| Evanescence – Understanding (Can't Wash It All Away) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Here's my take on the text. Might just be a result of me trying to fit it in my own life, but ah. Basically, I think it's about a depressed person loving another depressed (at the very least they think so) person, from a distance. I'll call the characters "the narrator" (presumably a girl) and "the object" (a boy?), respectively. "You hold the answers deep within your own mind. Consciously, you've forgotten it. That's the way the human mind works. Whenever something is too unpleasant, to shameful for us to entertain, we reject it. We erase it from our memories. But the imprint is always there." A third part quote (none of the characters) which tells them that only they have the key to their problems and that however dark it may seem, the solution is always there, somewhere in the back of their head. "The pain that grips you The fear that binds you Releases life in me" This part shows that the narrator has empathy for the object (whom I, as said, assume is depressed). "In our mutual Shame we hide our eyes To blind them from the truth That finds a way from who we are Please don't be afraid When the darkness fades away The dawn will break the silence Screaming in our hearts" The narrator is too shy to confess their love to the object. The narrator also asks the object not to kill himself before she can help him. However, adding a line later on in the song... "It just won't fade away, No" Neither the shyness nor the object's depression is willing to disappear. "My love for you still grows This I do for you Before I try to fight the truth my final time" Here you have the narrator trying hard to survive for the other person's sake through self-injury despite wanting to die and not having the desire to keep on living. "Can't wash it all away Can't wish it all away Can't cry it all away Can't scratch it all away" Here you have the narrator trying to deal with his own depression in various ways (such as self-injury, as "scratch" implies) but fail. "Lying beside you Listening to you breathe" This I can't really understand. I think it's either an imagination, or symbolism for something else. The narrator understands the object? "The light that flows inside of you #I think it's actually light, not life Burns inside of me" The narrator hates herself for being so evil while the object is the most beautiful (as in their soul) in the world. The object reminds her of this fact. So it should actually be "burns my inside" or equivalent. "Hold and speak to me Of love without a sound Tell me you will live through this And I will die for you Cast me not away Say you'll be with me For I know I cannot Bear it all alone" The narrator wants the object to live on for her much in the same way that she did. Now I do think that this is the most likely explanation of the song (though it may just be me trying to fit it in with my own life) but I don't really get the ending. It's also somewhat vague. Hope you enjoyed. |
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