For the music video for this song, see: Bring Me To Life (music video)
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"Bring Me to Life" is the second track on Evanescence's debut album, Fallen. It was written by Amy Lee, Ben Moody and David Hodges and produced by Dave Fortman. It is often incorrectly referred to as "Wake Me Up Inside" and "Save me from the dark." "Bring Me To Life" features guest vocals from Paul McCoy of the band 12 Stones. Wind-up released "Bring Me to Life" in 2003 as the lead single from Evanescence's debut studio album, Fallen. The song delivers genres from alternative metal to rap-rock and others.
Background and Release[]
According to Amy Lee, the song was inspired by several things, the first being an incident at a restaurant. During an interview from a tour stop in Tulsa, she told The Boston Phoenix: "I was inspired to write it when someone said something to me — I didn’t know him, and I thought he might be clairvoyant. [...] 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."[1] Lee said in a VH1 interview: "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."[2] During an interview with Blender, Lee said that the person she had the conversation with that inspired her to write "Bring Me to Life" was her then-acquaintance and future husband, Josh Hartzler, whom she married in 2007.[3]
"Bring Me to Life" was released on February 7, 2003, it was the first single from the band's debut album, Fallen. The album's opening track, "Going Under", was initially planned to be the first single,[4] but the after the release of the Daredevil soundtrack, it was changed to the album's second single. Originally, the song didn't have male vocals, but were added to make it marketable.[2] Wind-up Entertainment president/CEO Ed Vetri revealed that when the label was pushing the song to the radio, owners stated "We don't play pianos and chicks on rock radio."[5] However, when "Bring Me to Life" was released on the Daredevil soundtrack, listeners demanded the radio to play the song. The single includes "Farther Away" as a B-side and refers to it as the album version; however, the track order of Fallen was not finalized at the time of its release and the track was omitted from the album. The first pressing of the Australian single contained the track "Missing" as a B-side, but this was omitted from later pressings and later released as a bonus track on the band's first live album, Anywhere But Home. Earlier versions of "Bring Me to Life" were recorded as demo versions before Fallen's release; featuring more industrial pieces of music and the absence of Paul McCoy's guest vocals. Around 10 demos were worked on before the final version.[6] An acoustic version was recorded and released on the Bring Me to Life DVD. Several other versions of the track have been released, such as remixes, acoustic and altered versions. The live version featured on the Anywhere but Home DVD contains a piano and vocal solo before the song's intro and features John LeCompt performing guest vocals.
On September 28, 2023, the remastered 2002 demo of the song was released in advance of Fallen's 20th anniversary edition. In a 2006 interview, Amy said that the rap-free demo was better than the final album version.[7]
A demo, dated March 18, 2002, was released on a cassette tape as part of Fallen 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition.
Recording and composition[]
"Bring Me to Life" was written by Amy Lee, Ben Moody and David Hodges for their first studio album Fallen. Recording work for Fallen started at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, where most of "Bring Me to Life" was recorded, prior to full album production. The song was mixed by Jay Baumgardner in his studio, NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood on anSSL 9000 J. A 22-piece string section was recorded in Seattle by Mark Curry. "Bring Me to Life" was mixed at the Newman Scoring Stage and Bolero Studios, both in Los Angeles. The orchestra parts were arranged by David Hodges and David Campbell. During an interview, Lee recalled that during the recording process of the song it was said to her that the song must to have male vocals: "It was presented to me as, 'You're a girl singing in a rock band, there's nothing else like that out there, nobody's going to listen to you. You need a guy to come in and sing back-up for it to be successful.'"
According to the sheet music published by Alfred Music Publishing on the website Musicnotes.com, "Bring Me to Life" is a rock, alternative metal, hard rock, chamber pop and gothic metal song set in a common time and performed in a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E minor and Lee's vocal range for the song runs from the note A3 to D5. In the song, Paul McCoy sings the lines "Wake me up/ I can't wake up/ Save me!" in a rap style.
