What does Imaginary mean?

Evanescence: Imaginary Meaning

Album cover for Imaginary album cover

Song Released: 2004


Imaginary Lyrics

I linger in the doorway
Of alarm clock screaming
Monsters calling my name
Let me stay
Where the wind will whisper to me
Where the raindrops
As they’re falling tell a story

[Chorus:]
In my field of paper flowers
And candy clouds of...

  1. anonymous
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    Aug 15th 2011 !⃝

    This song is clearly about escaping the cruel realities of the world into a world of your own where everything is safe and free from chaos unlike the reality.

  2. anonymous
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    Jul 8th 2011 !⃝

    There's another version of this song. I think it was on Origin. It goes something like this:

    Swollowed up in the sound of my screaming,
    Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights.
    Oh, how I long for the deep sleep dreaming,
    The goddess of imaginary light.

    In my field of paper flowers,
    and candy clouds of lullabys,
    I lie inside myself for hours,
    and watch my purple sky fly over me.

    I linger in the doorway
    Of alarm clock screaming
    Monsters calling my name
    Let me stay
    Where the wind will whisper to me
    Where the raindrops
    As they’re falling tell a story

    If you need to leave the world you live in,
    Lay your head down and stay a while.
    While you may not remember dreaming,
    Something waits for you to breathe again.

    (bridge)

    In my field of paper flowers,
    and candy clouds of lullabys,
    I lie inside myself for hours,
    and watch my purple sky fly over me.


    When I interpret songs with multiple versions, I think of them as adding to each other. So when you combine the two versions, it's talking about how she wants to escape this horrible world, so she goes to her room and dreams to escape. Another anonymous person said, "It's about not wanting to get up in the morning not wanting to face the outer world full of negative things." She got a really low rating, but she was actually right. Because when you look at the other version, it's clear that she goes to sleep and dreams to escape the real world.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 8th 2011 !⃝

    There's another version of this song. I think it was on Origin. It goes something like this:

    Swollowed up in the sound of my screaming,
    Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights.
    Oh, how I long for the deep sleep dreaming,
    The goddess of imaginary light.

    In my field of paper flowers,
    and candy clouds of lullabys,
    I lie inside myself for hours,
    and watch my purple sky fly over me.

    I linger in the doorway
    Of alarm clock screaming
    Monsters calling my name
    Let me stay
    Where the wind will whisper to me
    Where the raindrops
    As they’re falling tell a story

    If you need to leave the world you live in,
    Lay your head down and stay a while.
    While you may not remember dreaming,
    Something waits for you to breathe again.

    (bridge)

    In my field of paper flowers,
    and candy clouds of lullabys,
    I lie inside myself for hours,
    and watch my purple sky fly over me.


    When I interpret songs with multiple versions, I think of them as adding to each other. So when you combine the two versions, it's talking about how she wants to escape this horrible world, so she goes to her room and dreams to escape. Another anonymous person said, "It's about not wanting to get up in the morning not wanting to face the outer world full of negative things." She got a really low rating, but she was actually right. Because when you look at the other version, it's clear that she goes to sleep and dreams to escape the real world.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 12th 2011 !⃝

    The reason I like Evanescence songs is because anyone can interpret it a different way based on what they've experienced in their life. For me, this song is about coping with the loss of a loved one.

    The line "I linger in the doorway
    Of alarm clock screaming
    Monsters calling my name" is when I am in between reality and the withdrawn place I go to escape, to try to relive the memories I have of my beloved. The alarm clocks screaming, monsters calling my name are the people that want me to come out of this state, because they can't stand to see me like this. But I don't want to come out, I want them to Let me stay. My field of paper flowers, candy clouds, and purple sky are the memories I have of my you. For me, "Don’t say I’m out of touch
    With this rampant chaos- your reality
    I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge
    The nightmare I built my own world to escape" signifies me being in touch with reality, but I just don't want to accept that you're gone, even though I know you are. The reality that lies beyond my sleeping refuge, the nightmare I build my own world to escape is being without you for the rest of my life.
    Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming
    Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights
    is me missing her, the fear of silent nights is a world without your presence.
    How I long for the deep sleep dreaming, the goddess of imaginary light is engulfing myself in our shared memories, so I can be with you again, even if it is only in a dream.
    I know you're gone, and I know you want me to make the most of the life I have left. So I will. Even though you're no longer with me, I know you'll be here for me the whole way. Wherever I look, wherever I go, I see your smile- our smile.
    In everything.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 30th 2011 !⃝

    Am I the only person here who think that it describes a state of Schitzophenia? I mean, I found out that there was a possibility I could have it a few days ago. "I linger in the doorways, of alarm clock screaming monsters, calling my name." She's in reality and no one notices her, she's getting tempted back into fantasy.
    I think it's describing what its like to not be understood by others who think you're insane("Don't say I'm out of touch") but you can see something that they can't.
    "Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming, cannot cease for the fear of silent nights. Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming, the goddess of imaginary light."
    Meaning that when she WANTS to stop fantasizing, she can't because she's scared of being alone.

