306
In only six years
If it was an accident
Where are the tears
I am still unidentified
Behind the Cathedral
Is where my body hides
But I'm not inside
Just one of six-teen
In early one day
If it was a game then
Why couldn't I play
I am the abandoner
But still I remain

As my frozen pulse quickness
As the black plot thickens

like the story I heard
A lifetime ago
Where a girl
And this is funny
Took her life
And what she doesn't know
Is how long it takes
For the water to rise
And the breath to stop fighting
And the cold to close her eyes

Morality plays
On stages of sin
The easy way out
Or the easy way in
I am still overglorified
My reasons to live
Were my reasons to die
But at least they were mine
Now I'm freedom unbound
Cut the laces of life
The pistol
The poison
The noose
Or the knife
I have chosen my instrument
And said no goodbyes

As my frozen pulse quickens
As the black plot thickens

Like the story I heard
A lifetime ago
Where a girl
And this is funny
Took her life
And what she doesn't know
Is how long it takes
For the water to rise
And the breath to stop fighting
And the cold to close her eyes



Lyrics submitted by MaritheGreat

Track duration: 05:37

"306" as written by Emilie Autumn

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


306 song meanings
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63 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I usually think about Ophelia when I hear this. Ophela went crazy and drowned herself, and she was a character in a book so "and the black plot thickens" kinda works. I always thought that it was someone(EA herself, possibly) thinking about how her suicide was like Ophelia's( about a girl, and this is funny, took her life but what she didn't know...) It's just a though, as I have never heard of the whole bodies in a river thing. That's probably the actual meaning, but I figured I'd add my two cents
    Flag SafeHavenon October 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:"306, in only 6 years"
    I think this is about the suicides in the river "La Seine" in the 1800's. In 6 years, 306 bodies were found in the river.

    "If it was an accident, where are the tears?"
    One of the bodies found was 'Resusci Anne' who was found with a smile upon her lips. It's probably about that, she's asking why there would be a smile on her face if it was all an accident.

    "I am still unidentified, behind the cathedral is where my body lies, but I'm not inside"
    The bodies found where placed behind a cathedral in a morgue, to be identified by loved ones. Resusci Anne was never really identified, so I think that's what she's telling here. She's also telling us that the suicide succeeded so this girl is no longer inside her body.

    "Just one of 16, in only one day"
    The highest number of bodies found in one day in 'La Seine' was 16, so to me it seems like a reference to that as well.

    "If it was a game, why couldn't I play?"
    I'm not sure about this, but I interpret it as a reference to life and how a suicidal person might have seen it; to everyone else life is a game, but this person is having a hard time and isn't part of the game.

    "I am the abandoner, but still I remain"
    She's saying that her consciousness is gone, but her body is still there.

    "And my frozen pulse quickens as the black plot thickens"
    Seems like a reference to drowning; the person jumped in the water and was cooled down. Her heart was beating faster because she knew life would be over soon, she knew she was about to die. The black plot might be the way she's slowly losing sight and the darkness takes over before she dies.

    "Like the story I heard a lifetime ago, where a girl, and this is funny, took her life"
    Resusci Anne, who I think is the person who died in the suicide she refers to, had probably heard about others before her who drowned themselves. She thinks suicide ends the pain and "this is funny" is about the smile on her lips.

    "But what she doesn't know is how long it takes for the water to rise and the breath to stop fighting and the cold to close her eyes"
    Once again about suicide - she jumps into the water with no idea about how much suffering it will take before she's dead. She doesn't know how long it will take to sink into the water or how much water her lungs will take in before giving up. She doesn't know how long it will take for the water to cool down her body.

    "Morality plays, on stages of sin"
    Morality plays where a type of theatrical entertainment that sought to make people choose a Godly life over an evil one. Might be a metaphor for how her mind contemplates the suicide the last moments before she jumps in, which would explain the stages of sin; the places people jumped from and the river, since suicide was considered a sin.

    "The easy way out or the easy way in?"
    It's like everbody tells her that suicide is just the easy way out and it's cowardly, but the church still says it's a sin and will make her go to hell. It's the easy way out of life and into hell.

    "I am still overglorified"
    Could be a reference to the way Resusci Anne was turned into a CPR doll - her face is now used on all CPR dolls that are made for training. She is overglorified, turned into a symbol of life thanks to her face, even though she is really just another victim to her own mind.

