Chris October 31st, 2006 10:56PM  

Nonono... No offense to either of you but my interpretation is totally different... I believe that it can be very easily compared to something like the salem witch trials. It's because she's different...Like any other means of discrimination- because all discrimination is fear because there "different" and yet its "taking over all the time." so the "poor, sweet, innocent thing" that everyone will believe will sacrifice amy lee because of a prejudged hate.

anonymous December 16th, 2006 05:03PM  

`Sweet sacrifice' to me is an extension of the abusive relationship she was in with `fallen'. It's angry, it's painful,it's liberating. It's looking at the relationship from unchained eyes and expressing the anger/vengence she still feels for him, but at the same time letting go of the fear of being alone...and the realisation that she can and will live without him. lines like "oh you love to hate me don't you honey, I'm you sweet sacrifice...and "one day I'm gonna forget your name, one sweet day you're gonna drown in my lost pain" kinda sum this up. the liberating part of the song comes in the lines "do you wonder why you hate? are you still to weak to survive your mistakes?"...the sarcasm of the "you poor sweet innocent thing, dry your eyes and testify"...really is quite haunting and reeks of the manipulation, lies and torment of this realtionship.

anonymous December 21st, 2006 04:35AM  

I have read in magazines that it is about when you get accused of something and someone who knows you didn't do it but they don't speak up because they prefer to go with the crowd and support their wrong doing which makes them the worst of all because the others didn't know but that one person did.

its kind of like burning a witch at the skeak, where she is innocent and someone knows but she gets burned anyway

anonymous December 30th, 2006 10:45PM  

I agree with Chocolate's interpretation. But when I heard this song, I had a view somewhat similar, somewhat not. My view was that it was about being held down, and finally getting away. Looking back at what they used to be they realize they were so different, and a "poor, sweet, innocent thing". Now that they're unchained, they know their former self is a sacrifice. If mine is confusing, yes I know. A few people think my interpretations are confusing.

EmoRocker January 12th, 2007 04:52PM  

Chocolate's interpretation is pretty much what I think it is. I can relate to this song, too. At least from my interpretation.

Chris February 1st, 2007 11:02AM  

I still believe its exactly like the Salem Witch trials. Every line can be explained by the theme of the Trials. "Everyones a bit insane but now that I'm unchained and its so clear. Fear is only in our minds but still, it takes over all the time. You sweet little girl, you're so poor and innocent... and you love to hate me don't you? because I'm different (a little bit insane) and your fear is taking over, so go on and testify. But don't deny, that I'm your sacrifice."

(btw, just for my last post ***their)

anonymous April 28th, 2007 02:50AM  

Chocolate, I agree with this:
i don't know about you, but when I heard "poor sweet innocent thing," I thought of a small girl, ignorant and naive. She resembles my past - the person who was tied down - who I used to be.
I interpreted that Amy Lee is talking about her past, before she was "unchained" or freed from her own insanity, when she was a frightened, "sweet and innocent" girl. The part that goes One day I'm gonna forget your name, And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain suggests that she is trying to forget her past and move on, and by doing this she will betray the little girl who is still a part of her, but it must be done in order for Amy to be completely free. And oh you love to hate me don't you, honey? I'm your sacrifice goes back to how she betrayed her past self, and that girl would have hated what she had become. Amy still blames herself for whatever sacrifice she made to betray the girl, but she wants the girl to live up to her own mistakes so it's not chaining her down anymore: Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes? I know it's a bit far fetched, but it's just my opinion and goes along with my personal experiences.

anonymous June 26th, 2007 07:50PM  

This song reminds me of high school. When it says "fear is only in our minds, taking over all the time". It means that people fear what they can't understand, and if people don't understand you, then they may use you as a "sacrifice". Like, people need someone to talk about and put down. It just makes them feel better about themselves. And by sacrificing the one they are afraid of, and bringing them down, they can calm their fears.

And when it says "but it's so clear, now that I am unchained" she means that she's finally able to understand where this sudden hate is coming from.

And on "You poor, sweet, innocent thing dry your eyes and testify. You know you live to break me. Don't deny, sweet sacrifice." She's basically saying "I know you break me because your so self-conscious that you need to break me in order to fell good about yourself."

