What does The Only One mean?

Evanescence: The Only One Meaning

Album cover for The Only One album cover

The Only One Lyrics

When they all come crashing down, midflight,
You know you're not the only one.
When they're so alone they find a back door out of life.
You know you're not the only one.

We're all grieving,
Lost and bleeding.

All our lives,
We've been...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 1st 2007 !⃝

    I think that all your interpretations are basically right. But don't you think your being a bit harsh considering amy lee has pretty much admitted to being depressed do you really think she is trying to say to people "stop bitching your not special"?

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    Evanescencefreak
    click a star to vote
    Sep 27th 2006 !⃝

    This is a song about how when amy was young, she dealed with a lot of close mindedness, and it's a song about how she thought others lived in a world that amy didn't feel she belonged in, pretty much.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 8th 2007 !⃝

    You all have missed the point. This song is about George Bush! he is the leader that we all have been looking for. He is the liar. "crashing down in midflight" refers to me as the twin towers. He was not the only one who suffered. all of us did. "back door out of life" is the excuses and trying to run away from reality. "we're all grieving, lost and bleeding" we are all suffering and grieving loss of our loved ones. the chorus means we have all been looking for someone or something to look to as a leader through all of the pain. but what we are missing is that bush is not the answer and she does not believe his lies. "heaven shine a light down on me" is refering to amy as a christian, which is a well known fact that she is. she wants to turn away from the lies and turn to heaven and god to trust and believe in. she knows that this is and always will be the only truth. "hypnotized" refers to the people, who all take what GB says to heart and believe in him no matter what. "never understood this life and you're right I don't deserve" is her saying she knows she doesn't know everything and she doesn't deserve it but she's not the only one who makes mistakes. "dont look down, don't look into the eyes of the world benieth you..." refers to GB again. he is in control of everything and is above everything but she's saying if he really looks at what he is done he will fall. he has done so much damage to his people the guilt would destroy him and he will "become their sacrifice." "write or wrong....lost without you." this means that whether she is right or wrong she believes in what she believes in and she would feel lost without god to trust. and if she gave that up she would be nothing, "im not mine, I'm not real."-this song is so much better if you know what it means. you can really connect with her feelings.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 24th 2023 !⃝

    I know this is cliche and all, but when I hear this song, I think about cult members and sacrifice.

    'We were grieving, lost and bleeding.' meaning they lost a leader.

    "All our lives, we have been waiting for someone to call our leader.' meaning we have been waiting, and great, you are here.

    'don't look down, you'll become the sacrifice.' is exactly what it sounds like.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 11th 2015 !⃝

    OMG it's pretty obvious it's about 9/11 if you look up songs about 9/11 my last breath and this song is in it and if you look at the lyrics it makes total sense

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 24th 2012 !⃝

    you guys got it wrong, this song is about atheism

    "all our lives
    we've been waiting
    for someone to call our leader"

    the leader shes saying is God

    "all your lies
    I'm not believing
    Heaven shine a light down on me"

    This is like "I won't believe in your lies, if God exists, may heaven shine a light in my mind so I can have faith again".

    That's pretty much it

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 17th 2012 !⃝

    I don't know what this song means to Amy, but to me it's about War and what the soldiers go through during it,
    Corous
    All our lives,
    We've been waiting,
    For someone to call our leader,
    All your lies,
    I'm not believing,
    Heaven shine a light down on me.

    That corous makes me think of the soldiers have been waiting for a long time for victory and to win, but they keep on "waiting" for God to "Shine a light down on them" to bassically give them guidance and what to do!

    I think the reason it's called The Only One is because it means that God is the only one to put an end to the war.

    Thank you for reading, bye ;) i know it wasn't much but that's all i have, the rest of the lyrics if you listen to and think of war when you listen to it, you'll inderstand why i think it :) thanks xxx bye

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 15th 2012 !⃝

    I think she's saying , "hey everyone has problems in their life no matter who or what their lifestyle is" I think she's trying to say that , whenever you get to a certain problem in life that you think is gonna actually break you just remember you're not the only one who is going through this .

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 17th 2012 !⃝

    this song ic about peopele who never change their lives..they're waiting for someone to change it but they can't understand that every thing is in their hands...
    and means about people who are talking about f.... things and never understand you and are telling you to be like a bitch(iall your lies..i'm not believing)and that part of song that says (don't look down....and so on you know)means never try to be like them..
    i don't know what you said up there are true or not but please think about songs deeply not like what you think is true....

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 2nd 2011 !⃝

    I feel that this song is about all of the people who commit suicide or try to. "When they're so alone, they find a back door out of life"
    Amy is trying to tell them, they're not alone. "you know your not the only one"
    She saying we all have our problems "we're all greiving, lost and bleeding"

    This song can also be inturpreted to tell people to be different from the rest. Amy might have been trying to say that we try to follow the crowd, "All our lives, we've been waiting For someone to call our leader. All your lies, I'm not beleiving." and that we're like "zombies" when it comes to the trends "So afraid to open eyes, Hypnotized."

