Evanescence: Sweet Sacrifice Meaning
Song Released: 2007
Sweet Sacrifice Lyrics
But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained.
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.
You poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your...
-
1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation: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. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Actually, I can relate myself to this song. A while ago, I stopped being tied down to whatever was in fashion or whatever the trend was. Being unchained means that I freed myself from the restrictions, and wanted to be different. I ended up becoming an outsider, but in doing so, I got a better view on why people don't change - because they're fearful. They just wait for things to happen, and wait for a reason why they should change. Yet this fear only exists in their minds, and the reason why they don't change is because of themselves.
"you poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice."
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. This thing was meant to bring me back to being like everyone else - to make me stop being special - to break me.
"one day I'm gonna forget your name,
and one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain."
and so, being this "someone" who is different from all the rest, I forget about who I was before. This poor, sweet, innocent thing is my past, and so I tell it that it's inevitable it'll go through what I did. Now that I'm free, the pain is lost, and I can stop worrying about what will happen to my past.
"i'm your sacrifice" translates to "i'll be the death of you", so basically, the present me is the end of the past me. The past me hates it, yet the present me has already rid of the past. Basically, "i'm free, and I don't care."
what amy whispers in the background is metaphorical, and to me, they stand out from the rest of the song. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation: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 -
Amy has been to court about an abusive relationship of hers, which she testified in. So I think it could be referring to that narcissistic, abusive, one-sided relationship that a lot of us experience. "You poor sweet innocent thing" sounds sarcastic. Referring to the abuser always playing the victim role when they should really take responsibly for it & 'testify' - tell the truth.
For me, personally it reminds me of my childhood (unfortunately) and of a little girl who was abused. And it's showing her now empowered, saying how he (the abuser) is going to 'drown in my lost pain'.
"One day, I'm gonna forget your name. One sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain...
I absolutely love the song. I love Amy Lee! -
I think its about some douche guy
"Fear is only in our minds"
This guy should be fearing her. That she will seek revenge for what he has done to her
"You poor sweet innocent thing, dry your eyes"
She's not really pitying him. She's saying that its all his fault. She's being sarcastic when she says you poor sweet innocent thing.
"You know you love to break me"
She's telling him that he enjoys breaking her to the point of tears
"You love to hate me don't you honey?"
'Honey' sounds like a bf/gf thing right? Well she's telling this guy that he never really loved her, he hated her.
"I'm your sacrifice"
He cheated on her and chose the other chick over her. He 'sacrificed' her to be with another girl.
"One sweet day your gonna drown in my lost pain"
One day he will regret what he did and will feel guilty for hurting her. -
Well... I believe that this song is about "bullying". I believe that a person was hurting her (metally) and Amy hadn't had the strength to face him/her.
"Now that I'm unchained" with this she means that she is strong enough to face him/her. She has realised that he/she was hurting her because he/she was afraid (or gealous) of Amy.
Now Amy asked him/her to testify her why he/she was hurting her (Amy).
"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."
She is telling her life when she think whe was too week to face him/her. :) -
This song has been bothering me for awhile as I've been trying to figure out as to what the hell "testify" meant. Well after listening to the lyrics a bit closer, for me this song is about someone who has witnessed a murder and has been traumatized by the whole situation going on, seeing it and having to go to court and talk about it. It does sounds a bit farfetched but once you interpret the lyrics, it comes out pretty clear more than anything. Keep in mind while reading that the people killed may be people the girl knows/ is related to.
"It's true, we're all a little insane."
Meaning that every person has issues and faults they have to deal with.
"But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained."
Referring to witnessing the death(s) and coming out of the sheltered peaceful life thinking that everyone around her including her is safe.
"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."
Referring to being traumatized of the murder(s) and is now afraid to move on normally in life. She is now scared it happening again.
"You poor sweet innocent thing."
She is a sweet, innocent girl becoming a victim of having to watch someone kill another and become involved in such a dark case out of bad luck.
"Dry your eyes and testify."
She is now crying while on the witness stand, trying to give out her testimony.
"You know you live to break me."
Her life was going just fine until this happened.
"Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice."
Referring to the killer's dark motives in killing.
"One day I'm gonna forget your name,
And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain."
She is talking about the process of healing, forgetting about the past and moving on with life.
"And oh you love to hate me don't you, honey?
I'm your sacrifice."
She considers him evil for causing her this pain when she did absolutely nothing and was in no way involved. Causing her pain is a price he doesn't care to pay for killing and getting what he wants.