And then on "one day, your gonna forget my name, and one sweet day, your gonna drown in my lost pain" She means that one days she'll forget about what this person/these people have put her through and one day they'll get what's coming to them.

amabilis July 28th, 2007 05:40AM  

When I hear this song, the Salem Witch Trials come to mind very, very strongly. Particular "The Crucible," if you've seen or read that.

"It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained."

She's say, yeah, we're a little crazy, but now that she's on the other side (the accused) it's more than obvious.

"Fear is only in our minds,
Taking over all the time.
Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time. "

no one was really a witch. the accused died because the townsfolk were so scared. some people would wrongly accuse, and then the fear it was true would take over the town turning everything to chaos.

"You poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice."

the accuser, esp if you've seen the crucible, they would be little girls crying their eyes out about people being witches, and would "testify". their tears made them look innocent. they lived to break the witches, because they had some grudge against them. the "witches" were their sacrifice.

"One day I'm gonna forget your name,
And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain. "

the "witch" knows she has done nothing wrong, so she will move on, her soul unscathed. but the "accuser" will drown in the guilt of what she has done to her "sacrifice"

"And oh you love to hate me don't you, honey?
I'm your sacrifice. "

the accuser hates the accused, that's why they are trying to get them hanged or burned. they are their sacrifice for whatever reason they are trying to do this

(I dream in darkness
I sleep to die,
-the accused's life is dark, and they're lives have turned into a numbered one that will die because they are the "sacrifice"-
Erase the silence,
Erase my life,
-goes to the sacrifice and dying part again-
Our burning ashes
Blacken the day,
A world of nothingness,
Blow me away.) they are killed, even burned at the stake, which blackens the day because of how bad the deed was. the world of nothingness and simply being blown away symbolizing how little their life meant as more than a sacrifice.

Ashlynn313 October 31st, 2007 02:59PM  

It's a song about an abusive relationship. When I ended my own, this was one of the best albums that I listened to while healing.

The song begins saying 'were all insane, but it's clear now that I am UNCHAINED'.. free of the abuse. It becomes clear how crazy you must have been to keep exposing yourself to something so terrible. That fear is only "in our minds" and that we always have the strength to leave.

"You poor sweet innocent thing"... men who are abusive never think they do anything wrong.. and always act like you are the wrong one, as if you are the one that's hurting them.. especially when you leave them. HOW COULD YOU !!... duh.

I LOVE the line "One sweet day I'm gonna forget your name, and one sweet day you'll drown in my lost pain"... life moves on.

"Do you wonder why you hate? Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?"
... Simply.. abusive men have issues. They are constantly angry terrible individuals that seem to be miserable at virtually nothing.. They hate their lives no matter what.. and are too weak to ever be strong enough to overcome these issues. "Dry your eyes and testify" !

I am still unsure about what "sweet sacrifice" could mean. Amy Lee states "I'm your sacrifice" Possibly, certain religions, rituals, cults whoever.. Sacrifice innocent life for their own personal gain. Maybe a woman is a man's sacrifice, something he thinks he cares for.. but typically because it betters themself regardless of the way the other person feels about being their sacrifice.

famciliari November 14th, 2008 03:38AM  

It's true
We're all a little insane
But it's so clear
Now that I'm unchained

basically it's about breaking free from abusive relationships
the first two lines tells us that we're insane when we foolishly let ourselves be abused
the next two lines is just amy lee telling that she is starting to break free

Fear is only in our minds
Taking over all the time
Fear is only in our minds
but it's taking over all the time

this just tells that
Fear = fear of not being able to break free, or
fear = fear that she isn't strong enough
that these thing are what hinders us to break free from abusive relationships, and that amy has put these things behind


You poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
You know you live to break me
Don't deny
Sweet sacrifice
/And oh, you love to hate me
Don't you, honey?
I'm your sacrifice


You poor sweet innocent thing=amy when she was still in the abusive relationship
Dry your eyes and testify=amy has witnessed how she was abused,and that same amy will testify how she breaks free

One day
I'm gonna forget your name
And one sweet day
You're gonna drown in my lost pain

i love these lines!its very straightforward


I dream in darkness
I sleep to die
Erase the silence
Erase my life
[Our burning ashes]
[Blacken the day]
[A world of nothingness]
[Blow me away]

my personal opinion is that this is how amy felt when she was still in the bad relationship

