What does My Immortal mean?

Evanescence: My Immortal Meaning

Album cover for My Immortal album cover

Song Released: 2003


My Immortal 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...

  1. CJBonnell
    click a star to vote
    Nov 23rd 2011 !⃝

    I think that this piece can be applied to a lot of different situations; perhaps the loss of a loved one (a child, parent, grandparent, spouse, "significant other," etc.), but the way I really view it is a break-up.

    All of this sounds like something that a boyfriend/girlfriend would do, not just a parent.

    "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"
    -To me, this means that the significant other is still around; like at a school, or they see each other around, and every time they see each other, memories return.

    "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"
    -This is my favorite set of lyrics. It's pretty self explanatory, except for "but you still have all of me." To me, this means that they haven't moved on from the break up (or death), and they really don't want to or they don't have much of a choice in the matter.

    "You used to captivate me
    By your resonating mind
    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"
    -I think this can be taken many different ways.
    "You used to captivate me by your resonating mind," means they were really, really happy.
    "Now I'm bound by the life you left behind." I feel as though this means that they simply just can't move on, and they remember everything about everything in the relationships.
    "Your face haunts my once pleasant dreams" to me is very self-explanatory.

    My conclusion is that this piece is really about a loss, and a detrimental loss; something that you just don't up and get over, and I really think it can apply to many aspects of a person's life, particularly break-ups and death.

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 4th 2011 !⃝

    This song, to me, means that someone was taken away or stolen. I don't know how to express that in any other way.
    I think this because my small brother, who is seven years old, recently had to go live in a mental hospital because of his autism.
    I cried for hours, and all the while, this song was in my head...

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 29th 2011 !⃝

    This song sounds like the aftermath of being in a relationship with someone who has Borderline Personality Disorder. It's almost textbook in its description of the emotional wreckage a Borderline can cause.

    The emotional pain in the song is obviously far too specific to be about a run-of-the-mill 'broken relationship.' It also can't simply be about unrequited love. The actions described, such as SPLITING and DISSOCIATION, are extremely indicative of BPD.

    Borderlines can be very 'captivating' as well, and are known to be seducers. Borderlines seduce by 'mirroring' what they think is best in us, because they have no real sense of self. They also idealize us, i.e. put us on pedestals. These actions serve to draw us in to toxic attachments to a person that, essentially, has no capacity for real intimacy.

    What is most indicitave is the 'Push/Pull" imagery in the song. "If you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave." Borderlines are simultaneously terrified of abandonment and intimacy. Hence, they act in an "I hate you/don't leave me' fasion. Over time, this push/pull dynamic leaves the non-borderline emotionally exhausted, and the Borderline's greatest fear, ABANDONMENT, is achieved.

    What usually happens is that the Borderline continues on in his/her mental illness with no real insight, while the non-borderline is left confused and devastated. Borderlines are very good (unconsciously) at attaching themselves to the 'wounded' or 'inner-child' aspects of people. Once these unheatlhy attachments are formed, they are VERY hard to break.

    On another note: I wouldn't be surprised if Amy lee is somewhat mood disordered herself and Ben Moody wrote this song as an emotional interpretation of his relationship (or lack thereof) with her. I've always had a feeling about Amy . . .

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 27th 2011 !⃝

    I think this is reflecting upon the pain someone feels when they lose a loved one. Even though this person tries to push these persistent, painful memories away,they can't seem to do so considering how much they cared about that being. Some will eventually think of this as of how they would feel being in that state of emotion, tormenting them endlessly. Anyone who has felt this way may understand how this song reflects their thoughts of that type of situation.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 22nd 2011 !⃝

    mine is that maybe its about domestic violence because When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears(after he hit her and had a break down
    When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears(when he thought she was cheating on her and he screamed at her
    And I held your hand through all of these years(she was with him his whole life even through the bad years)
    But you still have All of me(meaning he wouldn't let her have a life or when he left he took her whole life with him)
    You used to captivate me(when they met he was really nice and interesting)
    By your resonating light
    Now I'm bound by the life you left behind(she is trying to see that same guy in him)
    Your face it haunts(he haunts her dreams as a result of domestic violence)
    My once pleasant dreams
    Your voice it chased away
    All the sanity in me(her family|friends told her to leave him but she got to wrapped in him)

    These wounds won't seem to heal(the wounds of being abused both physically and mentally
    This pain is just too real
    There's just too much that time cannot erase
    I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone(that he wont come back and hurt her any more)
    But though you're still with me
    I've been alone all along(she never really had him even though he was there

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 20th 2011 !⃝

    my dad passed away 3 years ago in march i picked this song to be played at his funeral because it simply told how i felt about him having to leave.i was there thru all his pain and suffering and now im still haunting by the memmories of his dying. my dreams of him are now haunted by reliving his death over and over again.i was holding his hand when he took his last breath and i still cant face the fact he is gone, but he still does have my heart and he will always be with me. he is now my angel.

  7. Patrick Galloway
    click a star to vote
    Sep 13th 2011 !⃝

    this song is about our savior and how we have tried to undo what we did to be here we have found no forgiveness for what we have done.hence we are here all alone but our savior lingers on even tho he isn't here,he lingers on only because we still love him.the title MY IMMORTAL tells you who she is singing about.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 7th 2011 !⃝

    i think the person that wrote this song was still in love with the person even though she got hunt her love was to strong to just leave he and now he gone she is hurting even more

  9. TTiger
    click a star to vote
    Aug 20th 2011 !⃝

    View the video of MY IMMORTAL after reading my interpretation for a mindblower. A detached Amy Lee with children playing around her and a bird symbolizing the spirit of her unborn child fluttering above and around her.

