Format CD single Genre Alternative metal | Recorded 2006 Length 3:44 | |
B-side "The Last Song I'm Wasting On You" Released January 1, 2007 (Ireland)
February 6, 2007 (US) | ||
"Lithium" is a song by American rock band Evanescence. It was released in February 2007, as the second single from their second studio album, The Open Door.
Contents
Background
Amy Lee describes the song as a song "which embraces feeling over numbness." During an interview with VH1, Lee said,
In another interview with MTV Italy, Lee said,
The drug itself, lithium, is typically used as a mood stabilizer to prevent acute manic behavior in patients with bipolar disorder.
Critical reception
Entertainment Weekly noted that "Addicted to love, Lee explores addiction itself" and "tortured Queensrÿche-style pain strummer Lithium. Rob Sheffield added that "Lithium" is her ode to Kurt Cobain. The Independent was positive by listing it as one of standouts and writing "his third album is wreathed in the genre staples of black-clad, mascara'd gloom, a mood best captured on "Lithium", where singer Amy Lee claims, "I want to stay in love with my sorrow/ Oh, but God I want to let it go". Canada.com claims that "Lithium" is the equivalent of Fallen's "My Immortal". Stephen Thomas Erlewine highlighted and called this song "the churning 'Lithium', which most certainly is not a cover of Nirvana's classic (that song never mentioned its title, this repeats it incessantly) -- and in their place is the epic gothic rock (not quite the same thing as goth rock, mind you) that made Lee rock's leading witchy woman of the new millennium".
Music video
A music video directed by Paul Fedor was filmed between October 31 and November 1, 2006. It features Amy Lee and the band members performing in a snowy cemetery, and shows Lee representing the emotions of sorrow and happiness, and drowns in a pond of black liquid at the end of the video.
During an interview with MTV News, Lee said,
The music video premiered exclusively to Canadian audiences on MuchMusic.com on November 24, 2006, and was placed on other sites such as YouTube and Myspace afterwards. It was subsequently removed from MuchMusic.com, and restored on December 4. Wind-up initially released the video on the band's official website on November 27. It was available for digital download on iTunes on December 19. Lee made a guest appearance on TRL on December 24 to premiere the video on MTV.
Track listing
Single (Part 1)
Maxi (Part 2)
7" Vinyl Picture Disc