I think the song is possibly about seeing someone being abused, but being afraid to tell, yet knowing you have to anyway.
At any rate, it's about knowing a secret you're afraid to tell, but you must.
Bleed's the correct title-I Must Be Dreaming became a nickname later.

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this should be titled Bleed (I Must Be Dreaming), not just bleed

the lyrics sound like a murderer was caught

Just thought i'd bring a up an importent fact about evenescence's albums. Amy wrote the song's for them after comeing out of a long lasting abusive relationship, in one interview (if i remember right) she said she was beaten and raped quite often by the guy she was with, but then she started to get stokeholm syndrome that most abused women get, and thought she loved him untill one day she finaly "came to her senses" so to speak, and ended up leaveing him.

She said that most of the songs on "Fallen" are influenced by that event, though i imagine alot of the songs from "Origin" were aswell.

Lycao, I don't know what interview you would be talking about, I have NEVER heard her confess to being treated that badly. Mistreated and abused yes, but not raped and not necessarily beaten. I've seen a lot of interviews and researched the band pretty thoroughly, so if you can back up that statement, please do. I'm intrigued to know your sources.

Actually, Bleed isn't the correct title either. This song was never officially dubbed anything. Both of those are nicknames, though Bleed does seem to have taken a preference.

Sure i'd be glad to show you an interview http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1517717/20051208/story.jhtml , actualy this one specificly is about the law suit amy filed two months ago against her manager for useing her credit card to buy stuff for his misteress who he was haveing an effair with and for sexual harasment amoung other things, it also mentions that her and ben moody were in a "abbusive relationship", sorta gives the whole him leaveing thing a whole new light. Can't remember where it was i saw her mention she was raped, i think it was on some old interview on much music.

Ah, no, I know about the lawsuit. That has little to do with Moody though, and little to do with this song. MTV is known to harbor a lot of overgeneralized statements and unfounded conclusions. In the entire 40 page lawsuit, it didn't define abusive as anything more than verbal. So, yes, I'll remain skeptical.

Yes, Amy was in an emotionally and physically abusive realationship, and it was with someone who used to be in the band. *cough* Ben! *cough* But, yes, that's what this song is about...

Wait...someone explain to me what this song has to do with Ben and Amy's relationship??
Anyway, i LOVE this song!! One of my faves!

Is it REALLY what she wrote it about...it doesnt seem to fit somehow...

come on. seriously, how would anybody of you know what the song is really about or who it's about or why she wrote it....? how would you know?
the answer is, that you don't. i'll be ok with reading statements like some made further above if you add that you've heard that from amy herself. and i don't think any of you actually has.

about the lawsuit and that apparently ben was the person, look...i'm not going to go into details about my very complicated attitude towards amy lee, ben moody, and the rest of evanescence, but i will say one thing: anyone can go to court and say something completely untrue. i don't want to insult anybody by saying the chance is there that amy is lying about something, but...who knows? does any of you KNOW the girl? i don't think so. of course, it could also be that mtv (being the idiotic thing it has become) just needs to bring up another hot discussion topic based on something very complicated that mtv definitely doesn't know much about.
why am i saying this? i NO WAY believe ben abused amy, because there is evidence (interviews etc) where he actually defends her as a woman from countless pervert jerks who made insulting pervert comments, eg the story about that new york dj who said he jerked off to amy's picture on the cover of "fallen", or some other idiots at a concert who were holding up signs saying "show us your tits" and shit like that. ben has always defended her, and still does (...while she, on the other hand, still always finds new ways to make him seem like an unpopular bastard or w/e). that part doesn't fit.

on the other hand....something very important you need to consider is that ben is bipolar. anyone who knows about bipolar disorder knows that when you're in a manic stage, you suddenly do things you never normally would, AND, you can also get very violent towards other ppl in some cases. i've heard about a mother whose 15-year-old girl is bipolar, and the mother said that her daughter verbally abused each of her family members countless times and also hit them when she was manic. but of course, it's a terrible situation b/c you can't blame her for being bipolar, but it's not easy to just look away from things like abuse even if it's your own child.
that is why one of my theories for this whole "abusive relationship" thing (assuming it's true that is) is that if it really was ben, i don't think he did that b/c he wanted to hurt anyone like most crazy ppl do who abuse their partners in w/e way. i think if it's true that he did, he did it while he was manic. you've got to do research on bipolar etc to be able to understand certain things. amy always said ben is very unpredictable. that was greatly due to his disorder, which neither amy nor he himself nor anyone knew at the time. even tho he had been bipolar ever since. it's hard to discern in some cases whether the person affected is just "moody" or has a mental disorder.

the way ppl put it, the whole thing makes ben seem like a real asshole who's a mentally insane, ex-drug-addict ex-alcoholic abusive guy. let me tell you...that's so not what he is. not at all.

what seems kind of fishy about the whole lawsuit-thing is that amy just came up with the whole "sexual harrassment" thing from her manager AND the "abusive relationship" so all of a sudden. if things really were that horrible the way the whole story seems, i'm guessing she would have come up with that before. so why didn't she? that's where my doubts are. but i mean HUGE doubts.