Music video[]
Amy Lee and Paul McCoy
The music video for "Bring Me to Life" was filmed in Romania in November 2002 and was directed by Philip Stolzl. It is a live performance/action video featuring a tall apartment building with various skyscraper shots in the background. Amy is sleeping in a nightgown while the other band members are playing music on a higher floor of the building. Amy begins sleepwalking and jumps out the window, climbing up to the floor where there others are performing. She walks towards their window where Paul McCoy notices her and opens the window. Amy falls and Paul grabs her by the hand, trying to pull her up. He loses his grip and sends Amy falling, and she dies into body parts. Super flew down to check on her hand Amy has hit the ground. Paul is crying heavily at the funeral her casket is black. It's open amylee got buried.
The video gained massive popularity in 2003 and clips of it were shown everywhere, including MTV's Big Urban Myth Show where clips of Amy walking up on the ledge were prominently featured on any and all sleep related myths.
Chart Performance[]
"Bring Me to Life" peaked within the top 10 of more than 15 countries, and within the top 20 of several other countries, making it the band's most successful single to date. It was certified Platinum in 2003 for selling more than one million copies in the United States. It topped the Billboard Alternative Songs and Pop 100 charts and peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 . It also peaked at number four on the Adult Pop Songs chart. The song initially peaked within the Christian rock charts as well, because its lyrics were interpreted as a call for new life in Jesus Christ by several listeners. "Bring Me To Life" charted at number 73 on Billboard's Best of the 2000s Rock Songs Chart, the only song by a female-led band on that chart. The song topped the charts of Australia, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. It peaked within the top 5 of Austria, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, and Sweden. On the ARIA Singles Chart, "Bring Me to Life" peaked at number one where it stayed for six weeks.
"Bring Me to Life" charted within the top 20 of every other country of its release. The song spent four weeks at number one in the United Kingdom and helped Fallen reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. The song also topped the European Hot 100 chart. On June 4, 2011, the song returned to the top of the UK Rock Singles Chart, eight years after its release, remaining at number one for two weeks, on June 11, 2011 to June 25, 2011. It fell to number two, remaining there for three weeks, and on July 17, 2011, "Bring Me to Life" returned to number one again and remained there for three weeks. The song remained within the top 10 into October 2011. As of October, 2011, the song has sold more than 511,500 copies in the United Kingdom.
Live Performances[]
Evanescence performed "Bring Me to Life" as part of the set-lists of their tours. The band performed the song on August 13, 2003 in Chicago during their Nintendo Fusion Tour. During the performance, former Evanescence guitarist John LeCompt replaced McCoy during the song. According to Blair R. Fischer: "The guitarist did an adequate job imitating McCoy while he laid down the song's fiery, Iron Maiden-esque riff." The band performed "Bring Me to Life" in Wantagh, New York on July 23, 2004. According to Joe D'Angelo from MTV News: "...the massive popularity of the song was a smart set-list assembly that helped the crowd respond in kind." The song was performed on November 21, 2007 at WaMu Theater.
Evanescence performed "Bring Me to Life" at the Webster Hall in New York City in September 2003. During the performance, Lee wore an Alice in Wonderland dress covered with scrawled words, including the words Dirty, Useless, Psycho and Slut. She explained her reasons for wearing the dress. On her previous visit to New York City, Lee had met a DJ from the radio station K-Rock, who had made what she called horrible comments about the pleasure he had derived from the picture of her face on the cover of Fallen. She had felt too ashamed to say anything, so she decided to respond through the dress, which represented something innocent that had been tainted. The band performed "Bring Me to Life" during their concert at The Great Saltair on October 25, 2006. Lee wore red and black, with a skirt. She was called a magnet of the night by the Deseret News' reviewer Larry D. Curtis. Other performances of the song were in Magna, Utah in October 2006, and the Air Canada Centre in January 2007. The band also played the song at a secret gig in New York City on November 4, 2009. During their concert at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on August 17, 2011, Evanescence performed "Bring Me to Life" to promote their third album, Evanescence. They also performed the song during the 2011 Rock in Rio festival on October 2, 2011. While reviewing a concert by the band, Caroline Sullivan wrote "Slowly raising her arms during Bring Me to Life's thunderous, strobe-lit fade-out, she's missing only a chariot."
