Linkin Park vs. George Bush

Derek: I've already seen it, and it didn't really change my opinion. It's good for entertainment value, but that's about it, I think. Just my opinion, but if a movie or documentary -- any movie or documentary -- can change your beliefs, you're easily influenced. It's good that you're trying to expand your knowledge, but I highly suggest looking to both sides of a situation and looking at more than movies, which are normally over-exaggerations meant to sway those on the fence on an issue, as most people would rather watch a movie than actually read information.

After hearing the clip for "Hands Held High," there's no doubt that song will be politically motivated in nature far more than "No More Sorrow."

 

I wish they'd STFU about politics....they're really starting to make me dislike them. If Chester hates the country so much, he should just leave. I'm sure we'll survive.

 

I hope you don't listen to the album.

Good review, I pretty much agree with it.

 

whoever couldn't interpret "the little things give you away" themselves really needs to get the hell out of their cave and keep up on the world around them.

i'm dissapointed mtv made "hands held high" sound like an immature argument (like the gas prices and bush's stupidity) when really the argument was about the unjustified war and cheney's shady ties to halliburton (look it up... probably need to if you couldn't understand TLTGYA).

 

oh yeah that's a mature argument. let me guess, you're either 10 years old, or an uninformed conservative. same intellectual level anyway.

if you don't like the lyrics, either ignore them or stop listening.

 

I think it's rather interesting that they begin writing about politics.
Nice interview.

 

Ahh...bashing because of politicial affiliation.....I'd say that makes you the immature one.

And I'm NOT listening to the political songs on the album, I'm listening to the others, which I enjoy every much.

 

My question for you is this:

Do you not listen to the sociio-political songs because you disagree with them or because you don't think that bands should address society and politics in music? Or both?

 

I think the only reason why conservatives are so defensive these days is because they know they are wrong. Obviously everything they've done to this point is absolutely retarded. But hey it's America's fault. Somehow we elected Bush a second time.

 

weird that you can't get past your supposed affiliation so much as to listen to a song. that's not very open-minded now is it.

let's see, you told the band to "STFU" about their views because it makes you "dislike" them. it's what inspires them, in case you didn't read the article. they've contributed to the katrina effort, to live 8, etc. and they want to sing about what they've learned from it, and you won't even listen to music because those views are too "liberal"? the album title itself is political, which probably means these views pervade the entire album.

you skip over songs, not because their musicality is bad or the poetry of the lyrics is poor, or it's not catchy and fun, but because you have a political disagreement with the lyrics. if that's not closed-minded i don't know what is.

i normally can find a common ground with conservatives because i can sometimes see where they're coming from and understand it's what they've learned. but it's this stubborn, closed-minded, covering your ears and shouting "i'm not listening!" approach to any views opposite to yours, even insofar as to completely ignore pieces of music from your (presumably) favorite band, that disturbs me.

 

That's one of the worst documentaries that's been made about this whole situation, and I strongly oppose the current government.

 

Wow. What a mature stance. I'm a pretty staunch conservative, yet I wouldn't consider myself uninformed. I have a BS in Political Science and am working on my Master's in Public Administration. I'd think twice about calling names...

 

it wasn't about conservatives, who i can usually get along with. i go to pepperdine... it's conservative central. laura bush was our commencement speaker last week. i was just pretty disgruntled about that kid hating on LP for their political stance and their newfound voice. he was saying it wasn't their place to talk about politics when it clearly is (with all they've done for katrina, live 8). i was just saying he shouldn't tell them to "STFU" about it when he's most likely less informed than they are. the latter bit was a snide remark

edit: you all are assuming i meant all conservatives are uninformed. i'm sorry if it seemed that way, but if i said "an uninformed conservative" that isn't making a generalization, it's singling the person out.

 

I'm a conservative and I hate President Bush. I think you're semi-right. I look at it this way: Most conservatives don't want to admit they were wrong because they're scared what other people will think of them.

 

I thought just the same thing... in a War people die and you can't blame one person for that.

Linkin Park is a little late with this song and it's rather unnessessary, but it's a pretty decent song so...

 

I understand. Just don't call names. I've listened to LP for six years and knew that they would become a bit political when they got a little bit older. They're entitled to their opinions and they're entitled to incorporate them into their music. I don't agree with them mocking the leader of our country, but I respect their freedom to do so, because it's the same freedom that allows me to say that I don't agree with their opinion on this issue. Either way, the songs are good.

 

I really hate how much people hate on the war. Look, I understand that you don't like it and it should be over now, but there's two things that every person needs to understand.

1. If you got a sheet on your paper saying "A very reliable source has told us that Iraq has or will soon have weapons of mass destruction and will launch them at the United States soon," would you just say "Ah, I doubt it's reliable information. Don't worry about it."? No, I'd say most people would do something about it. Whether or not he should have gone to war is somewhat debatable, but just because he did doesn't mean he's "trigger happy"

2. True, this war has gone on for long enough, but it could end sooner if the left wing would just stop trying to set a freaking time table to get out and, oh I don't know, give us an exit strategy. Let us send some more troops over to finish the job faster and get out. Constantly trying to set completely unrealistic timetables to get out of there will accomplish nothing and only make things worse. It may have been Bush's call to go to war, but the left has done NOTHING in the last 2 or 3 years to help the situation, which makes the problem worse. Stop complaining and try to be civil about it and stop being stubborn jackasses and compromise a bit.

With ALL that said, I really do like Hands Held High and TLTGYA is sooooo amazing. Though I do think the "studdering and mumbling" statement in HHH was a cheap shot. A lot of people do that.

Oh well. I'm buying the special edition no matter what LP's political status is.

 

What are they suppose to write about? Stuff they don't believe in? People often write music from things that inspire them. Chester felt so strongly about Katrina that it drove him to write a song about it. Same with Mike and if No More Sorrow is about that, then so be it. This is a politcally inspired album and since their last, their's a lot of stuff that's gone down. They have an awful lot that might have moved them or touched them in some way.

I'd rather have these political songs at this point rather then see Chester scream "Don't turn your back on me, I won't be ignored" or "Shut up when I'm talking to you" for another 12 songs and call it an album. These lyrics have meaning and depth, and for me, makes the music more interesting.

You write about things that inspire you, move you. Thats what these guys did. If you don't like it, don't support their album, don't listen to their music. The Dixie Chicks learned the hard way.