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"My Immortal" is the third single from rock band Evanescence's major label debut album, Fallen. Due to popularity at concerts, a new version of the song was recorded and released to radio. At the 47th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated in the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group category.
The song reached number seven in the United States and the United Kingdom and number one in Portugal; in Canada it debuted at number one and spent over twenty weeks in the top five. In Australia, it was the seventh-highest selling single of 2004.[1]
[edit] History
The song was written by Evanescence's former guitarist, Ben Moody, with Amy Lee adding the bridge later. Like all songs written by Moody, the lyrics are based on a short story he wrote. As stated by Lee, "…"My Immortal" was Ben [Moody]'s song!"[2]
Several versions of the song exist: one demo version the band made from 1997-1998 (Evanescence EP outtakes), which includes some different lyrics (entirely written and composed by Moody); one featured on the band's demo album, Origin (lead singer Amy Lee recomposed the song and changed the lyrics); the one featured on Fallen (similar to the one on Origin, except with added strings); their Mystary EP version (similar to the band version, minus the band); and "My Immortal (Band Version)", the radio version mentioned above in which the final phrase of the music is filled with heavy guitars and drums (where it is filled with strings in the album version) which was the version used in the music video and was also included as an additional track in newer editions of their album Fallen.
[edit] Music video
The video for "My Immortal" was shot in Barcelona and played in black-and-white. In an interview with Rock Sound magazine, Lee commented on the video's concept:
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You know what? When you see the video it's really amazing. Obviously we filmed it before this [Ben Moody's departure] happened and it's amazing irony, how much it makes sense. We're all separated and wandering the streets looking like it's the day after a funeral, with Ben in a suit and bare feet, and I'm never touching the ground. I'm sitting on a phone booth or lying on a car, to hint that I'm dead, that I'm singing from the dead. It's all about separation. It's almost like the director knew what was going to happen, but he can't have known. It's just one of those fate things." |
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—Amy Lee, Rock Sound magazine[3]
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[edit] In other media
A number of television episodes have made use of "My Immortal" as part of their episodic music. Among these are the Smallville season 3 episode "Memoria", and the series premiere of the series Moonlight'.
The song has found use on television outside of regular series. "My Immortal" was used in 2003 by World Wrestling Entertainment in a tribute video to 'Classy' Freddie Blassie. The song was featured in a mid-2005 television program commemorating the life of Pope John Paul II, which was aired in Mexico and other countries. In 2007, the song was used by the TV Week Logie Awards in a tribute montage for Steve Irwin. It has also been used in the BBC charity event "Children in Need" during a video plea asking for donations for children who need special help.
In motion pictures, "My Immortal" is featured in the 2003 film Daredevil along with Evanescence's first single "Bring Me to Life". The song was track 17 on Daredevil: The Album, but had some differences from the version that was later released as a single.
[edit] Track listing
- "My Immortal" (Band Version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 4:33
- "My Immortal" (Album Version) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 4:24
- "Haunted" (Live from Sessions @ Aol) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 3:08
- "My Immortal" (Live from Cologne) (Lee, A./Hodges, D./Moody, B.) — 4:15
[edit] Charts
[edit] References
[edit] External links