Single releases[]
Australia/US/Europe- CD single[]
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Label: Wind-up Released: March 4, 2003 Barcode: 673573 2 |
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- "Bring Me to Life" (3:56)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Bliss mix] (3:59)
- "Farther Away" (3:58)
- "Missing" (4:15)
Australia/US/Europe- Second pressing[]
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Label: Wind-up Released: {{{date}}} Barcode: 673573 5 |
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- "Bring Me to Life" (3:56)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Bliss mix] (3:59)
- "Farther Away" (3:58)
- Enhanced music video (MPEG file) (3:56)
Australia- Third pressing[]
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Label: Wind-up Released: {{{date}}} Barcode: 673488 0 |
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- "Bring Me to Life" (3:56)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Bliss mix] (3:59)
Canada- CD single[]
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Label: Wind-up Released: March 4, 2003 Barcode: 34K 3428 |
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- "Bring Me to Life" [Album version] (3:56)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Bliss mix] (3:59)
Korea- CD single[]
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Label: Wind-up Released: March 4, 2003 Barcode: CPK-2953 (673488 2) |
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- "Bring Me to Life" (3:56)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Bliss mix] (3:59)
- "Farther Away" (3:58)
- "Bring Me to Life" [Video] (3:56)
Credits[]
Credits are adapted from Fallen liner notes.
- Amy Lee - writing, piano, keyboards, vocals
- Ben Moody - writing, producing, guitars, percussion
- David Hodges - writing, piano, keyboards, string arrangements
- Josh Freese - drums
- Dave Fortman - producing
- Francesco DiCosmo - bass guitar
- David Campbell - additional string arrangements
- Graeme Revell - string arrangements, orchestral conduction
Lyrics[]
Fallen version[]
How can you see into my eyes like open doors? [Wake me up] Wake me up inside Now that I know what I'm without [Wake me up] Wake me up inside Bring me to life Frozen inside without your touch All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see [Wake me up] Wake me up inside Bring me to life |
Acoustic/Demo versions[]
How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Wake me up inside, wake me up inside Now that I know what I'm without Wake me up inside, wake me up inside Frozen inside without your touch Bring me to life Wake me up inside, wake me up inside Bring me to life |
Bliss Mix[]
How can you see into my eyes like open doors? Wake me up inside, wake me up inside Now that I know what I'm without Wake me up inside, wake me up inside Bring me to life Frozen inside without your touch I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems Bring me to life |
In other media[]
- Along with "My Immortal", the song is used in the 2003 Marvel film Daredevil and is included on its soundtrack album.
- The song was used numerous times on Mitsubishi car TV commercials in Asia.
- In 2011, the song was featured in the episode "The Inner Circle" of the seventh season of the American sitcom The Office.
- "Bring Me to Life" was included in the games Rock Band, Rock Band Unplugged, Band Hero, DLC for SingStar, Fight Girl Battle World, Just Dance 2023 Edition and Just Dance China (Unlimited).
- The song was used during the Calgary Flames' run in the 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs.
- The song served as the official theme song of the WWE pay-per-view event No Way Out (2003).
References[]
- ↑ Carioli, Carly (September 2003). "Amy Lee on bringing Evanescence's 'Bring Me to Life' to life". The Boston Phoenix.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kaufman, Gil (May 29, 2003). "Evanescence: Fallen To the Top". VH1.
- ↑ Eells, Josh (October 2006). "Amy Lee: Back in Black". Blender.
- ↑ Young, David James (April 26, 2021). "Opening Up with… Evanescence". Blunt Magazine.
- ↑ Titus, Christa (March 4, 2013). "Evanescence, ‘Fallen’: Classic Track-By-Track". Billboard.
- ↑ Waite, Thom (September 1, 2022). "Amy Lee tells the real story behind Evanescence’s ‘Bring Me to Life’". Dazed.
- ↑ Reesman, Bryan (November 2006). "The Essence of Evanescence". Metal Edge 52 (11): 8.