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"Hi-Lo"
Hi-Lo
Released June 8, 2018
Length 5:07
Producers Will Hunt (Spaceway), Amy Lee
Label BMG
Chronology
'Synthesis'
"Never Go Back" "Hi-Lo" "My Heart Is Broken"

"Hi-Lo" is a song by Evanescence. It was written by Amy Lee with programmer Will B. Hunt in 2007, originally intended to be included on the initial sessions of the third album,[1] but it was scrapped. The song was re-worked for the band's fourth studio album, Synthesis, where it is one of two new original songs. Lindsey Stirling is featured on the song with a violin solo.

Background[]

In a 2010 Spin Magazine interview concerning the self-titled release, Amy announced the name of a new song, pointing out it was the first collaboration between her and Will "Science" Hunt, dating back to 2007.[2] It was written in two days at his studio in Forth Worth, TX when the two decided to write an original song after they worked on the cover song "Sally's Song".[1] According to Amy, from this writing session "a new song came out that was so different — it was dark and inspiring. It was a groove that I hadn’t found in a long time."[1]

"'Hi-Lo.' It's a working title. It's going in an electro-pop direction -- there are no organic instruments. It's a Portishead or Massive Attack direction, and lyrically it's about moving on, but in a very non-confrontational, non-angry way. It's just, 'Hey, everything that happened, I'm over it and I'm not mad at you.'"[1]

In an interview with Italian magazine Vanity Fair, Amy said:[3]

It’s a brand new song, but I’d been keeping it for ten years. It's about a love that’s been over for a while. Songs about exes are usually, ‘you broke my heart, I hate you.’ This, on the other hand, says, ‘hey, I forgave you, it’s alright. Thinking about you doesn’t make me angry because I moved on with my life.’

Amy said in a track-by-track post on Evanescence's official Facebook:

This is one of the two ‘new’ songs on the album. I first wrote it 10 years ago with [producer] Will [Hunt], it was the first thing we ever did together. We were friends who connected over our ideas on music and musical tastes, so we decided to go into the studio and spend a day or so to see if we had any chemistry, and that’s where this song comes from. I’ve loved it ever since. I’ve always had it at the top of my pile to release, but it never quite fit, it was never finished. The song is now finally home. I imagined it with strings and a full orchestra in that epic place. And it all came together. Then Lindsey Stirling played that beautiful violin solo. It really takes Will and I back to our own beginnings as collaborators.[4]

In an interview in December 2017, Amy explained how the song was finished to be included on Synthesis:[5]

"I really love the lyrics. And I knew that it wasn't quite finished for a long time. I didn't know what it needed because when we originally wrote it, we had sort of a solo vibe idea, electronic thing in our heads that didn't never happen. So I didn't know what to do with it, it wasn't exactly an Evanescence song. When we all wrote that crazy bridge instrumental section and then the idea of the strings coming in and giving the depth and the emotion that was missing, then it became an Evanescence song."

Music video[]

The music video released on June 8, 2018. The layered shots were filmed by Paul R. Brown at Evanescence's two shows at the Royal Festival Hall in London, UK and the surrounding areas in the city. When the song comes to Lindsey's part, it cut to her dancing around and playing the violin. Lindsey confirmed that her shots were filmed at a studio in Los Angeles, CA.

Lyrics[]

 I don't know your heart
I don't know where to begin
But I could feel you erasing the rivers I'd drawn in

The more I stood still
The faster you were running
You don't know how it feels crawling under your skin

So far, so far away
Don't you know we could be

High or Low
You never fell beneath me
And I gave up on you, but I never forgot you

I can't be your friend
Hold your hand while you bleed
There's nothing left to give you
Nothing more I need

Time to let it sleep
Oh, the damage was real
But nothing cut me so deep, I could not heal

Don't you know we could be
High or Low
You never fell beneath me
And I gave up on you, but I never forgot you

High or Low
You never fell beneath me
And I gave up on you
But I never forgot

Reference[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Goodman, William (March 5, 2010). Exclusive: Amy Lee on the new Evanescence album. Spin.
  2. According to the Synthesis' tour program: "After 10 years in the vault it is our pleasure to finally bring this song into the light. It was the first creative collaboration with Will Hunt (Spaceway), Synthesis producer and programmer. After a decade of not quite fitting in, it finally found its rightful home on this project". Doing the math, 2017 - 10 = 2007.
  3. Solaro, Alba (October 30, 2017). "Amy Lee torna con gli Evanescence: «Un figlio ti rende creativa»" (in Italian). Vanity Fair.
  4. Evanescence (November 20, 2017). "Each day this week we'll feature four songs off the new album...". Facebook.
  5. Evanescence Amy Lee - Ho Ho Show Interview 2017 HD (December 3, 2017)


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