What does My Last Breath mean?

Evanescence: My Last Breath Meaning

Album cover for My Last Breath album cover

My Last Breath Lyrics

hold on to me love
you know i can't stay long
all i wanted to say was i love you and i'm not afraid
can you hear me?
can you feel me in your arms?

holding my last breath
safe inside myself
are all my thoughts of you
sweet raptured light...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 7th 2012 !⃝

    Hold on to me love
    You know I can't stay long
    All I wanted to say was
    I love you and I'm not afraid

    ••It's about someone dying in the arms of someone they love, they are asking their loved one to stay with them as they die, they know they are going to die any minute now and they want to die in a happy state of mind.
    As she (Im using *She* as the artist, Amy Lee, is female) is dying she reminds her loved one that she loves them and that they don't need to worry as she isn't afraid to die.••

    Can you hear me?
    Can you feel me in your arms?
    Holding my last breath?
    Safe inside myself
    Are all my thoughts of you

    ••she is no longer able to perceive if she is conscious or not. So she's asking if her loved one is able to hear her still,
    She's asking if she us still alive and in the arms of her loved one,
    She is taking her last breaths-if she is still alive. But she at least knows she is now safe from everything that was killing her.
    And she is finally saying that she will always remember them. ••

    Sweet raptured light
    It ends here tonight.

    ••Sweet raptured light Is obviously referring to the myth of seeing a bright light as you are dying.
    She also knows she is going to die tonight. She knows it's the end.••

    I'll miss the winter
    A world of fragile things
    Look for me in the white forest
    Hiding in a hollow tree

    ••She is thinking/stating the things that she will miss when she has passed.
    In this Verse, the white forest could be a metaphor for a Cemetery as its Like a forest of graves and white as in the color of the tombs.
    Hiding in a hallow tree could be a metaphor for a grave, as it is in the "Forest"••

    I know you hear me,
    I can taste it in your tears.
    Holding my last breath
    Safe inside myself
    Are all my thoughts of you.

    ••As the last bridge referred to, this is saying that she knows that she is still alive and still can be heard, she can taste the tear drops which have been shed from her loved one.
    She knows she is close to her last breath. She knows she is safe from all the pain she was in, she is also clarifying that she won't forget her loved one.••

    Sweet raptured light
    It ends here tonight.

    ••See above••

    Closing your eyes to disappear
    You pray your dreams will leave you here,
    But still you wake and know the truth -
    No one's there.

    ••she is now telling the story if her loved one, they try to wish it all away, they dream of her to be alive again every night but as morning approaches they awake to realize it was just a dream. They realize they no one is there. ••

    Say goodnight, don't be afraid
    Calling me, holding me, as you fade to black.

    ••she has finally died, she said her final goodnight (Symbolizing that death is a never ending slumber) and stating that death isn't something to fear,
    Her loved one is calling her name to stay with them, they are holding her tight, not wanting then to leave which is the last thing that happens before she dies. (Fades to black meaning her sight is gone and she's passed)



    (Say goodnight) Holding my last breath
    (Don't be afraid) Safe inside myself
    (Holding me) Are my thoughts of you
    Sweet raptured light
    It ends here tonight.

    ••Same as above••

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 11th 2007 !⃝

    This song is obviously about someone dying in the arms of someone thay love and thinking about all the things they would miss about life and wondering about what will happen to them when they die soon.

    Well that's the opinion of a sixteen year old evanescence freak who should really be doing stupid algebra homework...

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 5th 2008 !⃝

    I think that this song is basically a woman's last words to someone she loves.

    "Hold onto me love,
    You know I can't stay long.
    All I wanted to say was I love you
    And I'm not afraid.
    Can you hear me?
    Can you feel me in your arms?"
    -This signifies that this woman knows she is going to die and can't be saved. She is in the arms if a lover and can barely talk, but she gets the words out (which are the lyrics to most of the song) to tell this person how she feels.

