Uhhg... Been meaning to rant about this for a while, figured I would share my thoughts finally, interested to hear what some of you think about this. Keys to the Kingdom So much potential, could have been an anti-war song, hell, the opening hook makes it sound like it was going to be a "I'm angry at myself for something horrible" song, but, what we get is a song about... The band. Some verses and a hook about some thinly disguised anti-music-industry stuff, and then moving onto the rapping section, verse 2... Oh no, Mike doesn't hold back, he starts spitting mad rhymes about how he's so much better than all y'all rappers out there, and how he resembles fried Japanese cuisine, oh and he references stylistic change and all that jazz. TL;DR: "I'M ANGRY ABOUT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND I SOLVE IT BY BADMOUTHING OTHER MUSICIANS AND CHANGING MY STYLE CONSTANTLY" Take note, a lot of them are about this! All For Nothing Now as much as I love the flow in this song, the lyrics are embarrassing. It's all thinly disguised Military references to say the same thing that has been said before: "People don't like me, I make music better than you, I'm not gonna conform to the industry". Something about comparing being a soldier, even if it is indirect, rubs me the wrong way. Because a musicians life is totes relatable to military service. Guilty All The Same Now, most of this song is getting a bit better, but Rakim's verses really close it up. First impressions may make you think a post-apocalyptic thing is afoot here, "The end is near", "No other way", Unclean hands? , pointing fingers at the one's responsible despite their complete and utter obliviousness to what they have caused? And for the most part, Rakim's verses can be used in this way, too. While also talking about corruption in governments and the like, good stuff. But in the end, the direct influence is clearly, again, the whole "Record companies control us so hard man owch" message. But I can almost overlook it because of how well written and how many interpretations this song can have. War Ok, nothing special here, it's just a direct and generically written "WAR" song, well, should have seen that coming. But hey, at least it isn't about record companies~ Wastelands A song set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland about the horrors and difficulties, regret and resentment? Lulnope. So we've gotten up to comparing the music industry to a "Wasteland". Also, raps are now viable weapons that can act as a smart, sharp, delayed attack (How is there not a video game about this yet?). Anyways, the music industry is now a war, and Mike Shinoda is telling us to "Do the math" and that he has "No equal" in this battlefield. And oh my, he isn't afraid! He's got his heat-seeking verses that he's saving until you hit play on this bad boy! The chorus of this makes me wish so hard that the verses didn't take this into the zone of stomache-turning monotony, because some rap verses in the style of... Say, Imagine Dragon's Radioactive (Oh, and I know, interpretations of that too, but lets just, not go there), would be sick as fuck. Until It's Gone And out of nowhere, we get a song about a failing relationship, where each individual person will be strengthened by being on their own rather than tied to each other, oh, and you don't know what you've got until it's gone(X1000). This is good, I mean, the song has some nice metaphorical verses, even if the chorus is a repetitive uninspired crock. Rebellion Now the album's going somewhere! This song's message is excellent. A nice view of First World Problems, really, is what it boils down to. Looking at Gangs, governmental corruption etc., But in the context that what we experience and consider and dramatize as major problems are really just a fraction of what some people in less fortunate situations have to go through. Mark The Graves Nice wordplay, nice message. MTG tells you to let go and move on, but to remember that some things leave everlasting marks and impressions. Or at least, that's what the verses tell. The chorus is just some wordplay that seems to carry no real meaning besides just being a little cool. Final Masquerade Relationship drama~ I don't actually mind this, it drives home some almost-classic-lp style points (You held things back from me! You can't see what you've done!), but instead of approaching it as angrily, eases off and shows some regret and sadness for the situation. A Line in the Sand My personal favourite on the album. Depicts a good battle between a world-leader, the people they deceive, and the world itself. We're standing on the wall, laughing at suns, guns and it all! I really like how this song is written, but it really makes sense when you realize it was written originally for ATS, which has some of the better writing that Linkin Park has ever produced, and the lyrics fit almost perfectly into that album's styling. Well that went on for a while, but I'd like to step back and look at this a bit. The first half of the album is, really, in my opinion, terribly written. It's overly obsessed with driving home a few key points (Record companies are bad, Mike Shinoda is a badass!), where as the second half (Starting at Until It's Gone) drops that entirely, focusing on some more likeable territory (for me). Mike's attitude as of late reminds me of some of his hilarious lyrics in some really early material, think Reading My Eyes, old. That sort of cringe-worthy, cheesy rapping about MCs and shit. I don't know, maybe some of you find this more acceptable, but it just makes me cringe, really hard. Almost every instance of his rapping on here is just a little shallow, self-righteous and sickening to me. Where are the second half of the album, the songs dominated by singing, were able to capture some really nice messages and writing.
So... Since you are apparently an expert on what good lyrics are, what should Linkin Park be writing songs about?
