As one of the last songs recorded for The Open Door, “Call Me When You’re Sober” was predominantly inspired by Amy Lee’s ex-boyfriend and Seether frontman, Shaun Morgan. In an MTV News interview, Amy Lee spoke about the song being very personal to her:

It was very brave for me, the lyric writing, because I was just sick of hiding behind metaphors in all that I had been writing. So much of the record was about the turmoil I was going through, with choosing between happiness and comfort. In the end, I had to choose happiness and health for myself. I made the right decision. I was letting myself be run down.

Directed by Marc Webb, the accompanying music video is based upon modern re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood. Due to the literal nature of the song and its lyrics, Amy Lee explained the importance for the video to “have the freedom to go in a less literal direction.” In 2007, “Call Me When You’re Sober” earned Evanescence two nominations in the best video categories at the MuchMusic Video Awards and NRJ Music Awards.

The song wasn’t originally intended for inclusion on the album, according to Amy Lee’s father, John Lee. “It was just a little ditty she was working on and singing on her piano at home to purge herself of a past boyfriend. She said she would laugh out loud while she was writing and singing it and thought it was funny,” he added.

Upon its release, “Call Me When You’re Sober” received generally positive reviews from critics, and the song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Top 100.