  10. TTiger
    click a star to vote
    Aug 20th 2011 !⃝

    Told from the perspective of a tortured and strife ridden would-be father, MY IMMORTAL tells the powerful and sorrowful story of the emotional devastation and fallout caused the mother's decision to abort their unborn child (the "life...left behind").

    The story begins (verse 1) with the grief-striken writer paralyzed emotionally by his situation (post abortion) telling his misguided lover to just leave if she must because of the unyielding torment she has caused by her actions.

    The emotional wounds of her betrayal (bridge 1) cannot be healed. The writer is emotionally split in two between the love of his soulmate and her decision to abort their child. Though it is said time heals all wounds, time cannot remedy this situation (time cannot undo his lover's choice, nor ever erase the immortal spirit of his dead child). This will truly stay with him (and her) for eternity.

    The chorus depicts the writer comforting and supporting his pregnant lover crying and screaming in her own hell facing a fateful decision regarding the life of their unborn child. One senses he is pleading with her after the fact "why did you do this after I gave you my all in love and support". He literally gave "All of me" to her to create their child.

    In the second verse the writer recalls his perception of his lover before her dark (in his view) decision: "resonating light" symbolizes the purity, holiness, goodness, and godliness he saw, releted to, and respected in her. "Now" (after her fateful act) the writer is "bound" by "the life [she] left behind". The "life left behind" is a cleverly veiled reference to abortion. The writer is bound emotionally in that he will never be able to see his lover the same way again.
    Her face haunts the dream she has destroyed of their having a loving family together and all the life and beauty that encompasses.

    Her "voice" that informed him of her decision and that tried to reason with him about the decision has left him hollow, confused, and undeniably broken.

    The original language of the final bridge(as I understand) was changed and rewritten by Amy Lee. This final bridge can be interpreted as the mother's" haunting cry to her lost child, who is gone in body, and in a sense with her in spirit. Nonetheless, she is alone with respect to her child and her decision. Additionally, or alternatively this language could be directed to her lover who is still with her (at the time this was written), but gone or gutted emotionally, leaving her alone.

    The title of this song, MY IMMORTAL, is simply the writer's reference to the immortal spirit of his deceased unborn child. "My" as this is his own child; "immortal" as in he will be with this child one fine day.

    Powerful songs usually come from a reality equally as charged. No disrespect to anyone who personalized this song otherwise. Peace, love, and happiness.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 16th 2011 !⃝

    This is Ben Moody's song - Amy Lee's contribution was the one couplet in the bridge ("I tried so hard to tell myself...") and, with David Hodges, the piano figure. Ben based it on a short story of his, and dedicated it to his Grandfather. So any interpretation that involves Amy's younger sister is wrong.

    If you need an example of Amy Lee's genius, try Breathe No More instead: astonishing.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 8th 2011 !⃝

    I believe it could either be about a failed relationship or about the loss of someone who died and the narrator is so wracked w grief that she cannot move on. It could be that the person is stuck in one of the stages of grief. That this person is insane w sadness and is haunted by memories.

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 30th 2011 !⃝

    And If ...???
    She just speaks about too part of """herself""
    - Like child inside and adult inside
    - Or Mind and Soul
    :-)
    I come here following a video link on facebook (looking for what does that mean ... happy to find you site !!!) BUT HAS IN MY WAY OF SEEING "LIFE" THERE ARE NO HASARDS ...... I can not imagine comming here right now is not in link with the book I'm just reading : ""practice .. the power of now companion"" (part 2)
    speaking about our ownsel"ves" ...
    If that's can be the meaning ... It could have become more hope full along the message

    Love and Light
    Valptisoleil France

  14. Katherine Flinn
    click a star to vote
    Jul 14th 2011 !⃝

    I see this song, really, as not just a song about someone you loved haunting you after they die but, in addition, kind of figuring out how you feel about this and their death in general. One example, I think is
    "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's as if she's trying to be angry at the person and say that they never cared at all just so that she won't miss them as much...

  15. skyscreamer
    click a star to vote
    Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

    yes as all the discussions go ,the songs refers to her lost lover with whom she didnt have a happy life with,but i think its not because he cheated her but perhaps because of the way he has changed,like
    in the lyrics its said that-

    "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"

    which reveals the idea that he has changed a lot,she cannot see the one whom she had fallen in love with,he's gone,she is alone now..but his physical self is beside her,so she tries hard to convince her mind that its the same 'him' who she had loved.




More Evanescence songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Just Posted

Rock Show anonymous
Don't Go anonymous
Tek It anonymous
Taking Over Me anonymous
All The Good Girls Go To Hell anonymous
Wingriddenangel anonymous
I Spoke to The Devil in Miami anonymous
This Woman's Work anonymous
Action! Not Words anonymous
Everybody Loves Me, Baby anonymous
Fall in to Sleep anonymous
Lemon Boy anonymous
Drama Club anonymous
Gravity anonymous
Our First Time anonymous

(We won't give out your email)