What I've Done

Album: Minutes To Midnight (2007)
Charted: 6 7
Play Video
  • In this farewell
    There's no blood, there's no alibi
    'Cause I've drawn regret
    From the truth of a thousand lies
    So let mercy come and wash away

    What I've done
    I'll face myself to cross out what I've become
    Erase myself
    And let go of what I've done

    Put to rest what you thought of me
    While I clean this slate
    With the hands of uncertainty
    So let mercy come and wash away

    What I've done
    I'll face myself to cross out what I've become
    Erase myself
    And let go of what I've done

    For what I've done
    I start again
    And whatever pain may come
    Today this ends
    I'm forgiving what I've done

    I'll face myself to cross out what I've become
    Erase myself
    And let go of what I've done

    (Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
    What I've done
    (Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
    Forgiving what I've done
    (Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
    (Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na) Writer/s: Brad Delson, Chester Charles Bennington, Dave Farrell, Joseph Hahn, Mike Shinoda, Robert G. Bourdon
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 55

  • Sina from IranJudging by the music video, I would like to think that the song is about things humanity has done to itself. And the part "I start again" refers to the new generation being born and having hope to change and don't repeat the mistakes their fathers did.
  • Anderson from Minneapolis MnI like this song though I’ll be honest, I don’t think it is all that great. I think that the band us had much better songs and this is far from their best works. Listen to all there songs and I can almost guarantee that you will find at least one or two songs you like better then this, seriously.
  • Steven from Greenfield, WiHey Mohit I so agree with you this song rocks and all that other good stuff
    linkinpark all the way:) :P :P :P
    :D
  • Courtney from Chesterfield, VaI think this song is okay. It's way too like their other songs and it's really really vague in the meaning. It's overplayed, too.
  • Zero from Nowhere, NjWhen they play this song live, Mike seamlessley switches from piano in the verses to rhythm guitar in the chorus/bridge. (he keeps the guitar strapped to him while playing piano)
  • Megan from Stevenson, AlI don't really care what this song is about because I LOVE IT! lol Great song!
  • Mario from Polson, MtThis song is about a dead hooker. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but the way things ended was disappointing. We all have regrets and this song is about living with them.
  • Jd from Paoli, InThis is one of linkn parks new sound and i think what the song is trying to say is erase the past and face the present. and make up with mistakes you make in the future
  • Mary from New Castle, Pai think this song is showing that he made mistakes and hes learning how to deal with them and is saying that everyone makes mistakes
  • Savage from New Castle, Pa"This song is basically stating that a certain action is followed by a consequence thus affecting not only yourself but society as a whole.No matter if your a world leader or simply a civilian, simple things can lead to disaster at the most and regret at the least" - savage!!!!!
  • Jtxgasmaskkid from New Castle , PaWhatever you did in your past, you can always try and make-up for it by having a better present/future. You can always be a better person.