I don't claim to be, I'm just getting a little bit sick of Mike's self-righteous, cheesy raps which degrade the depth of their songs to a pissing match. .-. My feelings entirely, I don't mean to start any sort of battle about how my opinion is the only valid one, I've just been wanting to rant about this for a long while. That is all. The second half of the album, in my opinion, gets it right with me. One last disclaimer, I'm nowhere near the person to measure good lyrics, in reality. Linkin Park, being one of my favourite bands, has never been super gifted in the writing department either. This wasn't as much about the lyrics as the messages in the songs, how every rapping-dominated song has taken this self-righteous, artist and industry bashing pose, while the rest of the album almost escapes that theme entirely. The only rap in this entire album that carries any substance outside of that theme is the one on Line In The Sand.
I cringed a lot reading the OP... A song isn't made up of lyrics. If you're so focused on detail and meaning in words, go read a book. It's not the easiest thing to write perfect stories and metaphors in lyrics. There's a lot to keep in mind when writing
1. If you think Mike's rap lyrics of late are THAT egotistical, you clearly don't listen to a lot of other rap. 2. Half of the stuff you interpreted as being "about record companies" seems way off the mark. I think you're only interpreting it that way because you want to. If anything, most of that stuff is about the state of the actual MUSIC that's out there right now (a.k.a. the stuff the band talked about in every fucking interview they did for a year straight before this album came out), not about record companies being controlling. Rakim's verse is the big exception, because...well, record companies (Aftermath Entertainment, specifically) DID completely fuck up the guy's career...over ten years ago. 3. You complain about the lyrics to nearly every song on the album, but say nothing about A Line in the Sand's chorus?
It seems that a large amount of this criticism hinges on the shaky-at-best idea that each and every song is about the label. Also, adding to what Astat said, you also have zero issue with the pitiful excuse for a rap verse featured in "A Line In The Sand"; based on what you said about the other verses, you should hate it with a fiery passion Some things, I do agree with. Some of the rap verses seem to have nothing to do with the choruses on a conceptual level.
Just because you think its about record companies doesn't make it about it. I don't know where but Mike said in this interview that the 'angry' lyrics are inspired by horrible things happening in the world, so songs like wastelands make more sense: [video=youtube;3YsNVeG-Gmg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YsNVeG-Gmg[/video] Also, I get a lot of crap for saying this but the band seemed to be pretty inspired with UIG. Mike has said that the original meaning for the song is about letting go of your children. That is a pretty personal meaning. Of course, being Linkin Park they threw a bunch other themes on it and made it vague. But, that doesn't mean the song wasn't inspired.
I actually think the chorus in A Line In The Sand fits perfectly with the overall "story" being told. I find the melody a bit boring and I don't really feel that the aggressive vocal performance works that well in the chorus. I even think the instrumentation was pretty bland(I mean beside Rob, who killed it) Even the rap verse works(on a conceptual level) while it isn't the most well written verse ever. Overall the album is a bit less poetic than LT which is a shame but I really do like the overall themes on the album. Some of the lyrics really don't look good on paper but don't bother me that much when I am listening to the songs(AFN, War, UTG)
Sadly, I have to agree with almost everything you said about the lyrics. Another thing I want to say is that I don't like how Mike sounds to cocky in his rap verses these days.
Yeah, Mike should just go back to rapping about his pain and sadness I don't mean to offend anyone though.
What I find the most annoying in Linkin Park is the fact Mike is still rapping. There's no need for it. It's not good enough to add anything to a song. Sure, he might stab my all time favorite song once in a while (WTCFM), but on the last two albums it's just annoying. Plus there's a certain image that comes with a rapper, and I mean... look at that Bill Maher interview. He looks like a lawyer. Not to say that's bad, just... please no more rapping. The dude's singing voice is incredible.
Here too. I like the rap in KTTK, too. The rap in wastelands is more interesting than Chester's parts anyway. His flow on ALF is awesome too. The lyrics are kinda stupid I guess. But, I think the raps add to the song. ALF would be worse without it.
I think we have to set some things straight here. 1. Everyone prioritizes different things when listening to music. Some people genuinely care the most about melodies, whereas others concern themselves with the lyrics and the message a song delivers. You can get mad at someone for worrying primarily about lyrics, but perhaps it just means that they listen to music differently than you do. It gives none of you any reason to criticize the original poster's stance on the lyrics, especially if that's what he cares about most. 2. Lyrics are meant to be interpreted, and are not always definitively about one thing. The beauty of any and all literature in general is that different words in different arrangements can mean different things to different people. It really stuns me that some of you were so quick to jump on this guy for interpreting the lyrics a certain way, when really, all that's happening (likely) is that you've interpreted them differently. There's a distinct reason sometimes why bands don't like to comment on what their songs are about, which is that (and they'll say so) they want their listeners to draw their own meaning from a given song. 3. Opinions are neither right, nor wrong. So get off of his case. You have the right to disagree, but the sarcasm that some of you have displayed really isn't welcome. We're better than this, and we ought to be especially considering that Bawa is one of our newer members. That is all.