What does Breathe No More mean?

Evanescence: Breathe No More Meaning

Album cover for Breathe No More album cover

Breathe No More Lyrics

I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.
All the little pieces falling, shatter.
Shards of me,
Too sharp to put back together.
Too small to matter,
But big enough to cut me into so...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 27th 2009 !⃝

    ****BEFORE I START I WANT TO SAY THIS SONG IS NOT ABOUT CUTTING
    I have cut before and believe me even though it may seem i=like it's about cutting. Its not.

    This song is about someone who is looking for a meaning.

    I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
    That I've come to believe my souls on the other side.
    --The Mirror is a metaphor for life, reflection of her life. She believes her souls has gone somewhere else and this is not the real her.---

    Oh the little pieces falling, shatter.
    Shards of me,
    To sharp to put back together.
    ---To Her Her Mirror(life) is broken. And that it hurts to much to try to fix what has been done.--

    To small to matter,
    But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.
    --She pretends like its not a big deal, but it hurts her inside.

    If I try to touch her,
    And I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no more.
    ----If she tries to reach out to the mirror she hurts. She doesn't want to go back and see the bad memories.



    Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well.
    Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
    -----She tries to find answers by looking into herself. Only to find that the answers she finds are thoughts that she rather refuse to accept. ----

    Lie to me,
    Convince me that I've been sick forever.
    ---Tell her its not her fault. And that she is like this because she is sick


    And all of this,
    Will make sense when I get better.
    --If she is sick she wants to believe that everything will be okay when she gets better.--

    I know the difference,
    Between myself and my reflection.
    --But she knows that the real her is not the girl she shows on the outside.--

    I just can't help but to wonder,
    Which of us do you love.
    ---She wants to know if They love her of if they love who she pretends to be--

    So I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe now...
    Bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe,
    I breathe-
    I breathe no more.
    ---She feels pain and hurts inside. She thinks that her life is meaningless. So she wants to go away


    -Naomi

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 13th 2007 !⃝

    This is what I think:

    I’ve been looking in the mirror for so long.
    That I’ve come to believe my soul's on the other side.
    -She's "broken" and basically she has been told who to be her whole life, she has started the believe the lie.

    Oh the little pieces falling, shatter.
    Shards of me,
    To sharp to put back together.
    To small to matter.
    -All she used to be is falling apart and "the pieces" are so small they don't even make a diffrence.

    But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.
    -But inside it still hurts her.

    If I try to touch her,
    And I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no more.
    -The harder she tries to be this person they're making her be, the more she "bleeds" inside. So she's dying inside.

    Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well.
    Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
    -It's saying how she's been stubborn to change.

    Lie to me,
    Convince me that I’ve been sick forever.
    -They've told her all her life that she's "sick"
    And all of this,
    Will make sense when I get better.
    -And that it will be okay in the end.
    I know the difference,
    Between myself and my reflection.
    I just can’t help but to wonder,
    Which of us do you love.
    -She knows it's a lie, she is a lie. And she knows that who she really is inside won't be loved like the "reflection" of what they have created.

    And there's my interpretation of the song. >.<

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 4th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about someone who is broken. When she looks into the mirror, all she sees are all theses flaws, that to everyone else, aren't really there. A lie told way too often becomes true. After staring at her reflection for so long, she has convinced herself that she truly is a no body, and that she is too lost to be saved.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 15th 2017 !⃝

    This song reminds me of my Borderline Personality Disorder. Regardless if that's not what it's about, every word can somehow link to the mental illness BPD. Go read the DSM criteria for BPD and then listen to the song. It can definitely have a duality in it's meaning. She herself mentioned that she wrote the song when she was in quite a dark place. That she was in a toxic relationship that was destroying her, that the song is really about how sometimes when you're in a toxic relationship you change yourself for the other person, but you start to hate yourself for it. You look in the mirror and hate the person you've become. That self loathing is one of the worst feelings in the world, because you just want the other person in the relationship to be happy but at the same time you don't want to lose yourself, the real you. That's exactly something someone, such as myself has done in all types of relationships that I have had, behaviors exhibited in the song really can connect to Borderline Personality Disorder.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 11th 2016 !⃝

    This song makes me think of Severus Snape from Harry Potter, when he looks in the Mirror of Erised and sees Lily.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 10th 2014 !⃝

    Here's my take on it.

