Welcome to Valentine’s Day, an annual celebration that usually finds half the species enjoying a sunny romance while the other half repairs their hearts from a recent trouncing. Music always helps the latter problem, and Evanescence‘s passionate songs have long been supercharged when it comes to expressing such ache. “My Heart Is Broken” finds bandleader Amy Lee communicating a combination of grief and loneliness while the band pounds out a thunderous beat.

On the happier side, Amy and the guys accepted our invitation to make a playlist of songs that help explain the pain of feeling blue. Take a look at at her comments before you jump into the music.

“My heart has certainly done its time in the meat grinder! The songs I chose are all ones that soothed those wounds with sympathetic understanding. Nirvana‘s ‘All Apologies’ on repeat in my high school bedroom as I felt so different from the other kids at school, watching the otherworldly sadness come to life in Sigur Ros’ ‘Vaka’ video, and the loneliness of NIN‘s ‘Hurt’ – all spoke to me deeply and helped me heal.”

EVANESCENCE’S “SONGS FOR THE BROKEN HEARTED” PLAYLIST.

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