Do you wonder
Why you hate?
Are you still so weak
To survive your mistakes?

its also direct to the point

anonymous November 20th, 2008 07:30PM  

Well this song is about a woman that is trying to get to amy, trying to steal her life and her man. Amy knows this is what she is doing and asks her to just come out with it. "You poor sweet innocent thing. Dry your eyes and testify. You know you live to break me. Don't deny." Amy knows she will get rid of this woman who is trying to take over her life. "One day I'm gonna forget your name, And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain." Her dreams are haunted by this woman because she can just see this woman taking everyhting she has. "(I dream in darkness I sleep to die, Erase the silence, Erase my life, Our burning ashes Blacken the day, A world of nothingness, Blow me away.)" shes knows this is irrational and says fear is only in our mind. "Fear is only in our minds, Taking over all the time. Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time." Amy gets over this and still believes this woman has no control over her or her lover. She confronts her and points out her mistakes. "Do you wonder why you hate? Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?" This woman is making amy out to be the sacrifice so that she may love amy's man. Instead, by the end, the woman is the sweet sacrifice

songinterpreter95 May 9th, 2009 10:59PM  

I think that it means that she used to be doing something that she knew was bad for her, but she kept doing it anyways. When she broke off from it she was relieved from the suffering about choosing right or wrong about it. She didn't want to tell anyone about it, and making her think about it made her suffer. But she had to come out and say it, to warn other people about the things that it could cause, and the stress and greif it could be.

anonymous June 19th, 2009 12:35AM  

I think the whole song is about fear itself.

"It's true, we're all a little insane, but it's so clear now that I'm unchained" could mean that when she was afraid, she could see how irrational fear was, but once she was free of the fear (unchained) she could see just how manipulative the emotion could become.

"Fear is only in our minds taking over all the time" is self explanatory.

"You poor sweet innocent thing, dry your eyes and testify, you know you live to break me, don't deny, sweet sacrifice" The poor sweet innocent thing being what was causing her fear, she wants whatever was causing the fear to admit to being a manipulative lie - not real at all, but it was still causing her to shift her life around just to avoid her fear.

"One day I'm gonna forget your name, One sweet day you're gonna drown in my lost pain" She's going to get past all of her fears, and all those that caused those fears will be afraid for themselves instead of causing fear in others.

"You poor sweet innocent thing, dry your eyes and testify, and oh you love to hate me, don't you honey, I'm your sacrifice" Basically the same as before, but the line "oh you love to hate me" is basically saying that what causes her fear causes hate, and everything is against her.

"Do you wonder why you hate? Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?" Meaning she doesn't know what causes all the fear and hate everyone feels, and all these emotions are causing people to make mistakes they can never get past unless they can push past the fear.

Then it just repeats.

anonymous July 17th, 2009 01:24PM  

This song could mean a number of things. To me, my interpretation, would have to be about a girl who got raped & she's been really messed up over it for awhile, maybe even in denial. Now she realizes what happened to her, and shes doing okay but shes still so afraid of doing a lot of things. So now, she wants revenge and shes going to get it.

anonymous September 1st, 2009 02:36PM  

i agree woth whoever said it was a kinda follow up to fallen because if u look at songs like going under she go,s im drowning in you,shes not drowning anymore she kinda like freed from this person and when she go's ''poor sweet innocent thing,dry your eyes and testify,you know you live to break me dont deny.'' i think shes reffering saracasticly towards a ex and going quit playing the innocent one here you werent innocent,you loved to break and tear me down,and tho i was afraid of you im not anymore it was in my mind,so kinda like call me when youre sober tho idk if she is reffering to the same person as she wass in that song.

anonymous November 20th, 2009 01:25PM  

I agree with Chris, like they feared the witches, and they were totally just in their imaginations, but it completely overshadowed their life, and like, she would possibly be in the perspective of the witch, saying that shes the sacrifice, like when they sacrificed innocent people, thinking that they were witches, and the chorus is where the judge and the people being trialed were arguing, Judge: "sweet, innocent" thing, just stop crying and testify Girl: you love to hate me, im your sacrifice. And I especially agree with his perspective after watching the video, where she is mystic, and witch-like.

anonymous November 20th, 2009 05:15PM  

I also agree in the place of the whispering, i sleep to die- where they waited in cells to be killed, our Burning ashes- where they were burned at the stake.