Bring Me To Life

Album

Fallen

Label

Wind-up Records

Genre

Nu Metal

Media Type

45s

Duration

3:56

Composer(s)

David Hodges;Amy Lee;Ben Moody

Entered Chart

Mar 15, 2003

Peak Date

Jun 7, 2003

Released

January 13, 2003

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Wind-up Album Cut

B-Side

Farther Away

A track from Evanescence's debut album, Fallen, lead singer Amy Lee wrote "Bring Me To Life" about Josh Hartzler, the man who would become her husband. When she met Hartzler, he was a friend of a friend: a total stranger who did not know her. Yet he could somehow "see inside her" and "bring her to life." "I was in a really bad place, relationally, and going through a really hard time," Lee said in her Songfacts interview. "He sat across from me when we went to reserve a table and he just looked me dead in the eye and said, 'Are you happy?' And it shocked my heart and I looked down and just started making up excuses. I choked on my words because I felt like I was completely outwardly acting normal, but inside in a lot of turmoil. And I felt like he could just see straight into my soul. That inspired the whole song. Years later I told him it was about him." It was a few years before Lee and Hartzler started dating. From 2003-2005 she had a high-profile relationship with Seether frontman Shaun Morgan, so many fans assumed the song was about him. Lee didn't say who it was about until later. Hartzler and Lee got married in 2007 and had a son, Jack, in 2014. The band's lead guitarist Ben Moody and keyboard player David Hodges are co-writers on this song along with Lee. Moody offered his interpretation: "'Bring Me To Life' is about discovering something or someone that awakens a feeling inside them that they've never had before. You discover there is a world that is bigger than just your safe bubble." This was the first single from Evanescence; it became a huge hit and launched their career. The song first appeared (along with "My Immortal") in the 2003 movie Daredevil, where it was used in a key scene where Elektra (Jennifer Garner) gets ready to kill Daredevil (Ben Affleck). The film was released in February 2003 and the song was included on the soundtrack. Fallen was issued in March, and "Bring Me To Life" came out as a single in April. The song reached its US chart peak of #5 in June and became one of the biggest songs of the summer. In the UK, the song was an even bigger hit, going to #1 in June and staying for four weeks. The male vocalist on this track is Paul McCoy from the group 12 Stones. They were on the same record label as Evanescence. By using a male singer on their debut single, Evanescence had an easier time getting airplay, as just about every band with a similar sound was led by a guy. Acts like Nickelback, Hoobastank and Chevelle were big at the time. Evanescence was on Wind-up Records, the same label as Creed. Initially, Wind-up marketed the Fallen album to the Christian community, which caused some confusion because they were not a Christian band. The music video was the first for the band. Directed by Philip Stolzl, for many it was their first look at Evanescence and their visual centerpiece, Amy Lee. In the clip, Lee wakes up in a tall building, steps out the window and walks along the ledge. Her bandmates are playing on the roof; she tries to join them, but falls. The group is from Arkansas. The last group from that state to have a Top 40 hit was Black Oak Arkansas, who went to #25 in 1974 with "Jim Dandy." That song also used a female vocalist. Along with Garbage and No Doubt, Evanescence was one the few female-fronted bands to make an impact around this time. Between 1997-2003, the charts were dominated by groups with male singers and female solo artists. Ben Moody left the band while they were touring to promote the album in 2003. He was replaced with Terry Balsamo, who was guitarist with the band Cold. Chris Daughtry covered the song for the soundtrack to The Passion. The vocalist played Judas Iscariot in Fox's 2016 live TV musical based on Jesus Christ's last days. In 2017, Evanescence released an orchestral version on their fourth album, Synthesis. Revisiting the song 14 years later, Amy Lee felt she could bring something new to the song. "Pouring the weight and perspective of the life I've lived now back into that root - it's pure satisfaction," she told Rolling Stone. This version doesn't incorporate another vocalist. Paul McCoy's rap was added by the band's label; Evanescence has made it clear it was not their creative decision. In a 2023 interview with Metal Hammer, Amy Lee said they stopped performing the rap a long time ago and only include it when someone else fits the spot, such as Paul McCoy or Sonny Sandoval from P.O.D. "That part, that sound, that's not my style," she said. "That's why it was such a difficult pill to swallow, even on one song. But we won because we didn't have to change our whole sound." Ex-Saliva singer Josey Scott was the original choice to sing the guest rap on "Bring Me to Life," but due to scheduling conflicts, they brought in Paul McCoy instead. The rap section has a lot of energy and passion, which Scott is known for. "I definitely have a chill go up my spine every time I hear that song," he noted to the Metal Summit. "Bring Me To Life" plays in multiple episodes of the 2025 second season of HBO's The Rehearsal, most memorably in a scene where it's jokingly implied that Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was listening to it on his iPod during the dramatic "Miracle on the Hudson" landing in 2009.

How can you see into my eyes like open doors?
Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb
Without a soul (soul), my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back home
(Wake me up) wake me up inside
(I can't wake up) wake me up inside
(Save me) call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up) bid my blood to run
(I can't wake up) before I come undone
(Save me) save me from the nothing I've become
Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring (bring) me (me) to life
(Wake me up) wake me up inside
(I can't wake up) wake me up inside
(Save me) call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up) bid my blood to run
(I can't wake up) before I come undone
(Save me) save me from the nothing I've become
Bring me to life
I've been living a lie
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life
Frozen inside without your touch, without your love
Darling, only you are the life among the dead
All this time, I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark, but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years, it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul
Don't let me die here, there must be something more
Bring me to life
(Wake me up) wake me up inside
(I can't wake up) wake me up inside
(Save me) call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up) bid my blood to run
(I can't wake up) before I come undone
(Save me) save me from the nothing I've become
Bring me to life
I've been living a lie (bring me to life)
There's nothing inside
Bring me to life