End of the Dream

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General information

Written by: A. Lee, T. Balsamo, T. McCord, W. Hunt and W. B. Hunt

End of the Dream (alternate legal title: The End of the Dream) is the ninth track from Evanescence's third studio album, Evanescence. The song is described as launching "full bore with chunky guitar, then falls into a brooding grove with piano underpinning Lee's unmistakable vocals". It was premiered on Spin before the release of the album on October 4, 2011. "It's about understanding that this life isn't forever, and how you have to live it, embrace even the pain, before it's all over. As much as it hurts, it just means you're alive. So don't be so afraid to get hurt that you miss out on living", said Amy in the interview with Spin.

In a track-by-track interview with NME, Amy said:

The End of the Dream is just about life, and the end of the dream is death. You know it's about the journey and it's about, again, this recurring theme of not being afraid and living while you're alive because it doesn't last forever. I think that's something that comes out a lot in our music because it's something that I deeply feel. It's funny though cause I'm always telling it to myself. It's not like you learn something and then just go 'Yeah, totally'... You have to make a constant effort to remind yourself of things that you believe in, you know. So I feel like, yeah that theme about not being afraid and life doesn't last forever... that comes out a lot. And yeah, that song is about that!

Amy said more about the song in a Loudwire interview:

In general, it is about life and the afterlife, and the fact that basically it’s short. It’s my understanding of death, and my relationship with it, and life. It’s my respect and appreciation for the fact that life is not going to last forever so you have to live now, you have to follow your heart, even when it hurts. That pain is something that you can’t take for granted.

In a Reddit AMA thread in 2016, Amy was asked by a fan why the band have never performed End of the Dream live, to which she responded:

Its very nearly impossible to sing. I love that song too! I need an extra pair of lungs to do that live in the middle of a show. We've been playing longer sets than ever, and I love that. I've found I can do more if we pace the set right. If The End of the Dream was in the set, I'd have to eliminate a few others and probably have a nap and a snack after haha.

End of the Dream was confirmed to be reworked and included on the orchestral album, Synthesis, when the track list was revealed through the album's pre-order on September 15, 2017. Many fans speculated whether it would be included since Amy said it's almost impossible to sing live. However, it was performed for the first time on October 14, 2017 at the Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada. This makes Evanescence the only album played live in full to date. Watch a performance of the song here.

When asked about the Synthesis reworking of the song, which opens with an electronic drone, this is what Amy said:

This was one of my first big, clear visions for the record – that intro. The feeling I had when I wrote the lyrics, it felt like this in my heart. So fragile and raw. When we recorded our self-titled album version of the song, we made all kinds of cool production and arrangement decisions with the band, and with our producer. And that song ended up with these pretty slamming, full on verses. The feeling totally changed. I wanted to take it back to its home in my head this time.

In another interview, she further explained why she decided to re-record the song for Synthesis:

I wanted to re-record The End of the Dream in a way that exposed the completely post traumatic healing of a survivor- taking the time to focus on the pain, and then look up and past it, gathering the strength to live on, better. Stronger. With a new understanding of the beauty of pain and the heartbreak of real life, not fly away from it, but carry it. Carry it all and feel grateful for it. Even proud.

Amy's description of the song in a track-by-track post on the band's Facebook:

“We only get one life, which is so fleeting and fragile. The song is about getting this limited amount of time, and love is so important, these feelings we experience. You can’t live your life afraid to be hurt. You’re going to get your heart broken, but it’s a part of life we all must experience. You have to feel, even if it’s hard, but it’s worth it. That’s the whole point of life.”

In a Loudwire interview in 2018, Amy discussed how the song was very electronic in its demo form and why she re-recorded it on Synthesis:

There's a song called "The End of the Dream" that I love and it's on our third album. It's one of those songs that when it was being written it was from a place of programs and loops and vocals and synth stuff, and then we turned it into a full on rock song. The tempo changed and the whole feeling changed. The verse was all groovy and it was pretty cool, but it was just so different from where it started. That can actually be an awesome thing. I love the original version, but there's also something to me that I remember the spookiness of the first verse, the feeling and the gravity of those lyrics. I love those lyrics and miss the way that it felt when it was very sparse. You could hear them and feel them and perform it in a way that was not tied to a beat. It was just full emotion. So in this version of it, we stripped it back to that and made it way better than it was in the demo from the early days. We did it though with that in mind that this part that I loved so much ... it was something where I could just go to a place and I'm not tied to a beat or on the click track, nothing. There's just a drone and singing and it feels so good to just start the song off that way and just go into that place and take my time with it and let the song unravel into something bigger. Actually, that's the most difficult song to sing every night. It's the highest one. We never performed it back in the day during our self-titled album which that song was on. That was one of the songs that we all loved, but we never played it live because I just felt like I couldn't do it. I'm not going to be able to hit that high, long note over and over again in the middle of the set and have nothing left to do the rest of the show. So we didn't do it. But this time I'm like, "This is all about challenges and stepping up, so I think maybe with the way that it's different and the sparsity of it, I'm going to try to do this."

Versions

Studio Versions

End of the Dream [Evanescence version]

• Recording Date: April 2011 - July 2011
• Status: Released
• Released On: Evanescence (track #9)
• Length: 3:48

The End of the Dream [Synthesis version]

• Recording Date: May - August 2017
• Status: Released
• Released On: Synthesis (track #6)
• Length: 4:54

End of the Dream [demo]

• Recording Date: 2010
• Status: Unreleased

Live Versions

End of the Dream [Synthesis Live]

• Performing period: October 14, 2017 - September 8, 2018
• Status: Released
• Recording date: November 3, 2017
• Released on: Synthesis Live (track #4)
• Length: 4:58

End of the Dream [Rock version with Synthesis intro]

• Performing period: November 5, 2021 - December 11, 2021; January 14 - December 14, 2022; February 25 - October 28, 2023; May 9-16, June 12-15, 2024
• Example: Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR, USA (November 5, 2021)

Lyrics

Evanescence Version

I found a grave
Brushed off the face
Felt your light and
I remember why I know this place

I found a bird
Closing her eyes
One last time
And I wonder if she dreamed like me

Well as much as it hurts
Ain't it wonderful to feel?
So go on and break your wings
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream

I’m not afraid
I pushed through the pain
And I’m on fire
I remember how to breathe again

As much as it hurts
Ain't it wonderful to feel
So go on and break your wings
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream

Why must we fall apart
To understand how to fly
I will find a way
Even without wings

Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
And we've come to the end of the dream

Synthesis Version

I found a grave
Brushed off the face
Felt your light and
I remember why I know this place

I found a bird
Closing her eyes
One last time
And I wonder if she dreamed like me

As much as it hurts
Ain't it wonderful to feel?
So go on and break your wings
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream

I’m not afraid
I pushed through the pain
And I’m on fire
I remember how to breathe again

As much as it hurts
Ain't it wonderful to feel?
So go on and break your wings
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream

Why must we fall apart
To understand how to fly?
I will find a way
Even without wings

Even without wings!

Dream...
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream
Follow your heart ‘til it bleeds
And we've come to the end of the dream