    "I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
    That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.
    All the little pieces falling, shatter.
    Shards of me,
    Too sharp to put back together.
    Too small to matter,
    But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.
    If I try to touch her,
    And I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no more. "

    To me this means that she been faking her personality for someone (a mirror reflects us looks just like us but is inversed) it's still her physically but a different personality, she realizes that she's faked so long she feels like the real her is this fake person, this realization breaks the illusion to her, she realizes she's been faking and this illusion (mirror) breaks to her the pieces of her illusion metaphored by the mirror break and fall apart. However these pieces of her act hold part of her, she put this illusion up for a reason these are the shards. She knows that she can't put make this act up again because she's aware now she has been doing and would be doing it. (Just like you can't put a broken mirror back together.) these pieces, reflections of her, if she tries to put this act up again would be a cracked and weak and could break easily because now she is aware and the effort to keep it up is too much, not to mention hurt her knowing she is consciously faking. If she slips up this fake personality she put up will show to her lover and she feels she's die because he might leave her.

    "Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well.
    Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
    Lie to me,
    Convince me that I've been sick forever.
    And all of this,
    Will make sense when I get better.
    But I know the difference,
    Between myself and my reflection.
    I just can't help but to wonder,
    Which of us do you love.
    So I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no...
    Bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe,
    I breathe-
    I breathe no more."

    So she takes a step back and tried to figure out what to do now, the next line is a bit complex but I think she means that even knowing she shouldn't fake she doesn't want to cause she might lose him. (Drink from this knowledge) so she says to herself I should lie to myself about realizing this, convince herself that she's been wrong and this fake persona is really her and when the illusion is restored she'll be oblivious when it's back to how it was before. But she can't do this because she's conscious and can't become unconscious to it, she now knows the difference between who she is and who she pretended to be. This leads her to also wonder if he'd really leave her if she showed her true self, if he would love her for who she is or who she lied about being. This makes her suffer more decides to continue faking and suffers more, then one day steps back and re-evaluates but continues to fake further for him more she suffers and suffers lying further then one day re-evaluates all she's been through and the suffering and finally breaks the illusion to him, however she loses him and maybe not because of the faking but because of how long she lied to him about it.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 22nd 2014 !⃝

    My personal interpretation of this song is ---------->

    A girl who has been in a relationship with some person and who loved her once and now probably is hurting her a lot....or maybe isn't there in her life anymore and is causing immense pain in her
    She remembers herself(her reflection on the mirror) when she was with him....and how she is no more that after he left her....she watches the mirror shatter and all the small little peices don't matter anymore...basically she is broken the reflection of her is broken and she has lost that part of her.....

    It's made her realise and look at herself better now because all this while she was the image or the reflection she had seen in the mirror...she had lost herself in the mirror and now when she looks in the mirror she isn't who she use to be before...
    There's a question on her mind now...whether he(/the person she loves) loved the real her(...who she is now) or he loved the person who she use to be(her reflection on the mirror)

    She cannot breathe anymore because he probably says ur sick now and always were....she is so suffocated in that state that she feels like she is bleeding and she's wounded deep

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 2nd 2014 !⃝

    I think its a story about a girl who think that her soul is locked in the mirror and she want to help her(the real her wich is locked in the mirror not her reflection and what peaple think about her) to come out and she tried to break the mirror but suddenly she cut her hand with a piece of glasses and bleed.she bleed a lot and she dies(at the end she didn't change her becouse she didnt like pretending and it was painful for her so she rather to die)

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 9th 2013 !⃝

    Amy, in late 2012, told a fan the inspiration behind the song at a meet and greet:

    " I wrote the song when I was in quite a dark place. I was in a toxic relationship that was destroying me, the song is really about how sometimes when you're in a toxic relationship you change yourself for the other person, but you start to hate yourself for it. You look in the mirror and hate the person you've become. That self loathing is one of the worst feelings in the world, because you just want the other person in the relationship to be happy but at the same time you don't want to lose yourself, the real you."

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 11th 2013 !⃝

    I think it's about someone who self-doubts and is looking for meaning. "If I try to touch her I bleed"- the 'her' is t who she wants to be/pretends to be and 'bleed' is a metaphor for the pain she feels trying to be that perfect person instead of who she is

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 26th 2013 !⃝

    So, reading the other interpretations, this could very well be about Amy's sister. But to me personally it has been about struggling with who you really are and what the world wants you to be. In the first verse, there's a girl who's been looking in the mirror, whether physically or metaphorically. And she gets so tired of this and she doesn't want to see what's there but she can't stop and then feels like her "soul's on the other side". She gets depressed as the world caves in on her but can't tell anyone because she wouldn't be able to explain and it wouldn't matter to anyone but at the same time it's cutting her up inside. The "her" could be someone that this girl admires for their good qualities but despises their bad qualities, so in the chorus she's saying that if she tries to be like this person then she'll have to destroy herself and her values to match up.
    The second verse makes me feel like she's trying to strengthen herself against the world and explain but no one wants to listen - "yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child". Then someone tries to convince her that her values are all wrong and that she should get better by going over to their side. But she can't do this because she can't violate who she is and the truth. She knows what this seems like to everyone else and can't figure out whether they want to see who she really is or what society has made her be in their eyes.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 22nd 2012 !⃝

