My Heart Is Broken (Synthesis)

[AeternusAmatorius]

Here we can discuss the Synthesis reworking of My Heart Is Broken.

This song was born from a drum loop and a harp. When we went into the studio to record the self-titled album, the song had sped up considerably, and with all the guitars and drums in it we decided that the harp wouldn't be able to stand out enough against them as much as the piano would, so the part was converted to piano. One of the major differences in this version is we abandoned the piano completely until the last choruses. We return the song to its origin on the harp in the section following the bridge and then marry it to piano till the end of the song.


From Evanescence's Facebook:

"This song was inspired by a story I watched on sex trafficking, which took me to a horrible, dark place that is just so incredibly common. It’s heartbreaking. What’s cool about this song is it’s returning home to its original form, musically. I first wrote that song with a harp and a drum loop. The piano which drove the song on Evanescence was a harp part, and by the time we added the band to it, it speeded up and turned out more of a rocker than a ballad. It went too fast for me to play on harp, which you couldn’t hear in the mix, so instead, I played it on piano. For this album, we took out the piano, and replaced it with the harp, which was played by the woman [Kirsten Agresta Copely] who originally taught me to play. We then had her harmonize in a duet with the piano before the vocals come back in."


I pulled away to face the pain
I close my eyes and drift away
Over the fear that I will never find a way
to heal my soul
And I will wander till the end of time
torn away from you

My heart is broken
Sweet sleep my dark angel
Deliver us from sorrow’s hold

I can’t go on living this way
But I can’t go back the way I came
Chained to this fear that I will never find a way
to heal my soul
And I will wander till the end of time
half alive without you

My heart is broken
Sweet sleep my dark angel, deliver us
Change
Open your eyes to the light
I denied it all so long, oh so long
Say goodbye, goodbye
My heart is broken
Sweet sleep my dark angel
Deliver us from sorrow’s hold

[The_Sacrificed]

This is probably one of the songs I listen to the least. It just doesn't do much for me.

I like the added in electronics in this version but the song still falls flat for me. One thing I do LOVE about this song is the harp part at 3:13. It's BEAUTIFUL. It gets me every time.

[BlackenTheDay]

No piano intro... I'll forgive them.
I much prefer Amy's voice here than in the original, in the original MHIB she seemed to take more breaths and here it sounds smoother. And I can't even begin to describe how I love the way she sings "I will never find a way to heal my soul" here, I don't know what it is, but her voice in that part sounds so pretty.
And oh my god my inner harpist is squealing. The harp is my favorite instrument so... yeah, little fangirl moment there. I wish there was a bit more harp in the song, though.

[fromthebeginning]

I like this version much more than the original one, but i noticed a weird part about it. if you listen carefully in 3:00/01 there is kind of a "jump" in her singing... i cannot desribe it in a better way it sounds very strange to me. maybe it's just the version that is on spotify ... maybe i have to wait until my copy arrives..

[BlackenTheDay]

fromthebeginning It's the same on other versions.

[Deleted]

The addition of the harp was fantastic. RIP that intro though. I guess Amy just doesn’t like it or something.

[AeternusAmatorius]

Nov 10, 2017 7:34:17 GMT -5 fromthebeginning said:

I like this version much more than the original one, but i noticed a weird part about it. if you listen carefully in 3:00/01 there is kind of a "jump" in her singing... i cannot desribe it in a better way it sounds very strange to me. maybe it's just the version that is on spotify ... maybe i have to wait until my copy arrives..

SPOILER: Click to show

It's her switching to the higher notes.

[turdyturderson]

Nov 11, 2017 18:33:27 GMT -5 AeternusAmatorius said:

Nov 10, 2017 7:34:17 GMT -5 fromthebeginning said:

I like this version much more than the original one, but i noticed a weird part about it. if you listen carefully in 3:00/01 there is kind of a "jump" in her singing... i cannot desribe it in a better way it sounds very strange to me. maybe it's just the version that is on spotify ... maybe i have to wait until my copy arrives..

SPOILER: Click to show

It's her switching to the higher notes.

It’s two takes that had slightly different performances that they tried to splice together. I’ve seen my husband do this in his editing clients’ stuff. They take the part of the take in the second track that they like and fade that in while they fade the other one out. But they don’t put them in the same track. Wait, am I explaining it right? I’ll show it to explain it better:

Track one: *******>>>
Track two: <<<******

Hahaha. Does this make sense?

[My Last Breath]

I love it! It sounds so cool.

[mattthomas1992]

I don't think we needed this song on the album to be honest...but it's a nice reworking. I'll probably listen to the rock version more.

[senzafine]

I just love the way she sings on this one. There's just a tiny moment when she sings "change" which made me shudder the first time I heard it through earphones. Stunning.

[darren]

I adore this version but my only let down is that after the bridge there's no "release me, I can't hold on..." part. That was my favourite part from the original as it sounded so magical and there was so much yearning.

[Rarkphoenix]

I wasn't initially that taken by this (probably because it's sandwiched between some absolute blinders), but the more I listen to that instrumental section (particularly the harp) the more I love this version. It feels like this is far closer to what Amy initially intended. Some of the vocal melodies are pretty interesting, too.

[ladychaos]

This is probably my least favorite re-do. I still absolutely love this song, and this version is very pretty.