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 1st 2011 !⃝

    Its funny to see how people respond to how she feels. Music is how we express ourselves. So take the song and interperet into your own life. Its an amazing song. I cant believe I never listened to it when I bought it in 2007.
    Cant wait for their new album.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 1st 2011 !⃝

    You are NOT alone! No one is alone! Everyone has a burden and we are all lost and bleeding! That is the meaning for me! And this song gave me strenght when I though everything is lost! :) Its amazing that everyone sees something completely different in this song I guess this is Evanescence music magic :) Evanescence where my best fellows at good and bad times :)

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 31st 2011 !⃝

    This song is about how people are being controlled by the masses , and how only a few select people that realize the " Truth " are not alone. that all our lives been searching and waiting for someone to save us, but in reality it will never happen . We're being controlled, " looking down " whats down hell ? "becoming their sacrifice" becoming their puppets, a closed minded individualize . This song is meaningful, telling people that know something is wrong, your not the only one, your not only with your thoughts, YOU KNOW THIS SOCIETY IS WRONG AND NO MATTER WHAT, YOUR NOT THE ONLY 1 .

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 18th 2011 !⃝

    Close but no cigar. The song is about the hesitation of one losing their faith and a last appeal to heaven to show that He ("leader") is the only one... and that the first person singular - as portrayed by the song - is not "the only one" who feels this way. It's a dare to heaven or God to reveal themselves ("don't look down") vis-a-vie the individual not to look down, into the abyss, either way "you'll become the sacrifice". A very good song BTW!

  15. shadowpunk
    click a star to vote
    Aug 22nd 2010 !⃝

    The great thing about Evanescence is that her songs can have different meanings to different people. Here's my personal interpretation.

    "When they all come crashing down, midflight,
    You know you're not the only one. "
    Here she's saying that there are a lot of people who are depressed, hurt, broken. You're now alone.

    "When they're so alone they find a back door out of life.
    You know you're not the only one."
    When people lose someone they love, they're alone, and sometimes they commit / consider suicide because they can't take it. You're not alone.

    "We're all grieving,
    Lost and bleeding."
    Again: a lot of people are hurt, lost, etc.

    "All our lives,
    We've been waiting
    For someone to call our leader."
    People are always looking to others to show them how to live. What rules to follow, how to dress, how to act, anything. People want to be led because it's easier that way.

    "All your lies,
    I'm not believing."
    But following a leader can be so deceptive. A leader does what they think is right, not what you think is right. They're putting their own thoughts into your head. Don't believe them. Learn to think for yourself.

    "Heaven shine a light down on me."
    No, it's not "heaven shine a light down on my leader," it's "heaven shine a light down on /me/." She's saying again that you are unique. Let it show.

    "So afraid to open your eyes, hypnotized.
    You know you're not the only one "
    A lot of people just blindly go with the flow. They're hypnotized like that. You're not alone in that. But you have to open your eyes and see that you don't need to be chained to the "norm."

    "Never understood this life.
    And you're right, I don't deserve
    But you know I'm not the only one."
    You may feel like you don't understand life. You're absolutely right: you don't deserve all the bad stuff that has happened to you. But you're not the only one who is unhappy.

    "Don't look down,
    Don't look into the eyes of the world beneath you.
    Don't look down, you'll fall down,
    You'll become their sacrifice."
    You've got to be above what others say. Don't let their opinions get you. If you look down at them, they'll take you. They'll sacrifice your individuality. They'll make you one of them. Don't let them.

    "Right or wrong.
    Can't hold onto the fear that I'm lost without you.
    If I can't feel, I'm not mine,
    I'm not real."
    Whether or not your opinions are right doesn't matter. Some people fear that if they leave behind the popular opinion, they'll be lost. Don't hold onto that fear. If you can't be yourself, it's like you don't even belong to yourself. It's like you're chained to society, or like you're a robot. You need to think for yourself.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 4th 2010 !⃝

    I DON'T KNOW WHY... but to me, this song remind me so much of the Holocaust, too...!! And I'm singing this to Hitler, he found his backdoor out of life and left me! XD
    -Helena

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 25th 2010 !⃝

    When you come crashing down, midflight.. Then your life has gone to crap, then you look for a back door out of life.. aka suicide... but dont, you are not the only one.. many of us are grieving, lost, and bleeding. we need heaven to shine a light down on us because we already feel as if we are in hell (out of god's light).. So why not find that appealing back door out of life, so afraid to open my eyes because I could not see a future. at least this is what it means to me.. I've been in a place where I walked thru that back door, and at my worst, I felt like the light was gone, where is my leader? I've been waiting, calling out, lost w/o that light, begging for it. did I fall out of favor? I don't deserve? maybe I'm wrong, but regardless of those around me "trying" to help, it was THIS song that turned me around and showed me that the only ones that would ever understand were those that have been there. Thx Amy.

  18. dwryred
    click a star to vote
    Feb 9th 2010 !⃝

    In this song, I believe Amy is directing it towards people who have issues in their faith and what they believe in, due to the depressing things that happen in their lives. She's talking of people who trust in God but then when so many things in their lives crash down, they begin to turn away from him and curse his name. In the song, Amy is basically telling these people that they are not the only ones going through these conflicts; she's experienced these conflicts and she has kept her faith strong. In the third verse when she says: "Don't look down... ...you'll become their sacrifice," she's basically saying don't let Satan get a hold of you because she's "lost without you." In the chorus, she basically says that all our lives, we search for a greater power to trust in, but Amy knows that greater power she trusts in will never be Satan.

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