Growing up in Malibu, California, she began learning the violin at the age of four and left regular school five years later with the goal of becoming a world-class violinist; she practiced eight or nine hours a day and read a wide range of literature. Progressing to writing her own music, she studied under various teachers and went to Indiana University, which she left over issues regarding the relationship between classical music and the appearance of the performer. Through her own independent label Traitor Records, Autumn debuted with her classical album On a Day: Music for Violin & Continuo, followed by the release in 2003 of her album Enchant.
She appeared in singer Courtney Love's backing band on her 2004 America's Sweetheart tour and returned to Europe. She released the 2006 album Opheliac with the German label Trisol Music Group. In 2007, she released Laced/Unlaced; the re-release of On a Day... appeared as Laced with songs on the electric violin as Unlaced. She later left Trisol to join New York-based The End Records in 2009 and release Opheliac in the United States, where previously it had only been available as an import. Currently she is on tour to promote her newest album Fight Like A Girl. She played the role of Painted Doll in Darren Lynn Bousman's 2012 film The Devil's Carnival.
Dead Is the New Alive
Emilie Autumn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Despair's the new survival
A pointless point of view
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
Dead is the new alive
A casket built for two
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
So take me now or take me never
I won't wait
You're already late
So say goodbye or say forever
Choose your fate
How else can we survive?
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
A gothic play revival
The last act of the show
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
So take me now or take me never
I won't wait
You're already late
So say goodbye or say forever
Choose your fate
How else can we survive?
Dead is the new alive
What is day without a blessed night?
And what is peace without a blessed fight?
What is the day without a blessed night?
And what is peace without a blessed, blessed, blessed fight?
A quick taste of the poison
A quick twist of the knife
When the obsession with death
The obsession with death becomes a way of life
A quick taste of the poison
A quick twist of the knife
When the obsession with death
The obsession with death becomes a way of life
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Dead is the new alive
Alive, alive, alive
Dead is the new alive
Alive, alive, alive
Alive
Dead is the new alive
Alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
The lyrics to Emilie Autumn's song Dead Is the New Alive explore the theme of giving in to the feeling of despair as a way of survival. The repetition of the phrase "give in" throughout the song implies a sense of surrender to the dark emotions that many people try to suppress. The refrain "Dead is the new alive" suggests a metaphorical rebirth through embracing a kind of emotional death or numbness. The lines "A casket built for two" and "What is peace without a blessed fight?" hint at the idea that the world is full of opposition and duality, and that embracing the darkness can be a way of transcending it.
The chorus of the song calls out for action, urging the listener to "take me now or take me never" and to choose their fate, acknowledging the inevitability of death while simultaneously urging the listener to make the most of their life. The contrast between the lines "Dead is the new alive" and "Alive, alive, alive" highlights the idea that there is a kind of paradoxical vitality to be found in embracing the darker aspects of life.
Overall, the lyrics to Dead Is the New Alive can be interpreted as a call to embrace the inevitability of death and to find a way to live fully in spite of it. The song suggests that surrendering to despair can be a way of finding new life, and that by accepting the darker aspects of reality, one can transcend them and find a sense of peace and vitality.
Line by Line Meaning
Dead is the new alive
Death is the new way of living.
Despair's the new survival
Despair is the new way of surviving.
A pointless point of view
It is a pointless perspective.
Give in, give in, give in, give in
Surrender to the new way of living.
You play the game
You take part in this new way of living.
You'll never win
You cannot win against death.
Life's only living rival
Death is the only rival of life.
A casket built for two
Death affects not only the person dying but also those around them.
So take me now or take me never
Take me now or do not take me at all.
I won't wait
I am not willing to wait.
You're already late
You have already missed the opportunity to choose.
So say goodbye or say forever
Say goodbye or commit to being together indefinitely.
Choose your fate
Decide what you want your future to look like.
How else can we survive?
There is no other way for us to survive.
A Gothic play revival
A revival of the Gothic style of art.
The last act of the show
The final part of the performance.
What is day without a blessed night?
What is day without the contrast of night?
And what is peace without a blessed fight?
What is peace without the struggle to achieve it?
A quick taste of the poison
A brief experience with something deadly.
A quick twist of the knife
A sudden and painful experience.
When the obsession with death
When death becomes the focus of everything.
The obsession with death becomes a way of life
Death becomes a part of everyday living.
Alive, alive, alive
The opposite of death.
Dead is the new alive
Death is the new way of living.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: EMILIE AUTUMN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Doe
Dead is the new alive
Despair's the new survival
A pointless point of view
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
Dead is the new alive
Life's only living rival
A casket built for two
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
So take me now or take me never
I won't wait
You're already late
So say goodbye or say forever
Choose your fate
How else can we survive?
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
A gothic play revival
The last act of the show
Give in, give in, give in, give in
You play the game
You'll never win
So take me now or take me never
I won't wait
You're already late
So say goodbye or say forever
Choose your fate
How else can we survive?
Dead is the new alive
What is day without a blessed night?
And what is peace without a blessed fight?
What is the day without a blessed night?
And what is peace without a blessed, blessed, blessed fight?
A quick taste of the poison
A quick twist of the knife
When the obsession with death
The obsession with death becomes a way of life
A quick taste of the poison
A quick twist of the knife
When the obsession with death
The obsession with death becomes a way of life
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Alive, alive, alive
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Dead is the new alive
Alive, alive, alive
Dead is the new alive
Alive, alive, alive
Alive
Dead is the new alive
Alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
Dead is the new alive
unclececil
She made more than music, she created her own alternate universe, and invited us all to see. There will never be another like Emilie, neither on stage nor off stage.
aChristineFm17
The thing about Emilie is, I can go months without listening to her. But once I do there's no turning back and the plague rat in me comes out full force XD I missed this song
Alessandro Massulo
Damn, this so true.
tessa richards
Same
Dallas Zachary Alexander Weathers
SAME
Genji
Corona virus, im back at listening to this to get my fix 👀 it sounds better when you havent heard her albums for ages.
色勒
that is so true
Layne Lockridge
Emilie Autumn has some serious contempt for anyone and everyone that romanticizes mental illness. She's really calling us out on our "obsession with death", the way stories and songs can trivialize suicide and suicidal people, and the extra respect that dead people can get over the living. I don't blame her- I share her view out of some bitter experience of my own.
Vistresian
Despite the fact that everyone I've met that likes her content does exactly that..? And the few that don't romanticize mental illness take comfort in victim culture, so it's pretty bad either way.
PyroGothNerd
Oh...I thought it was a spooky Halloween song