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"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 that 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 comprised of electric guitar and assorted digital sound effects. Neither of the demos feature the vocals of Paul McCoy like their Fallen counterpart.
During live performances featuring "Bring Me to Life", McCoy's lines were sung by former Evanescence guitarist John LeCompt.
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[edit] 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." | ” |
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. |
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—Amy Lee, VH1 News[2] |
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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.
[edit] Appearances
The song was first released on Daredevil: The Album as track #9. Evanescence was the only band on the soundtrack to have two songs featured, the second being the album version of "My Immortal" (track 17), not to be confused with the band version that was later released as a single. The song was sewn into the narrative and score of Daredevil during a key scene, as was My Immortal.
When "Bring Me to Life" was released, it immediately found use in a wide variety of media, such as the theme song for WWE's No Way Out 2003 and in television commercials for shows like Without a Trace and Tru Calling. It has also been used as music on television programs, such as the UK soap Emmerdale.
A 2005 episode of MTV2's Video Mods presented "Bring Me to Life" as sung by video game characters Dusk and Dawn.
The 2006 series Rock Star: Supernova featured contestants Zayra Alvarez, Jill Gioia and Storm Large singing their own renditions of the song.
On the 2006 season of Australian Idol Lavina Williams sang the song getting much praise from the judges
A Season 2 episode of Pimp My Ride saw Kiearah's Ford Escort (1991) being "pimped". At the beginning of the show, the host "Xzibit," upon examining the internal state of the car, reads from a tattered piece of paper the lyrics to "Bring Me to Life". However, he misreads it as: "How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Leading you down into my core. Wake up inside of me".
[edit] 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.
- "Bring Me to Life" (Album version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:56
- "Bring Me to Life" (Bliss Mix) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:59
- "Farther Away" (Album version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:58
- "Missing" (Album version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 4:15
- "Bring Me to Life" (Album version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:56
- "Bring Me to Life" (Bliss Mix) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:59
- "Farther Away" (Album version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:58
- "Bring Me to Life" (Music video) — 4:14
[edit] Charts
The song topped charts worldwide, including the UK Singles Chart, the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and the United World Chart, reached #3 in New Zealand, and reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, becoming the group's most successful single to date.
| [6][7]Charts (2003)[8][9] | Peak |
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| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Argentina Top 40 Airplay | 1[10] |
| Australia Top 50 Singles | 1 |
| Canada Top 50 Singles | 3 |
| France Top 100 Singles | 5 |
| Germany Top 100 Singles | 2 |
| Ireland Top 50 Singles | 2 |
| Italy Top 50 Singles | 1 |
| Japan Top 100 Singles | 12 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles | 3 |
| Romanian Top 100 Singles[11] | 11 |
| Spain Los 40 Principales | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| United World Chart | 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ Carioli, Carly. "Amy Lee on bringing Evanescence's ‘Bring Me to Life’ to life", BostonPhoenix.com, 2003-09-12. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil. "Evanescence: Fallen To the Top", VH1 News, 2003-05-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Eells, Josh. "Amy Lee: Back in Black", Blender, October 2006. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ Breimeier, Russ. "Fallen (Wind-Up)", Christian Music Today. Retrieved on 2007-10-29. "'Bring Me to Life,' as excerpted above, reads as a solid plea for spiritual revival."
- ^ Breimeier, Russ. "Comatose (Ardent/SRE/Lava/Atlantic)", Christian Music Today. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ Evanescence and Paul Mccoy - Bring Me to Life. MusicSquare. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Evanescence Billboard Single. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Evanescence Bring Me to Life @ Top40-Charts. Top40-Charts. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Top 40 Argentina. Top 40 Argentina. Retrieved on 2007-03-10.
- ^ Top 40 Argentina 2003. Top40Argentina.com.ar (2003). Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ "Romanian Top 100" Please see "Issue 32" of the year 2003
| Preceded by "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira |
United World Chart Single of the Year 2003 |
Succeeded by "This Love" by Maroon 5 |
| Preceded by "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake |
Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single May 18, 2003 - June 22, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Innocent Eyes" by Delta Goodrem |
| Preceded by "Can't Stop" by Red Hot Chili Peppers |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single March 29, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Somewhere I Belong" by Linkin Park |
| Preceded by "Ignition (remix)" by R. Kelly |
UK Singles Chart number-one single June 8, 2003 - July 6, 2003 |
Succeeded by "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z |
| Preceded by "American Life" by Madonna |
United World Chart number one single June 21, 2003 - August 2, 2003 |
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