"(I dream in darkness
I sleep to die,"
The trauma is going to give her nightmares.
"Erase the silence,
Erase my life,"
Court room silence.
Suicidal thoughts.
"Our burning ashes
Blacken the day,
A world of nothingness,
Blow me away.)"
Murdered bodies being cremated.
"Do you wonder why you hate?"
She wonders if the killer feels any remorse.
"Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?"
She wonders if the killer will go to prison and get the karma he deserves. -
I personally think this song is about getting over fears in general. See below:
"It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained."
-At first, she was simply swallowed up by the fears, but she broke free and realized how stupid the fears were.
"Fear is only in our minds,
but it's taking over all the time."
-Even small fears can terrify you.
"You poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice."
-The fear started out small, then grew larger and terrified her. She knows the fear's only purpose was to break her.
"One day I'm gonna forget your name,
And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain."
-She tells herself that she is stronger than the fear, and that she will forget about it for good.
"Do you wonder why you hate?
Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?"
-The protagonist tells herself that once she gets over the fear, it will never get her again.
I learned about this song from reading the blog of Veronica Roth, an author whose book's main theme is getting over your fears. She stated that after after hearing the line "Fear is only in our minds/but it's taking over all the time," she was inspired to write a book about getting over fears.
So that is how Sweet Sacrifice turned out to be a very inspirational song for me. -
Did anyone else hear "You poor, sweet, innocent thing," as being sung sarcastically? That's what I got from the song and I'm just curious if anyone else picked up on it.
-
This song is about someone (maybe amy, maybe not)"you know you live to break me, don't deny" has been caused pain by someone, maybe a boyfriend or a regular friend, tries to ruin her life.
"one day im gonna forget your name, and one sweet day, your gonna drown in my last pain"
she is going to forget all the problems and pain that that person has caused her. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think this song is basically about fear. Everything said descrides what fear does to a person. It keeps you in prison in your mind, always reminding you of your past,the "old you" and the "what if" of the furture." It's true, we're all a little insane, but it's so clear now that I'm unchained" means that she sees that noone is perfect and she is willing to fight aganist the fear.I can relate to this because this is what I've been living with for years. Missing out on moments of pure joy because of the worring. Fear and worry are the most hardest things to fight against. Because once they take root in your heart & mind, its like pulling a plant out of the ground after many years of being planted.
-
this song really helped me through my dark days -
It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained.
a relationship and when the break-up came it was so confusing then you see what kind of person he really was
You poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice.
and the guy is still messing with you trying to make it seem like it was all your fault
One day I'm gonna forget your name,
And one sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain.
saying that I'm over you so now I'm going to make you feel the pain that you put me through
And oh you love to hate me don't you, honey?
I'm your sacrifice.
he loves playing with your mind and he is out to destroy you
Do you wonder why you hate?
Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?
he is wondering why nothing is working against you so he hates you and then he sees that he has made a mistake
i still havent figured out the mistake its either the mistake of messing with you or leaving you -
It was for sure an abusive relationship. If you look up a biography about her you will find out that the abusive relationship went to court... "dry your eyes and testify" to me it's kind of an obvious interpretation..
-
Amy said in an interview that this song was about her and how she has felt like a victim her whole life, and this song is saying that she's not scared anymore. Hence 'Fear is only in our minds, taking over all the time.'
-
Many people think its a form of a mental, or physical relationship, some think its meant to be about themselves or the artist herself, me though when i hear it i hear things about the devil, or demons and in return illuminati pops to mind, i know it sounds extremely dumb but after all the things i saw, and heard it makes me wonder. Its like shes saying she is free with it, but pity it at the same time but its just me thinking
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In a literal sense, I think she is probably referring to her relationship with Ben Moody and how she was more creatively free once he left Evanescence. When he left he pretty much laid the blame at her feet for everything.
In a more figurative sense, it could relate to anyone who has been in a past relationship, where when it ended, they got blamed for everything. -
To me, this is totally a bad relationship. Someone who is manipulative, but always plays the victim. Just went through something like this and it's very "clear" now that I am no longer "insane". It's also a wish to punish the person. "One day, I'm gonna forget your name. One sweet day, you're gonna drown in my lost pain." The "poor sweet, innocent thing. dry your eyes and testify." Haven't you guys ever been to church? Never experienced someone "testifying". This allusion cracks me up as it fits so perfectly with the tormentor playing the victim. I listened to this song a lot during the worst pain of the break-up. I still love the song, though I rarely think of the person who inspired the feelings.
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