    I think this song is about a girl who looks in the mirror so much she thinks her reflection is all people see of her. The mirror could also be a metaphor, like people only see one side of her and that's not who she really is. So she tries to fix herself, even though no one else sees anything wrong, and she tries to strengthen herself. But she just gets depressed and "breathes no more" inside. She doesn't know whether people love her for who she is or who she appears to be.

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 13th 2012 !⃝

    To me this song talks about girl that is going through through a lot pain and low self esteem. she tries to change her image so people could love her but the aftermath of her ending up getting ill (emotionally, mentally, or even physically). I have thought about a girl going through an eating disorder to feel appreciated and loved

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 18th 2011 !⃝

    I think they spaced it wrongly, "If I try to touch her" is part of the verse, not the chorus. Anyway, this is what I think:

    I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
    That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.
    --She's looking at herself, but not seeing herself. She feels she's just a reflection of who she really is.--

    All the little pieces falling, shatter.
    Shards of me,
    Too sharp to put back together.
    Too small to matter,
    But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces,
    If I try to touch her.
    --By trying to "free" herself, she's hurting herself even more.--

    And I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no more.
    --She feels suffocated by herself and those around her.--

    Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well.
    Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
    --She's trying to regain her strength, but part of her doesn't want to bother.--

    Lie to me,
    Convince me that I've been sick forever.
    And all of this,
    Will make sense when I get better.
    --They think she must be sick because she's not who they thought she was.--
    But I know the difference,
    Between myself and my reflection.
    I just can't help but to wonder,
    Which of us do you love.
    --She want's to know whether they really care about her, or just the person they think she is.--

    So I bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe no...
    Bleed,
    I bleed,
    And I breathe,
    I breathe,
    I breathe-
    I breathe no more.
    --She feels she's dying inside.--

    That's how I feel about it, but you must remember everyone has a different opinion on what songs mean, we all have a tendency to make it about ourselves. Like I just did.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 23rd 2011 !⃝

    i was reading your versions but two comments really paid my attention and i totally agree with them and i think so, too.
    i think this song is about her younger sister who passed away at a very young age. i think the part ''If I try to touch her'' explains this the best. if you observe lyrics in ''Hello'' especially the part ''She's not breathing'' you will see similarity. cause she uses the word ''She'' and i think beyond this word she always considers her sister.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 4th 2010 !⃝

    I heard somewhere that this song is about Amy's younger sister that died. It took me a while, but a came up with these meanings...

    "I've been looking in the mirror for so long / that I've come to believe my soul's on the other side"
    (This means that she has thought about and loved her sister for so long, that the singer almost believes that the two are exactly alike, hence the "mirror")

    "All the little pieces falling, shatter"
    (Her relationship with her sister ending and her heart breaking when she dies.)

    "Shards of me too sharp to put back together"
    (Meaning the experience was so traumatizing that she cannot possibly recover from it.)

    "Too small too matter / but big enough to cut me into so many little pieces"
    (Too insignificant an event for most other people to care about, but yet it causes her so much pain and grief.)

    "If I try to touch her / and I bleed.....I breathe no more"
    (If Amy even tries to think about her, she grieves for her, feeling so much pain that she can barely manage it.)

    "Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirit's well"
    (She tries to talk several times to people she knows well (most likely her family members) about her sister so she can be comforted by them)

    "Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child / Lie to me, convince me that I've been sick forever / And all of this will make sense when I get better"
    (However, they have already gotten over her death a long time ago, and just take Amy's grief as an annoyance. So they pretend to feel bad for her, telling her "This is normal" and "It'll get better" so she'll be comforted, but she knows they are lying.)

    "But I know the difference between myself and my reflection"
    (She's saying to them that she can still feel happy sometimes and doesn't think about her sister or grieve for her all the time.)

    "I just can't help but to wonder, which of us do you love?"
    (She wonders whether they even care for her or her sister anymore.)

    So, yeah, that's my best interpretation of it. :)

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 27th 2010 !⃝

    From what I heard, it's about a person dying in their lover's arms and saying how much that person loves them.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 11th 2010 !⃝

    She's being someone she's not and she's in a relationship and wondering whether he loves the real her or the one she pretends to be

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