also, amy knows very well that some of the things she says are obviously nothing but lies. for instance, in a Blender interview in april 2004, she already brought up the subject about the "abusive relationship"-thing...and she said about the unrevealed guy that "i don't ever want to say his name or see him again." while at the same time, she says when asked about ben and his departure: "i don't know why he left. i'd like to ask him. he changed his number. (...) we'll talk eventually. (..) i don't understand ben, i never really have. (...)" SO: something's not right here. something about her statements STINKS. honestly.
also, about the malice-in-wonderland dress, she first said she made it as a statement against the stupid new york dj...and then suddenly, she says it's about the abusive ex-boyfriend. weird, huh? and apparently, she said she just used the dress to get some press cuz it was fashion week in new york that time (september 2003). weird again.

w/e...i tend to ramble a lot when i'm on a juicy subject, so please excuse me.
i am indeed curious to know what happens with this lawsuit/abusive relationship story. i am also curious why amy doesn't want to state it publicly that ben was the cryptic ex-abusive-boyfriend while she says everything else negative about him while he calls her on her cell and invites her to the movies along with david hodges (he did that in july). curious.

Purplestatement, I would applaud you for the beginning of your statement, but I'm skeptical of the rest of your words. Why are you so against Amy, and why do you automatically assume she's against Ben? Why do you think she's attempting to pin abuse charges on Ben? Honestly, I think it was her old manager, the guy who stole her music and released it without the approval of the actual band.

I don't see Amy trying to call Ben anything negative; all of her comments have been positive or neutral. Back up your accusations. And if you think he's said nothing against her, you're sheerly ignorant. Yeh, he's bipolar, I get that. I know. What does that have to do with anything? Are you trying to say that if he did abuse her, you wouldn't speak against him, because "he has a mental disorder and he wouldn't usually do it but he can't help himself it's part of the mania" or some crap? People can control themselves; if it's bad enough that he would be slapping her around, he should have gotten help. BUT, considering I don't think he did anything of the sort, that's struck null and void. Bipolar or not, I don't think Ben did anything.

I have seen no one call Ben a mentally insane, ex-drug addicted, ex alcoholic, abusive person except you. There's no need to protect against that sort of accusation because there was no accusation. I like Ben. I know he had his problems, but everyone does. He's human. I've never seen someone try to portray him as a monstrosity.

Amy didn't randomly come up with anything. You said yourself that she brought up the abusive relationship in an article published two full years ago. You think that's spur of the moment? You're contradicting yourself. And why would she ever want to put that kind of shit up for everyone to know, anyway? She's never gone into detail for good reason. Her life doesn't have to be public knowledge. She let it be known that she's had her fair share of difficulties but she didn't play a pity act on how difficult it's been. I don't see why you would doubt Amy for trying to keep some semblance of privacy.

This next paragraph, about the Blender article... WTF are you talking about? Shouldn't that just reinforce to you that she ISN'T talking about Ben? Why are you trying to relate all of this to Ben? Is there something you know, some tie to the band, that you're trying to gloat about without publicly stating? You imply that for some reason you're more intelligent than the rest of us, but your argument is slipping. Back yourself up. And who the hell told you the Malice dress was for an abusive boyfriend? Or that she used it for press coverage?? Give us sources, right now I'm just pegging you for libel.

Do us a favor and look at the original thread for this song, as I Must Be Dreaming. This trend for the kids on site to say the song's about Amy and Ben, that's new. I still firmly maintain that the song is about Amy's little sister, as do most of the people who assess it.

LaDiablo, I understand your point of view. also, i want to say that i don't like drifting away from the main subjects of a thread (in this case, the song), but i have to reply to what you said.
let me just say, for one, about the Blender article - you wanted a source, so here it is -

http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?id=705 -

here's a link to it, take 5 minutes and READ IT yourself, before you start bashing what i said about the Malice dress. "who the hell told you about the malice dress being for an abusive boyfrinend?" read the article and you'll know. it was amy lee herself
so you think you know more than i do, or that i'm talking some big bullshit that sprouted in my head - well, we don't know each other, and i am not at all interested in arguing with you. in fact, arguing various opinions on boards is a childish thing that i absolutely despise, just for your information. also, i certainly do not claim i know more than anybody else in here. i only explained what i think about all this. that's an attitude solely based on what i know, and i never said that i think my attitude is right or wrong. like i said before, i do not know any true details on anything considering amy and ben, so i'm not going to act like i do. you have obviously misunderstood what i was saying. that doesn't matter.

back to the lawsuit, the mtv-article about it
(http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1517717/20051208/evanescence.jhtml?headlines=true) headlines
"Evanescence's Amy Lee Sues Former Manager, Alleges Financial And Sexual Misconduct
12.08.2005 1:40 PM EST

Suit's documentation also alleges that Lee was in 'abusive relationship' with former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody."

and so you are trying to tell me that you don't think amy is trying to make ben look like an asshole, or that she has a negative attitude towards him, OR on the other hand, that ben never abused her in any way? why then is his name mentioned in a suit that even reaches the media?? (anyway, i believe that if amy lee insists on her privacy which is absolutely understandable, there is no need for her to publicly present lines of her lawsuit against her manager).
what about this?