    "Holding my last breath
    Safe inside myself
    Are all my thoughts of you.
    Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight."
    -The chorus is about how the woman is taking in her last breath and trying to make it last as long as possible to be with this person just a little longer. Her last thoughts are of this person. "Sweet raptured light, it ends her tonight" is about how she will see the light once she has died.

    "I'll miss the winter,
    A world of fragile things.
    Look for me in the white forest
    Hiding in a hollow tree.
    (Come find me)
    I know you hear me...
    I can taste it in your tears."
    -This verse tells of how there will be things on earth that the woman will miss, such as winter, which her favorite season, and the loved one knows that, so she is telling him to go into the forest in winter, perhaps to her favorite tree, so he can remember her better and feel her spirit there. Her voice is now but a whisper, and it is almost impossible to hear her, but she knows her lover can hear her because she can "taste it in his tears."

    "Closing your eyes to disappear.
    You pray your dreams will leave you here.
    But still you wake and know the truth,
    No one's there."
    -This verse is from the woman's lover's point of view. He is closing his eyes to "disappear" into the past of happy times with this woman. And he knows that when he opens his eyes the woman will be dead or even closer to death than she was before.

    "Say goodnight.
    Don't be afraid.
    Calling me,
    Calling me,
    As you fade to black."
    -Another verse from the lover's point of view. He is telling her she not to be afraid to die, and he says her name many times as she draws closer and closer to death.

    The chorus plays one more time, and these are the woman's very last words. As the song ends, so does the her life.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 13th 2017 !⃝

    This song can be interpreted in many ways depending on what you've been through or going through. To me, it reminds me of my wife of 11 years who took her own life without leaving a note or saying goodbye. The lyrics "can you feel me" and "i know you hear me" and also "i can't stay long" makes me think they are talking about someone who has already past away and has come back as a ghost to reassure them they are ok. Just my opinion and what the song makes me think of.

  5. anonymous
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    Oct 20th 2016 !⃝

    All the different point of views are amazing. For me it feels much more personal. It has been one of my favourite songs, but listening to it after experiencing the devastating loss of my baby, I'd like to think of it as the last moments between me and my sweet baby boy - born but never met.

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 17th 2014 !⃝

    It's about her sister and what her sister said to her boyfriend.

  7. fluffipinkbunnie
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    Jan 1st 2013 !⃝

    im kind of fuzzy on the meaning but I think it means that she (or he) is dying and is afraid but his (or her) friend is saying don't be afraid im right here. And he (or she) is trying to say don't be afraid ill see you in heaven.

  8. nobodyyouknow
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    Oct 1st 2012 !⃝

    I beleive it is about someone believing that they will spend the rest of their life in someone's arms. They are saying that the person is holding their last breath as in they will be with them always. They will die with them, preferably, in their arms.

  9. anonymous
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    Oct 1st 2012 !⃝

    The viewpoint of the woman in the song is that of a human becoming a vampire - she is holding her last human breath before transforming. The time is one where the 1000 year commencement of the rule of a certain group of people is about to begin. The woman is about to be separated from her love for 1000 years until they are reunited at the end of times (read Bring Me to Life for the thousand year reference). I know it sounds far fetched but read the rest of the lyrics to the other songs in this album. Eg, also in Bring Me to Life she says she is without a soul. In most of the songs she talks about "waking up" - something that people are doing at the end of times. The album is about "fallen" - fallen angels and so forth (who some say might be "sleepers" here to help people through the end of times). In Everybody's Fool the lyrics are "...here she comes now, bow down and stare in wonder" - go to Revelations and see the description of the Whore of Babylon and you'll find a resemblance. In My Immortal she says she is tired of being here. In Haunted she talks of hunting and smelling someone with their heart pounding in her head. In Tourniquet she is worried that she is too fallen to be saved. She is begging to be allowed to die and her soul cries for deliverance. In Taking Over Me she talks about lying awake but being able to dream (daydream). She is not able to have deep sleep dreaming. I think she is seeking her Bringer of Light as she often sings of raptured Light. In Imaginary she talks of being sick of monsters calling her name. In an alternative dictionary meaning I've read on FB, a certain people call humans "monsters".

