Swimming Home

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General Information

Written by: A. Lee and W. B. Hunt

The 12th track on Evanescence's self-titled album.

Swimming Home is the only track on the Standard Edition to include harp. Described as "the biggest departure" by Amy, this track exposes a side of Evanescence that has never been seen before. Swimming Home comes from a creative phase in which everything was more ethereal and driven by programming (see for example Perfect Dream and Halfway Down the Stairs). 'Swimming' addresses "crossing over into the next life. It’s the bittersweet acceptance."

Amy has always had a strong bond with the seas and oceans. This is because, as stated in an interview, she grew up near these waters, so she feels protected and realizes how small are the issues of life when compared with the immensity of these seas.

The existence and title of this song was first revealed in an interview with MSN in August 30, 2011:

Lee, a classically trained pianist with an outstanding, crystalline rock voice, also plays harp on 'Swimming Home' and 'A New Way To Bleed.'

In a track-by-track interview with NME.com, Amy Lee explained the song saying:

Swimming Home is definitely the truest picture of that sort of electronic-very different phase that I was going through for a little bit. I love the song, I think that it expresses a little bit of a new emotion for me, for Evanescence. Because it's sad, it's goodbye, it's sort of from the other side of the song before. It's like from the person's perspective that's moving on to the next life. But it's peaceful, it's an acceptance of that giant crazy thing that fascinates me, that I wonder about and think about. And it's like, life and death and what comes after, you know and what does it all mean. So it's that acceptance and peaceful feeling like the calm after the storm.

Amy said this about Swimming Home in an interview with Kerrang:

It's goodbye. It's partly about the acceptance of death. I love that song because it's not angry and it's not perfectly happy. It's sad but it's accepting the things in life that are hard - like someone leaving this world and feeling the peace of crossing over.

Was submitted for the soundtrack of the 2008 Japanese animated fantasy movie Ponyo, but wasn't accepted.

Versions

Studio versions:

Swimming Home

• Recording Date: February 2011 - July 2011
• Status: Released
• Released On: Evanescence (track #12)
• Length: 3:43

Swimming Home (Ponyo Soundtrack Demo)

• Recording Date: Unknown - 2008
• Status: Unreleased
• Length: Unknown

Swimming Home (Lillywhite Sessions Demo)

• Recording Date: 2009-2010
• Status: Unreleased
• Length: Unknown

Live versions:

Swimming Home (Live)

• Performing period: January 13, 2012 - November 9, 2012
• Example: House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ

Lyrics

Way down
I’ve been way down
Underneath this skin
Waiting to hear my name again

I’m sorry
Nothing can hold me
I adore you still
But I hear them calling
And nothing can hold me

Way down
(Do you really want me?)
All the way down
(Do you really want me?)
I will hear your voice
(Do you really want me?)
But I’ll no longer understand
(But it's really not me)

I’m sorry
Nothing can hold me
I adore you still
But I hear them calling

I was looking to the sky
When I knew I’d be swimming home
And I cannot betray my kind
They are here - it’s my time

I’m sorry
Nothing can hold me
(Do you really want me?)
I adore you still
But I hear them calling, calling
And nothing can hold me