Lithium (Evanescence song)

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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future single(s). Details may change dramatically as the single release date approaches and more information becomes available.

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"Lithium" is scheduled to be the second single from Evanescence's sophomore studio album The Open Door.

Originally to be released in the UK on December 4, 2006,<ref name="EvUKlithiumrel">New single details!. EvanescenceUK.co.uk (2006-11-01). Retrieved on 2006-11-09.</ref> new dates were later set, with a release in the UK on January 8, 2007,<ref name="HMVlith07rel">Singles: Lithium (2007). HMV.co.uk. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.</ref> and in Australia on January 15.<ref name="HSHlith07rel">Lithium (Enhanced). Herald Sun HiT. Retrieved on 2006-11-20.</ref> No U.S. date has yet been made available.

Evanescence's song is not a cover of or a homage to the Nirvana song of the same name.

Story Behind the Song

In an interview with MTV Italy Amy Lee says:

	It's not literal, it's not literal about the drug for me, I've never taken lithium before. It's sort of a metaphor about numbness and happiness and sort of like, it's me looking at happiness in a negative way because I've always been, you know, kind of afraid to be happy. Like with the band and the art and everything else, it's always like I'm never letting myself break through into the happiness it seems like, because it's not cool or something. And describing happiness is lithium, it's like saying 'that's numbness, I won't be able to be an artist anymore if I'm happy', which is hilarious because that's just not true, I'm happy. So it's like this fight within the song of like 'do I do this and get out of here and get happy or do I wallow in it like I always do?' and it's cool because at the end of the song I say 'I'm going to let it go', like I am going to be happy.
—Amy Lee

Lee also previously stated in an interview with VH1 that she wrote the chorus on the guitar when she was about 16, later filling in the verses while writing The Open Door.<ref>Bottomley, C.. "Evanescence: Amy Lee Explains the New Songs", VH1.com, 2006-09-18. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.</ref>

Music Video

The music video for "Lithium" was directed by Paul Fedor, and shot between October 31 and November 1, 2006. The video is set in a snowy forest and features two versions of Amy Lee representing the emotions of sorrow and happiness. Lee revisits Bring Me to Life and Going Under in the scenes where she lies down, and sings underwater, respectively.

In reference to the video, Lee has been quoted saying:

	There's the me in all white and it's really wintry, and then there's the all-in-black Amy under the surface of the water of this lake in the forest. So it's the happiness and the sorrow and we're almost singing to each other, trying to figure out how both of us can work.
—Amy Lee, MTV News<ref>Moss, Corey. "After Facing Big Bad Wolf, Amy Lee Faces Herself In Evanescence Clip", MTV News via VH1.com, 2006-11-02. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.</ref>

After its release on MuchMusic.com exclusively to Canadian audiences on November 24, 2006, the video was ripped and placed on several other sites, such as YouTube and MySpace. The video was subsequently removed from MuchMusic.com. Wind-up Records officially released the video on Evanescence's official website on November 27.<ref name="Lithvidoffrel">"New "Lithium" Video", Evanescence.com, 2006-11-27. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.</ref>. As of November 28, 2006, the video has not been restored to the MuchMusic website.

Track listing

Single

1. "Lithium"
2. "The Last Song I'm Wasting On You"

Maxi

1. "Lithium"
2. "The Last Song I'm Wasting On You"
3. "All That I'm Living For" (Acoustic version)
4. "Lithium" (Video/Acoustic version)

References