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The lyrics are based on the struggles lead singer Chester Bennington went through growing up. He was often picked on.
This video was shot on a Los Angeles sound stage. The statue's head, where the band is performing, was built there, but the rest was CGI. The areas where Mike is standing "in the desert" are real - he was sitting on real grass and he was walking on real stones, but they were about 10 feet by 5 feet. The rest was, you guessed it, CGI. Halfway through filming, directors Joe Hahn and Nathan Cox decided to set water pipes off above the band, so they all got completely soaked. Nathan could see how irritated the band were by this, so he invited his friend (who's in a Bluegrass band) over and he performed some Linkin Park songs, including an hilarious version of "Crawling." In the video, if you look very closely, you can see Joe's belt buckle, which says "MR HAHN." The song is about feeling like there's no point in living, and was originally seen as being very negative, so the video was very positive. It's like a cycle of life (the song starts and ends with the piano) - the desert is very dead, but the rain comes and at the end, there's flowers and rivers and butterflies. (thanks, Abbey - Essex, England)
In March 2001, 15-year-old Charles Andrew Williams shot and killed 2 of his classmates at his high school in Santee, California. He left a note for his father with the lyrics to this as an attempt to explain his feelings. The key lines were "I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't really matter."
The video was shot in a California desert while the band was between stops on the 2001 Ozzfest tour.
This was the #1 selling album of 2001.
This was the third single from Linkin Park's first album. Their first 2 singles were "One Step Closer" and "Crawling." All 3 songs explore the dark side of growing up.
"Hybrid Theory" is the original name of the band. They decided to use it as the album title.
This was released as a single about 9 months after the album. It took a while for the album to catch on, but it eventually sold very well.
On their 2002 album Reanimation, this was remixed by Kutmasta Kurt with vocals by Motion Man. The title was changed to "Enth E Nd," and it was given a hip-hop sound.
At the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, this won for Best Rock Video. Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth, who were touring together at the time, presented the award. Before announcing the winner, Roth asked Hagar what his favorite Linkin Park song was, and Hagar said he didn't know any Linkin Park songs.
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I wouldn't say that I dislike your opinion on these lyrics but I would argue that it is an incomplete perception of this song. Many people on this discussion seemed to have taken a more nihilistic viewpoint in the interpretation of this song and If you look solely at the lyrics it can be quite easy to do so. But I have found that this song has a more uplifting message than I originally anticipated. I am not alone in this viewpoint as Sara (Alexandria, VA) has shared that she wants to walk down the isle to this song on her wedding day. You may be wondering how I came to believe that this song was "happy" tune, this came from a lot of research and time spent watching the music video.
The first aspect that I decided to look into was the band itself. Linkin Park is often recognized because they approach Rock Music in an alternative way. The reason they do this is because they want to make songs that "hit hard" and effect people strongly. They approach this established purpose through the use of "less obvious" choices, especially in the area of their visual presentation. This forces all of us to dig deeply into the imagery in order to gain a complete understanding of the meaning for each of their songs. Rob Bourdon, Linkin Park's percussionist, mentioned this aspect of their music in a 2011 interview: "It's tough to make a heavy song or something that hits really hard without using the most obvious choices to accomplish that. And we like to do that, and we've done that throughout all records that we've made, and that's what we want to continue to do." (Rob Bourdon, 2011). We can compare Linkin Park's music to an onion, while they may be a lot of good things on the top layer, we need to strip away every layer of the onion in order to fully appreciate it.
At first glance, the lyrics seem to indicate that this song is referring to a relationship that the main character had with a woman. In this man's perspective, both he and this woman failed to communicate their feelings, they held their emotions inside which caused the relationship between the two of them to crumble. It is obvious in the lyrics that the main character tried to repair things but his efforts were fruitless. He still wants to be with this woman and at the end of the song indicates that he has placed his trust in her. Clearly, this trust is extremely misplaced but this man feels that life is too short and that he must cling to the hope that someday their situation may change.
The music video seems to visually support the concept that the main character is placing his trust in the wrong woman but there isn't enough evidence to assume that this is the main plot of the video either. The woman that the song seems to address isn't actually shown, but the band does play their song atop a giant female statue. Also at the climax of the song, several female statues start moving around, however, these shots are a relatively small aspect of the video . When the song mentions that the man has chosen to trust this woman, a series of negative events happen, indicating that this trust may be misplaced. The ledge that the men are playing on begins to crumble, demonstrating that this trust is "shaky". The skies grow dark and it begins to rain, something that is often associated with a negative event. And lastly, a large amount of bats suddenly take flight, this is usually an analogy of a spooky or sinister event. While all of this is great support for the trust issues that are proposed in the lyrics, there is a great deal more footage in this music video that seems completely unrelated to both this theme and the general theme of nihilism, the presence of this extra footage implores us to concede that there is far more going on in this song then can be immediately deduced.
One of these aspects can be seen in all of the extremes and sudden changes that take place in this music video. It shows a man in the middle of a wasteland at the beginning of the video but after another extreme event, the heavy rainfall seen at the climax, this wasteland has been transformed into a luscious valley with lots of plants and green grass. In the midst of the video, several other abrupt changes take place, that men suddenly begin to be filmed in slow motion, sprouts suddenly and inexplicably start to shoot out of the ground and then dissipate just as suddenly into dust. The rain appears to be coming down quite heavily but then vanishes without explanation. Perhaps these changes can reflect all of the sudden and abrupt changes that we all must adjust to in our daily lives, these changes also emphasize how short are lives really are.