    IMO, Linkin Park's new album is nothing compared to their older stuff.
  • Emily from New Castle, PaThis song is intense, it explains that everyone makes mistakes and has regrets, but they have to live with them, and make the best of it.
  • Lamarr from New Castle, Pathis song is kool because it is very simple and they dont try to make people like this but people just like it and it is a song that you would listen to all day long this song is great but i like the beggining the best
  • Ally from New Castle, Pathis song is about how everybody shouldnt have voted for bush. i agree with damien.
  • Zack from New Castle, United KingdomThis song truly shows death poverty polution and more that our world is enduring for because our society thinks about the here and not the know our earth can only take so much and also starvation diseases weapons they are all problems that our society faces and if they go unchecked well soon cease to exist
  • Bob from New Castle, Paits saying look what weve done to society and nature we are hurting the enviroment and creating a dangerious crude enviroment
  • Jesse from New Castle, PaIn my opinion, this song is about learning from past mistakes. Being able to accept the mistakes you made in the past, and moving on to becoming a beter person
  • Jmoore18 from New Castle, Pai am not a linkin park fan but it sounds like a good song.... i think the song is about like all the things that had happened in the world and the changes that happend during those things that happened....
  • Steve from New Castle, PaThis song is obviously about regretting the past and asking for forgiveness. The lyrics pretty much contribute to the meaning literally.
  • Leneice from New Castle, PaMy interpertation of the son gis that he's looking back on what he's done wrong and things that could be regretful and putting them in the past. He's saying he's gonna start all over and not regret or forget it but forgive himself for previous mistakes! It's not for anyone else to judege but for he to judge himself and he'll move on and strart fresh!
  • Brandon from New Castle, United Kingdomthis is the movie transformer soundtrack
  • Amber from New Castle, PaThis is a very moving song because it is about remembering your past and accepting it. I would like to forget my past but it has made me a better person today. i have learned alot from my past experiences.
  • Sierra from New Castle, PaIn my interpretation I believe this song has a lot of meaning. It's syaing how he realizes what he's done and want's to forgive himself and how he has no mercy and don't blame people for seeing him as bad for what he's done, but he is starting from a new clean slate.
  • Shane from New Castle, PaThis song shows wat kind of world we live in and what kind of world we did live in. If we put fourth the effort then we can stop things such as oil pollution, global warming, dumping garbage into the ocean, among other things. So if we put in effort then we can help prevent these things.
  • Liah from New Castle, PaI like this video because it shows people how we polute the enviroment with our waste and that its now becoming a huge issue and we need to start over to correct the problems we have made whether it is from doing drugs or discraminating against another race... we need a fresh new start at least once in our life.
  • Brittney from New Castle, Palinkin park, and this song was a little overplayed at the beggining. I love the lyrics, and how they talk about all the mistakes people make. How they need to forget the past and look to the future, and make things better.
  • Billy from New Castle, Pathis is one of my favorite songs and i think it means that some people have it bad and wondering why the deserve this and they are asking them selves "what did i do to deserve this"
  • Brittany from New Castle, Pawhat ive done, great song. shows that all of our actions are improtant. choooose what you do fully think what you do and know the consequences.
  • Kayla from Fort Lawn, Kyit make me think about what ive done and be come

    i was good before and now i do every thing bad because of my dad
  • Thomas from Surabaya, IndonesiaFor anyone who has sound-editing software, the opening sound of What I've Done is the reversed sound of Acoustic Guitar being played by Mike Shinoda (before the piano starts to play).
  • Hope from Naperville, Ilthe video at first confused me but now i LOVE it
  • Thomas from Wylie, TxThis song relates to my life right now because im regreting things, like how i stole about 5
    videogames from my sisters freind, and 1 from my freind, and a soda from my teacher, and I've never been in a fight before, because I HATE hurting other people, but yesterday i almost beat the f### out of these 2 kids that have been messing with me for 2 yrs. now, and I finally just snapped, but when we were about to start punching my coach blew the whitsle, and we had 2 stop... But I also found an Ipod touch and since the office wouldn't be able to find out who's it's is, I decided to take it, but a kid saw me with it and said it was his, and now my freinds r angry at me kuz they thought I stole it. But when I hear this song it reminds me of my freinds in Jacksonville Florida that I knew for 10 yrs, and I had to leave them 3 yrs. ago, so when I hear this i cry a little.
  • Buddy from Sb, Njthis is a very good song. im not a very big linkin park fan (my personal favorite is hollywood undead, undead army HU4L) but i really like most of their work. this song nd in the end are my favorites by these guys. they help me express my feelings, i can relate to them. lp is a very good band, their songs come from the heart, from s--t they actually went thru. they dnt take a guess at how we feel, they actually kno.
  • John from St. Louis, MoThere is an alternate music video to this song. It was shot in Australia, I believe. It describes a government project to make a virus to control the population. The only band member to appear would be Chester as he tries to bring to light the project, but it is still a good video.
  • Elmer from Zamboanga, Philippinesds song is gud!!!..cn any1 tell me abt the whole lyf of chester???wikipedia doesnt xplain all
  • Susan from Alabaster, Alwe had an assembly at school last year about a girl at our school who shot herself and a few other people. the whole point of it was to make good choices and this song was played throughout the video and it was so sad this song just really inspired and now i cry evertime i hear this song
  • Yusuf from Durban, St. Helenayes this song is in the transformers soundtrack but you would wonder why? what does this song got to do with the movie? heres what i think guys: Listen to the words he says "in this farewell theres no blood" simply means that theres no blood because machines have taken over and theres nothing you can do about it coz where ever you are you need machines... when he says "theres no alibi" this means that there is no excuse for machines taking over because man created them. Hence this song is in the "Transformers" soundtrack. its just what i think=)
  • Nick from Edmonton, CanadaTo tell you guys the truth, I'm not the biggest LP fan out there. Personally, I think this song is about the poor decisions we make as a society and how we as humans try to be optemistic about the future. It's kinda like living with guilt, but you try to carry out living your life day after day with no reminders of the past or what you have done ( didn't mean to say name of actual song, just kinda happened). All mixed messages aside, this is a great track from a killer band and will continue to make people think long after the song loses its popularity. ROCK ON LINKIN PARK m/
  • Bailey Wilson from Tazewell, Tnthis song has a lot to do with my life right now cause my aunt is in the hospital because she had a stroke and she is gonna die soon and my uncle shot himself in the head when i was right beside of him and my great grandma died plus the whole family is blaming everything on me and i always go into my room and listen to this song whenever i'm feeling really bad and it helps a little.=(
  • Cristina from Long Beach, Cathis song is kool because it is very simple and they dont try to make people like this but people just like it and it is a song that you would listen to all day long this song is great but i like the beggining the best
  • Austin from Smallsville, NeThe song is so simple
  • Parker from Orem, Ut Hey Kay, The other song doesn't say F*** God. It actually says F*** that I wanna see some fists pumpin...
  • Briana from Greensboro , Ncall about regret
  • Rhys from Mandurah, Walol it sucks
  • Mohit from Mumbai, Indiaanyway i love this song
  • Brent from Wichita, KsThis song is about remembering all the things you have done that you regret. You just need to forget about them and start over.
  • Kay from Chicago, Il"i would say this this song talks about forgiveness from God ,but another song of thiers says "F*** God I wanna see some fist pumpin . . ." kinda cancels the last song out,but its a good thought . . . I mean after all, so many christian bands go secular you never see it vice-versa."

