Evanescence – My Immortal (Official HD Music Video)
Inspiration Behind My Immortal:
My Immortal was inspired by an emotional story of loss and memory. The fictional story guided two teenagers, Ben Moody to write the lyrics while Amy Lee composed the music. My Immortal was eventually updated for Evanescence, refined into a haunting power ballad about a lingering spirit. When you are young, teens think they are invincible until human tragedy opens your eyes to mortality.
Biblical Application:
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory,” 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.
Exegesis of My Immortal:
[Verse 1]
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
A teenager who is worn down by anxiety, fear and worry. Losing the will to press on in life. Tormented by a demonic spirit overwhelming her soul, possibly the demon of depression.
[Pre-Chorus]
These wounds won’t seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase
The spirit is suffocating any joy left for living.
[Chorus]
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
A reference to the fictional story that inspired this song. Two friends helping one another get through the pain of growing up.
[Verse 2]
You used to captivate me by your resonating light
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
A positive influence which uplifted this teenage soul. Reference to a death, possible suicide. Struggling to accept this reality, wondering why this had to happen.
[Pre-Chorus]
These wounds won’t seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There’s just too much that time cannot erase
Time still haven’t healed the pain deep inside their heart.
[Chorus]
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
Recalling a caring friend who is no longer around. A best friend who either passed away or was forced to move.
Their friend is alive but is not the same. Subsequently, this woman feels alone with no one to share her pain.
[Chorus]
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, ah
I’m still here for you if you let me back in.
[Outro]
Me, ah
Me, ah
A loss for words or a call for help.
Final Thoughts:
I lived in the same house for 16 years so when my father was forced to transfer to Ohio, this was tough. Although I was in college at the time, the friends that I grew close to were now hundreds of miles away. I did write letters for a couple of years until most of these relationships faded away. I was able to make new friends at work, but this close fellowship that I shared slowly grew cold. I pray that one day I’ll be reunited with many of these individuals in heaven. However, for now as a grapple with my own mortality, I’m taking one day at a time to see what God has in store for me.
by Jay Mankus