    Back to My Last Breath - I wish I knew what "Look for me in the white forest, hiding in a hollow tree" means. She says to come find her. I feel it's important and yet I can't quite grasp it. The Narnia thing seems to gel the best so far, although the coffin thing might too...

  10. anonymous
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    Sep 17th 2012 !⃝

    This song i think is about someone who is dieing and before they have their 'last breath' they are telling someone they love them 'You know i can't stay long.... she's saying that she hasn't got much time to live and she needs to tell him something... 'All i wanted to say was i love you and i'm not afraid' - she means that she obviously loves him and she's not afraid of dieing anymore.

    She's telling them not to be afraid of the fact they're not gonna be around anymore, and you can allways contact them in heaven (The white forest hiding in a hollow tree 'come find me') 'Come find me' just means to me that he can allways talk and see her again even though she'll be dead.

    'Say, Goodnight, Don't be afraid!' i think she is saying you must let go, say goodbye before i sleep forever "Die" and don't be afraid of it.

    Thank you that's my interpretation hope it helped bye ;D

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 20th 2012 !⃝

    This Song Means So Much To Me . I Have An Abusive Dad . I'm Not Gonna Really Get Into It , But My Boyfriend , Mayj , Tries To Save Me . He Told Me He'd Do Anything To Save Me . If My Dad Kills Me , I Wanna Hold My Last Breath In Mayj's Arms . I Love Him .

    I'm So Thankful She Wrote This Song . <\3

  12. anonymous
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    Jun 8th 2011 !⃝

    In my opinion, its obvious that its a much, much deeper meaning in the song, and its dealing with darkness and light, and she cant choose, one minutes shes in white clothing which represents innocence, and then shes in red, which represents her transformation from light to the dark. Come on people, wake up

  13. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    I definitely agree with everyone else; this song is about death. I liked that someone mentioned it was about a forbidden love, citing the line "All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid." I jsut wanted to say that the idea of using that line to relate the song to a 'forbidden love,' in context with the rest of the lyrics, reminds me of the movie Titanic. :)

  14. anonymous
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    Mar 8th 2011 !⃝

    I think it has to do with someone who's dying and that person wants to spend the last moments of his/her life with her lover or family member or just somebody she loves. and this song tells how that person is going to miss everything in life but is not afraid to die. and she's telling her loved one to not be afraid and that her world ends today. such good song and it moves me. i think this song goes for this story called "Before I Die" and its about a girl who has cancer and she wants to do a lot of things before she dies and when she dies she's being held by her boyfriend... really sad. i cried i was listening to this song when i red the ending and it suprised me how the story and the song had a connection. then i cried due to the sad ending....

  15. anonymous
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    Feb 26th 2011 !⃝

    To me this song is about being trapped in your mind, and nothing you say makes it out of your mouth. or maybe that no one knows what she is trying to say like she is speaking English and everyone else is speaking Spanish.
    anyways great song

  16. anonymous
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    Jan 20th 2011 !⃝

    Well i see it as the person you loved has passed away and in the song she says " you pray to your dreams to leave you here" your mourning to that person and you dream of them. in your dreams you are with them in a winter wonderland looking into the trees and you hold her tight. she is communticating with you in your dreams telling you she isnt afraid and shes okay. she knows you can here and feel here even though ou are asleep. she will always be there with you in your dreams and when you wake up you relize that in reality shes gone but you see and hold her in your arms when you sleep

  17. anonymous
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    Oct 28th 2010 !⃝

    I think its that she's a ghost referring to the line "can you feel me in your arms" and also she's given a specific amount of time to stay on earth "I can't stay long"

  18. anonymous
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    Aug 14th 2010 !⃝

    On Evanescence Reference (there online website like Wikipedia) amy and ben said it was in a POV of someone dying from 9:11

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