Haunted

General Information

Written by: A. Lee, B. Moody, and D. Hodges

Developed during the 2001-2002 demo sessions and later released as track #5 on Fallen. Based on a story written by Ben that served as an inspiration for Amy to write the lyrics.

Ben Moody’s Story about Haunted is a post on Evboard and reads (slightly edited):

A little girl around 8 or 9 in a little white Easter dress is walking down a neighborhood street bouncing a little red ball. As she approaches an obviously deserted large house with a sinister demeanor, her attention moves from the ball to the house. Not paying attention to her bouncing, the ball hits the curb and ricochets toward the house. As she chases the little red ball toward the house, the ball picks up unnatural momentum and bounces right into the huge gaping front door. The little girl pauses for a moment, looks up at the house, which now appears to be staring down at her, and cautiously enters the house in search of her little red ball. as she slowly walks into the atrium, she surveys the decaying mess that once was obviously a beautiful mansion. She becomes mesmerized by the exquisite detail of every inch of the banister winding up the seemingly endless staircase in front of her. Suddenly her thoughts are broken by a horrifying commotion. She whips around to run out the front door, but finds only a blank wall where the door once stood. Frightened, she runs down the first hallway she sees, trying desperately to find a way out, but with every turn the world behind her changes, bending to the will of the house, so that even finding a path back to the atrium where she began becomes impossible. Terrified, the little girl sinks into a corner, puts her head in her hands, and weeps.

10 years later....

The little girl wakes up in a panic, now a young woman. Dirty, scarred. She's now clothed in black pants, work boots, and a black wife beater. Her skin is pale and dirty. Sun has not graced her flesh in over a decade. She wakes to find a meal placed on a dirty silver tray before her, just enough to sustain life, just like every morning before. Placed there by a figure she can only see in passing, around a corner, walking through a door.... a figure that has become her only friend, and her only hate. Her entire existence has become nothing but to hunt and destroy this shadow that keeps her here. As she hunts him relentlessly day after day, she becomes lost in the dichotomy of her being. This thing that keeps her here, this person that repeatedly rapes her mind and watches her when she sleeps, has become her only friend. For is this person left, she would cease to exist. For she live only to kill him. But lives only FOR him. Every day the house changes around her, so that every day she wakes in a foreign land. The only constant... is him. She hears his heart beating, she smells him, she can only think of finding him, but he is also the only thing she knows of love.

Versions

Studio versions:

- Haunted [Fallen version]
Recording date: August - November 2002
Status: Released
Released on: Fallen (track #5)

- Haunted [demo version #1]
Recording date: 2001
Status: Unreleased

- Haunted [demo version #2]
Recording date: 2002
Status: Unreleased

Live versions:

- Haunted [Anywhere But Home DVD live]
Performing period: 2004
Status: Released
Recording date: May 25, 2004
Released on: Anywhere But Home (track #1)
Note: this live version has a new guitar solo by Terry

- Haunted [live]
Performing period: 2003
Status: Released
Recording date: April 15, 2003
Released on: My Immortal commercial single

- Haunted [acoustic]
Performing period: 2003
Status: Unreleased
Example: the acoustic performance at Tower Records Music Store

Lyrics

Haunted - Fallen and 2002 Demos Version

Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside

I know you're still there

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down

Hunting you I can smell you - alive
Your heart pounding in my head

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Saving me, raping me
Watching me

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 
                                                                        

Haunted - 2001 Demo Version (original)

Long lost words whisper slowly to me
still can't find what keeps me here
when all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
fearing you, loving you
I know I’ll find you somehow

Hunting you I can smell you - alive
your heart pounding in my head

Calling me, killing me
I won’t let you pull me down
saving me, raping me
watching me

Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down