Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody wrote the otherworldly lyrics and the piano part for this song, fleshing it out with lead singer Amy Lee. It was one of Evanescence's first tracks; they recorded it for their first EP in 1998, but decided to remove it at the last minute. By the time it was released on their major-label debut album, Fallen, the song had gone through a number of changes.
The lyrics are totally fictional, according to Ben Moody. They evoke a spirit, but he insists the song has nothing to do with God or religion. Moody was still in high school when he wrote the lyric.
The original version had some different lyrics. After "Suppressed by all my childish fears" came two more lines: I would give every breath from my chest To give you all the things that my mind could bear And, instead of: I've tried so hard to tell myself That you're gone But though you're still with me I've been alone all along It was: I love to walk away By myself out of the rain But I can't leave without you I love to live without the constant fear and endless doubt But I can't live without you
Lyrics
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
You used to captivate me by your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face, it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice, it chased away all the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
All of me... me... me...
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