Breathe No More

Album: Anywhere But Home (2004)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This piano ballad is a very personal song for Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee, who wrote it on her own. She talked about the song during a meet and greet that made the rounds on Evanescence fan sites.

    "I was in a toxic relationship that was destroying me," she said. "The song is really about how sometimes when you're in a toxic relationship you change yourself for the other person, but you start to hate yourself for it. You look in the mirror and hate the person you've become. That self-loathing is one of the worst feelings in the world, because you just want the other person in the relationship to be happy but at the same time you don't want to lose yourself, the real you."
  • Evanescence recorded the song for their 2003 debut album, Fallen, but it didn't make the cut. It first appeared as a live version on their 2004 concert album Anywhere But Home, then in 2005 a studio version was used in the movie Elektra and appeared on the soundtrack. It also appears on the 2016 Evanescence compilation Lost Whispers.

Comments: 6

  • TomThis song is not about her dead sister. Amy said it's about changing yourself in a relationship in order to please the other person and hating the person you've become in order to please the other.
  • Mae.k from Butler Pamy immortal is about her sister. this song was featured on the soundtrack for the 2005 film Elecktra. In relation to the film it is about mourning and wondering what your identity is, and which one others love. who you need to be and what you want to be.
  • Jennie from Ansonia, CtI've always felt the song was a description on how an anorexic feels about themselves. How they look in the mirror but they don't see a beautiful person. "Lie to me, convince me that I've been sick forever, and all of this will make sense when I get better." This describes for me what everyone says about anorexics of how they are sick and they don't believe their family or friends that they are beautiful and nothing is wrong with them. "I know the difference, between myself and my reflection, I just can't help but to wonder, which of us do you love?" seems to describe how those poor people feel about what they see in the mirror. The mirror shows them that they have tons of weight to lose, but in reality, they are starving to death and they wonder, does my family and friends love the "fat person" or the "thin person"
  • Samantha from New York City, NyThis song is absolutley beautiful.Even tough it ws written for bonnie,i, take it differently.I used to be depressed and i would look in the mirror and just think about how ugly i was.I was always pretending to be happy and the one in the mirror was the real me who just couldn't feel anything at all.
  • Stephanie from Nashville, Tni love this song...
    Amy Lee is the best!
  • Cortney from Grand Junction, CoActually this song is about her little sister,and how she felt when she was in her early teens about losing her little sister.she wanted to die so she could be with her little sister and so she didn't have to feel the pain.she also wrote hello and like you for bonnie.i know this because i met amy lee and asked her about alot of her songs and why she wrote them.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.