Sweet Sacrifice

General Information

Written by: A. Lee, T. Balsamo

Described as a song about "a post-relationship catharsis that head-dives from an otherworldly intro into a hard-driving thrash of hard rock guitars and soaring rock vocals" by Evanescence.com.

The listener is captivated by Amy’s universe as the very first notes start off. Amy repeatedly takes a deep breath in order to absorb us for an hour. Terry’s guitar part flirts with high notes, as Amy’s voice follows the same tonality path.

Amy's description of the song:

"It's the one song on The Open Door that's about the same abusive relationship which was the source of all the songs on Fallen. It was appropriate to put this song at the beginning, but it comes from a much stronger standpoint than Fallen. It's not saying, 'I'm trapped in fear and somebody save me.' It's saying, 'Fear is only in our minds ... I'm not afraid anymore.'"

Officially chosen as the third single from The Open Door after requests from the band and fan reactions prompted the label to rethink ideas of releasing All That I'm Living For as the single.

Versions

Studio versions:

Sweet Sacrifice

• Recording date: September 2005 - March 2006
• Status: Released
• Released on: The Open Door (track #1) - the third single off the album

Live versions:

Sweet Sacrifice [live]

• Performing period: October 5, 2006 - present
• Status: Unreleased
• Example: Live @ KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2006

Lyrics

It's true, we're all a little insane
But it's so clear
Now that I'm unchained

Fear is only in our minds
Taking over all the time
Fear is only in our minds
but it's taking over all the time

You poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
You know you live to break me - don't deny
Sweet sacrifice

One day I'm gonna forget your name
And one sweet day
you're gonna drown in my lost pain

Fear is only in our minds
Taking over all the time
Fear is only in our minds
but it's taking over all the time

You poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
And oh you love to hate me don't you, honey?
I'm your sacrifice.

[I dream in darkness
I sleep to die
Erase the silence
Erase my life
Our burning ashes
Blacken the day
A world of nothingness
Blow me away]

Do you wonder why you hate?
Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes?

You poor sweet innocent thing
Dry your eyes and testify
You know you live to break me - don't deny
Sweet sacrifice

Video

The video was filmed on March 9 and March 10, 2007 and was directed by Paul Brown. For each day of production, one lucky EvClub member was given the chance to visit the set and take pictures while they watched the video being made (see Contest Details).

CNN broadcast a segment featuring some behind-the-scenes footage of the video on March 16, 2007 (video).

"It's mostly live performance," singer Amy Lee said recently on the set of their "Sweet Sacrifice" video. "It's not so much fluff and flying and tricks and wolves and stuff. It's more really just about the song, and that is unique for us. We usually do crazy stuff." The video does have a "cool twist," which Lee refused to reveal, but it will mainly feature the band performing on a set inspired by 2000's psychotherapist thriller "The Cell." "Like we're in the walls of our minds, sort of," Lee said.

Paul Brown, who has directed videos for Audioslave and Matisyahu, helmed the project, which will feature scenes of the live footage projected onto a wall. "It's gonna be sort of like a video within the video," Lee said. "Since the song is our heaviest single, we really wanted to focus on mostly performance but still have something about it that's really unique. And I think [Paul] really hit the nail on the head."