"The suit further claims Rider routinely boasted about committing acts of domestic abuse, and would make repeated references to "popp[ing]" his wife. Rider's termination letter, included in the suit as an exhibit to the filing, reads, "As you are well aware, Ms. Lee was recently in an abusive relationship with Ben Moody. She has no intention of associating with any persons who engage in that sort of abusive and illegal conduct."

A spokesperson for Evanescence's label, Wind-Up Records, would not comment on the lawsuit or the allegations of abuse made in the termination letter about Moody."

i am interested to know how you can read lines like these and not (as someone who likes ben) feel angry about this. and the fact that actually angers me is that ben always defended amy in front of "abusive" idiots, and now she apparently claims that he abused her himself? just because i like ben moody myself, i am not laying the possibility aside that it might really be true that he ever abused amy, BUT if this was indeed so, i think amy lee has a lot of things to put straight which, like you said, make it seem impossible that she is saying anything against him.

therefore, i do not understand why amy declines to say who the mysterious abusive boyfriend was (according to Blender), but now claims in a suit that it was ben.

if you think understand what amy could possibly mean, please go ahead and tell me. since you think you know more than i do or whatever. no offense.

also, i really don't feel like digging up details about amy's private life, but i never heard her say anything about being together with some other guy, except, a long long time ago, with ben, and since june 2003, with shaun morgan (who she recently broke up with). i don't see where a 3-year-reltionship (according to Blender) with somebody else could have ever been. if you think you know better, tell me. in fact i am grateful to anyone who could maybe open my eyes to look at a topic from different perspectives.

about the song "i must be dreaming" - yes, i also think it COULD be about her sister (again, i want to make it clear that i don't KNOW what or who it really is about, but the point of this site is to say what it means FOR the ppl who listen to the songs, and not for them to speculate what it could have meant for the person who wrote it). i don't think it's about any relationship. but, like amy lee said herself several times, evanescence's songs could mean many different things, it all depends on what view you look at the lyrics from.

REMEMEBER THAT MAGAZINES SOMETIMES MAKE UP SHIT! oops capitals

I think that it refers to someone witnessing a murder, i don't know, one friends of her killing another, and she just can't belive it...

RiNnA-DoNo, I agree. I think it's either someone witnessing a murder or...any other crime, really.

ii have no clue..but i love the song

i love this song the lyrics are so hard-hitting --- i love it at the end were it fades out - Not what it seems
Not what you think
I must be dreaming
Just in my mind
Not real life
I must be dreaming

- it sort of relates to imaginary as the lyrics make out she wants to escape reality - tricking herself into believing whats not real , like she is fighting with the truth because it seems so sureal - no... i must be dreaming...

such a meaningful song i love it !!

The first impression of this song that I got is that someone walked in on someone else cutting. Whether or not this is the actual meaning of this song, that was my first impression of it. Songs can take on so many meanings the more you listen to them as your life goes on, that by the end of it all, it stands for something completely different than the artist intended it to. But yes, it is a very surreal song, like malice-alice said, and the imagery is very similar to the feeling of Imaginary.

just heard this song yesterday and I'm obsessed with it
"it's not what it seems ... Not what you think .... No, I must be dreaming"

this sound kind of seems like she had witnessed a murder or some thing. "i saw her bleed" could be the victom. "you heard me breath and i froze inside my self" could mean the murderer noticed her and now shes scared to death. and "no, i must be dreaming" is pretty much how we would all feel if we were about to die.
thats just what it sounds like it means to me but it could be symbolic or something (i still think Forever Gone, Forever You is about an obsession with waffles)

Purplestatement: Rider's termination letter, included in the suit as an exhibit to the filing, reads, "As you are well aware, Ms. Lee was recently in an abusive relationship with Ben Moody. She has no intention of associating with any persons who engage in that sort of abusive and illegal conduct."

Amy never said that it was Ben. This wasn't said by Amy! And I suppose this never should have reached the press in the first place. I can't en won't guess who was abusing Amy, why would we want to do that?

About the song. I really think it's about being sexually abused. For everyone who luckely was never confronted with it: trust me, when you get raped, you'll bleed. Inside and outside.

I can really relate to the feelings in it.
"It's not what it seems
Not what you think
No, I must be dreaming
It's only in my mind
Not real life
No, I must be dreaming"

I tried to forget, deny it for so many years. Told myself I was just a very sick person to make up something so horrible. Only in my mind, not real life, I must be dreaming. But after all these years, it comes back at me. I can't deny any more.

"Help you know I've got to tell someone
Tell them what I know you've done
I fear you but spoken fears can come true"

On one side you just have to tell someone, it's so freaking lonely to hold it to yourself. But I was/am so scared, I didn't have the guts. And you know, spoken fears can come true.