Rock singer/songwriters have historically often shifted their lyrical focus from spirituality and death-centric ponderings to the earthier and more immediate themes of failed relationships, and their ensuing romantic anguish. While this shift certainly broadens an artist’s accessibility—which might inherently tarnish their rock cred—this shift is often widely praised for ‘stripping away pretense’ and adding a more personal and intimate dimension to the lyrics. But with the arrival of the new Evanescence single “Call Me When You’re Sober”, Amy Lee employs this shift to reveal something far more derivative and resourcefully sinister.
It has been widely reported that Lee’s (recently) ex-boyfriend and Seether frontman Shaun Morgan has checked into rehab, forcing his band to cancel their tour until he’s…sober. Apparently Lee feels it’s perfectly justifiable to kick-him-when-he’s-down, offering up a diatribe that comes across as her long-begrudged laundry list of Morgan’s psychological and emotional shortcomings (she claims Morgan entered rehab the day he first heard the song). Paradoxically, though perhaps predictably, the song ends up saying more about her than him. Morgan has struggled with alcoholism for many years, since well before the two became one of rock’s most notorious power couples. Why would she offer any concern or expressions of sympathy when it’s so easy to take advantage of the situation by releasing a vitriolic kiss-off anthem that grovels to be taken controversially?
After the chorus and the guitar crunch subside, the central lyric claims “You never call me when you’re sober / you only want it ‘cause it’s over”. In retrospect, it seems that both Lee and Morgan used the relationship to achieve their own ends, but it’s difficult to believe Morgan was completely inebriated during their numerous joint press appearances, the filming of the “Broken” video (a song which he wrote, and for which he took a pounding from his fanbase due to Lee’s inclusion on the re-released single), and his rather humbling acceptance on Lee’s behalf of Evanescence’s 2004 Grammy Award.
Following in the footsteps of Nick Lachey, Lee immediately stoops to capitalize on a famous celebrity breakup—no less an indictment of her opportunism than a distressing capturing of the zeitgeist in 2006. With March 2003’s “Fallen”, Evanescence specialized in darkly spiritual nu-metal anthems swathed in epic bombast, and for many months thereafter the band emerged as a compelling and enigmatic collaboration of yearning, tortured souls. But now, any shred of mystery is long gone, and if the liner notes didn’t say otherwise, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that Christy, Spock and Edwards might have churned out something this calculated. Perhaps Lee has disclosed something about herself that she may have never considered. With a dearth of new A-side material, was there any doubt that the relationship the song chronicles would end before the new Evanescence record came out?
Lee’s disingenuous cackle at the end of ‘Sober’ may well contain the answer.
Stephen Hehn, Piano Player - Piano Music for New England - Boston, Providence, Worcester, Hartford, MA, RI, CT, and beyond.
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