    Actually, the line is "f**k that / I want to see some fists pumping". Taken directly from the lyrics booklet.
  • Brad from Knoxville, Tni would say this this song talks about forgiveness from God ,but another song of thiers says "F*** God I wanna see some fist pumpin . . ." kinda cancels the last song out,but its a good thought . . . I mean after all, so many christian bands go secular you never see it vice-versa.
  • Kay from Chicago, IlYeah Liz and Eli, you guys are a hell of a lot closer than the others. Being a fellow LP fan, here's my two cents:

    This song is about regret. They specifically say in the album booklet that people interpret it different days - about suicide, death, life, etc.

    It's not political. The video's vaguely political, but you have to look at it from LP's veiwpoint. They're showing the idea that humanity should probably start feeling guilty for what we've done, unless we're willing to lose life, love, everything we cherish.
  • Eli from Kennewick, WaExcept for Liz, you all don't know what the hell your talking about. I am a LP fan since before hybrid theory hit the Shelves My older sister bought their EP and I fell in love with these guys. Jay your comment isn't needed at all. Damien you have no idea what your talking about either. It's not about Bush or any other authority. It's about the pain and suffering WE (as Men) caused and we regret it and hope to move on. take it from a Lp fan
  • David from Aiea, HiThe music's great, but the montage of images and video makes it truly impressive -- and welcome -- from a social significance perspective. This is the sort of visual/musical commentary that's been few and far between since the incredible wave of anti-war music in the late '60s and early '70s. We need more of this stuff.
  • Damien from Edmonton, CanadaI hate the album, but watch the video and you'll know what the maning is. This song is from the perspective of someone who voted for Bush, and feels guilty and regrets his decision to vote for Bush. He wants to take it back and start a new life without any memory of voting for Bush.
  • James from Aurora, CoI Work At A Movie Theater, And At The End Of Transformers, When "What I've Done" Started Playing, You Could Hear Quiet A Few People Singing Along...I Was Kinda Thinking, "Yea..." But On The Other Hand I Was Like, "Who Sings This Song? Yea Let Them Sing It" lol
  • Jay from Jackson, Msthis song is in the transformers soundtrack
  • Liz from Glosta, Mau don't get it, hear it from a real lp fan. look at he end of finishing their new album m2m (minutes to midnight) some of their friends listened to it, and said that it needed something more. like a cross over song. hence "what i've done". the song is about them having a new song and a new beginnging to the band. remember their old sound was rock/rap. now they have more of a 80's punk feel to it. their still lp though. yes it's also about global warming and all the other things that are in their music video. the song was finsished in 1 1/2 weeks by mike shindoda. it was released about 3 weeks before the actual album came out
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