  6. Tron
    click a star to vote
    May 14th 2011 !⃝

    Lol, it's so obivious what this song means.
    Ever heard of lucid dreaming? Knowing that you are dreaming when you are dreaming?
    Ýou can hide from reality because you can built your own world in the dream world.
    You can sleep 15hrs a day if you want to.
    That is this about. I know because I did the same thing.
    1: She doesn't want to be woken up from her dream reality.
    Songtext:
    I linger in the doorway
    Of alarm clock screaming
    Monsters calling my name
    Let me stay

    2: She escapes reality by dreaming
    Don’t say I’m out of touch
    With this rampant chaos- your reality
    I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge
    The nightmare I built my own world to escape

    3: dreaming
    Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming
    The goddess of imaginary light

    Know what i'm meaning?:)

  7. anonymous
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    May 6th 2011 !⃝

    I think it's about a girl who lives in a world of war and is treated harshly by the people around her so she's built her own world to escape as she doesn't want to be in the real world anymore.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 14th 2011 !⃝

    In "Imaginary" I believe Amy has created her own imaginary world where she can escape the horrors and pain of her reality.
    "Rampant chaos, your reality"
    See?
    She doesn't like her life and she just wants to escape.
    "Alarm clock screaming, monsters calling my name, let me stay"
    She doesn't want to be awaken and have to go face reality again.

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 4th 2011 !⃝

    it's more of less a song about daydreaming or dreaming to escape reality "I linger in the doorway,Of alarm clock screaming,Monsters calling my name" is like saying halfway between awake and asleep, thanks to alarm clocks and monsters could mean her parents waking her up.
    "Let me stay
    Where the wind will whisper to me
    Where the raindrops
    As they’re falling tell a story" is saying basically "please, let me sleep, i don't want to go back to the real world"

    "In my field of paper flowers
    And candy clouds of lullaby
    I lie inside myself for hours
    And watch my purple sky fly over me"
    obviously, paper flowers and a purple sky arn't realistic, something surreal like that could happen in a daydream or a dream
    "And candy clouds of lullaby" clouds are often connected to dreams, and lullaby implys sleep or a kind of security being away from reality

    "Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming
    Cannot cease for the fear of silent nights
    Oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming
    The goddess of imaginary light"
    this can be like something horrible happening,like referring to childhood when parents argue and you just want to be somewhere else instead of having to listen or it can mean things like flaws or mistakes haunting her, "screaming" in her head, and when u fall asleep its a whole different world u dont have to deal with problems

    ...hope it helped

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 30th 2010 !⃝

    This song is about disassociation during a traumatizing experience. Like molestation or rape.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    Sep 7th 2009 !⃝

    I think its like someone who has turned themselves inside to try and ignore things that are going on in the world or inside them.

  12. anonymous
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    Feb 24th 2009 !⃝

    i believe the beginning is telling a bit about an imaginary world she has created, and how she just want to stay there. She doesn't want to get up and out in the real world, which she descripes as "rampant chaos", but even though some people believe that she spend so much time in her own world that she has no idea what's going on around her, she's fully aware of it, she's just doing her best to avoid it.

  13. anonymous
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    Feb 2nd 2009 !⃝

    I think the part about the screaming is just that she doesn't like the silence, and it makes her lonely. It makes you want to sleep just so you can at least dream that there are people there.

  14. anonymous
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    Nov 30th 2008 !⃝

    I agree w/ almost everyone [except the people that said she's high, I don't think she uses drugs] Since, the first time I heard this song, I pictured her sitting in her room daydreaming/dreaming. I figured it was about escaping your troubles by going into your own little dream world, where everything is how you want it to be. This has always been one of the songs I could relate to the most b/c I'm always daydreaming, especially when I wanna get my mind on something else. It keeps me from getting too depressed. I luv daydreaming, and I luv this song!! Yay Evanescence!!^-^

  15. DresdenDoll
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    Oct 4th 2008 !⃝

    I know it's been stated already numerous times, but the interpretation of the song is that of escaping into an imaginary world to escape daily pains. It's not about getting high, it's about daydreaming yourself into a place where you can think positively without the stress and pain that can accompany life at times.




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