I think that one of the most uplifting underlying themes is that beauty and health can form out of hardship and pain. One of the lines in the song reads: "I had to fall, to lose it all" (In the End, chorus, line 3) the central character seems convinced that this falling had to occur, the fact that this man could put it so succinctly implies that he has taken solace in the idea that there is an overarching purpose for his suffering. I believe that the concept of positive results through negative events is illustrated vividly in the video. We can see that a beautifully fertile valley is formed from a wasteland after an intense and terrifying rainstorm waters the ground. The plant growth is seen spawning throughout the saga of the video. At first it undergoes this process with a great deal of difficulty, crumbling into dust as it attempts to flourish in the hostile soil. Still, as the video goes on, progress is made; implying that perhaps time is capable of transforming a negative event into a chance for growth.
In spite of these spectacular instances of pain being transformed to beauty, the man in this video seems to be completely oblivious. There is hope, but like many of us in our darkest hours, he simply cannot see it. There are plants that form all around him, originating from the spot that he is standing in. Near the beginning of the video, some long, sickly plants seem to be grasping for him, in a futile attempt to catch his attention. But he is too absorbed in what he is doing, he walks through them and they crumble to dust. A whale-like creature soars directly over his head and still he remains oblivious. Near the end he is shown kneeling in the grass but he doesn't seem to be as excited by it as one would expect him to be under such amazing circumstances. I think that this part illustrates that the reason it takes so long to see the value in our suffering is that we refuse to see it, we refuse to believe that anything. even remotely profound can happen as a result of our pain.
The climax of this song occurs when the main character chooses to trust. He doesn't say to whom he is placing his trust, only referring to the individual as "you". The logical progression of the lyrics would suggest that he is referring to the same individual that he has been addressing for the entire song but this would not produce the uplifting theme that I'm referring to. I believe that it is possible that he is choosing to place his trust in a different person entirely or perhaps this trust is being placed in a deity, giving this song religious implications. We should also consider what Shaun (Shelbyville, KY) said on this discussion board a while ago: It is a distinct possibility that Linkin Park left this part open to interpretation in order to allow people to ascribe their own unique meaning to this concept, and therefore arrive at their own conclusions about the overall purpose of this song. The negative events that I mentioned in an earlier paragraph could imply that he is putting this trust in the wrong place but it is equally likely that these events were illustrating how difficult it can be to truly trust in something or someone. In either case, this trust is valuable because it produces that lovely landscape seen at the end of the video.
It has become increasingly clear to me in the process of writing this response that "In the End" really does have an inspiring meaning but the full meaning of this song can only become evident through a detailed inspection. This song has far more meaning than a simple ballad of a clingy man who was unable to communicate his emotions to his equally uncommunicative ex-girlfriend. This song isn't about the pointlessness of life or of our effort; rather, this song illustrates how short life is and how much can change in a relatively small period of time, our lives have the capacity for so much change, whether good or bad. Even if we end up with unfortunate events in our lives, this music video implies that there is a wider reach to suffering that has positive aspects for us, pain can foster growth and that the old expression "No pain, no gain" may actually be true. This video shows us that for whatever reason, we tend to be completely oblivious to the positive reach that our pain can actually have. That we tend to lurk in self-pity and fail to notice the profound circumstances that exist around us. Even when they are blatantly obvious, such as a flying whale. Lastly, the song covered the fact that it can be difficult and potentially dangerous to trust someone and that this trust can cause a great deal of hardship at times. However, in the end, this trust is always worthwhile. This song isn't saying that nothing in life matters, rather this song is pointing out that we should focus on what really matters in our lives: how we use the short amount of time that we have on this planet and who we choose to place our trust in.
I know that I've said a mouthful, but I just wanted to share some of the exciting things that I have learned about "In the End". You are fully entitled to your opinion on this song, I just thought that you might appreciate a slightly different perspective about this
It's almost freeing.
An opinion is an opinion, a fact is a fact. The opinions here is that Linkin Park is an awesome band, or a horrible band. The fact here is that the lyrics are meaningful and most teens can relate to the songs on Hybrid Theory. Stop arguing on whos right about Linkin Park. And if you dont like Linkin Park, dont waste your time with commenting on their songs.
it really matter ! I have found! It doesn't matter.
Cause in the End ! Thats it ! It's The End !
So live life for all its worth ! Don't pay any attention to what people think or say !
Because ! ITEIDM!!
one of my friends says its about a video game, which i could definetly see in the lyrics but do you see linkin park writing about a video game? there's a little more depth to them than that.
just my opinion!
---Kristin---13
"The Untitled"
lexi
The Beatles, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Rush, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, Iron Maiden, The Who, The Ramones, oh i can go on forever. The point is, you clearly possess little knowledge of rock music. I'm 17 and am a Linkin Park fan but I am not that dillusional as to believe that they are better than all the aforementioned bands. If you like Linkin Park, then check out Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine and Depeche Mode because LP would not exist without them.
made. It reminds me of guy fighting
in a battle and falls and loses everything.
The video was *not* shot in a California desert. It's computer-generated. DJ Joe Hahn came up with the concept and he co-directed the video with Nathan "Karma" Cox.