    "My reasons to live where my reasons to die, but at least they were mine"
    Every reason anyone could give her to live, she could turn into a reason to die. She didn't really have much anymore, many suicides in the victorian time were committed because people were unable to be with the person they loved. This could be just another one of those cases - she had lost the love of her life and all she had left were her reasons to die.

    "Now I'm freedom unbound, cut the laces of life"
    She has made her decision and has decided to end her life.

    "The pistol, the poison, the noose or the knife?"
    She is contemplating how to do it.

    "I have chosen my instrument and said no goodbyes"
    She has finally decided exactly how to end her life. There are no one in her life she can say goodbye to, or she just doesn't want to say goodbye, so she hasn't.

    The last minutes of the song where Emilie doesn't sing seems to be a demonstration of the struggle Resusci Anne (or anyone who drowns themselves) is in, where her mind is saying yes but her brain and body is screaming no and doing everything it can to struggle against unconsciousness.

    AMAZING, SAD SONG!<3
    Flag MedicalDisasteron June 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Memory:I read something somewhere but I'm blanking where I saw it....

    This is cool though. I saw that the instrumental part is how long it takes to die. It's like a metaphor. She stops singing and the instrumental part is when she starts dying and by the end of that she would be dead from whatever cause the song is. I don't know from what... might have been drowning or some kind of poison. It's based on facts of how long it takes a person to die after *blank*.

    I wish I could remember where I read this! I wish I had taken a closer look at it!

    Besides that, pretty basic. I also saw that 306 was how many deaths occurred in some event that took place over 6 years. ACK where did I see this?! Driving me mad (I already am though haha). 1 in 16 is how many deaths in a day. Then it's straightforward, a suicide story. This is the darkest song I know and I love it. <3 EA is amazing.
    Flag x9emilie9xon April 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Hey guys!I think that Emilie inspired this song from a story of a 16 year old girl (just one of 16 in early one day) that she killd herself in 1880 or 1888 (not sure) you can also find more infos at Wikipedia (L'inconnue de la Seine) it also refers to The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls in which a girl named Anne drowned herself and when she was found she had a plank tied on her neck with the word "Unidentified" on it.She may also dentify herself with these 2 girls or the song is dedicated to Anne...
    Flag CorpseBallerinaon March 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:A girl found in the Seine River in France, who's face was so content that suicide was suspected. She's very famous. Here's what I got from Wiki on the Seine:
    "In the late 1700s and early 1800s over the space of six years 306 bodies were retrieved, the highest number in one day being 16. They were kept in the morgue for many years, and some were never identified."
    Google L'Inconnue de la Seine.
    Flag ThatGirlTheyKnowon January 11, 2012   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning:It's about L'Inconnue de la Seine.
    "the body of the young woman was pulled out of the Seine River at the Quai du Louvre in Paris around the late 1880s. The body showed no signs of violence, and suicide was suspected."
    She was found in the Seine River in six years when they found a total of 306 bodies. (Got the stuff in speech off Wikipedia.)
    Flag ThatGirlTheyKnowon January 11, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can't remember the name of this event but I remember looking at the comments on youtube of this song and someone commented telling about this.

    In France in the 1600s-1800s, I forget which one, there was a specific river that all of these people would drown themselves in and in six years there were 306 suicides in the river. One day, there were sixteen. The girl that she is speaking about is a real person, she was a corpse who had a smile on her face (hence "And this is funny") which is highly uncommon and some say even supposed to be impossible due to the muscle relaxations and the way that she had died.
    Flag Narsiskaon April 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Just a thought, but I heard of an excavation in France where in 6 years they found 306 bodies... The most found in one day being 16. There was a girl that they found smiling (she had drowned)

    And that was really creepy. I was listening to my iPod on shuffle and when I clicked on this page, 306 started playing. And I heard the creepy "not yet" during the instrumental for the first time just now...
    Flag Serelindaon January 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I heard her say somewhere (I can't remember where) that it was about a church where 306 people comitted suicide in 6 years.
    Flag Jme333on October 03, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:I think the song's about one girl who committed suicide in a group of sixteen, maybe in reference to the 16 bodies found in the Seine river in one day and the girl was one of them. The 306 may be in reference to the total number of bodies found in the Seine over a period of six years. The chorus may be in reference to Shakespeare's Ophelia.
    Flag witchiemiistyon August 17, 2010   Link

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