Formed in 1996, Linkin Park rose to international fame with their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory (2000), which became certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released during the peak of the nu metal scene, the album's singles' heavy airplay on MTV led the singles "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "In the End" all to chart highly on the US Mainstream Rock chart. The lattermost also crossed over to the nation's Billboard Hot 100. Their second album, Meteora (2003), continued the band's success. The band explored experimental sounds on their third album, Minutes to Midnight (2007). By the end of the decade, Linkin Park was among the most successful and popular rock acts.
The band continued to explore a wider variation of musical types on their fourth album, A Thousand Suns (2010), layering their music with more electronic sounds. The band's fifth album, Living Things (2012), combined musical elements from all of their previous records. Their sixth album, The Hunting Party (2014), returned to a heavier rock sound, and their seventh album, One More Light (2017), was a substantially more pop-oriented record. Linkin Park went on a hiatus when longtime lead vocalist Bennington died in July 2017. In April 2022, Shinoda revealed the band was neither working on new music nor planning on touring for the foreseeable future.
Linkin Park is among the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. They have won two Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards and three World Music Awards. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade list. In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1. In 2014, the band was declared as "The Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now" by Kerrang!.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkin_Park
Studio albums
Hybrid Theory (2000)
Meteora (2003)
Minutes to Midnight (2007)
A Thousand Suns (2010)
Living Things (2012)
The Hunting Party (2014)
One More Light (2017)
Blackbirds
Linkin Park Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I’m alone on my own
In every mistake I dig this hole
Through my skin and bones
It’s harder starting over
Than never to have changed
I’m digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I’m getting back what I gave
I sweat through the sheet as daylight fades
As I waste away
It traps me inside mistakes I’ve made
That’s the price I pay
It’s harder starting over
Than never to have changed
With Blackbirds following me
I’m digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I’m getting back what I gave
I drop to the floor like I did before
Stop watching / I’m coughing / I can’t be more
What I want and what I need are at constant war
Like a well full of poison / a rotten core
The blood goes thin / the fever stings
And I shake from the hell that the habits bring
Let the sick ones down / the bells will ring
Put pennies on the eyes / let the dead men sing
Blackbirds following me
I'm digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I'm getting back what I gave
I'm getting back what I gave
I'm getting back what I gave
The lyrics of "Blackbirds" by Linkin Park portray a sense of isolation and struggle. The first verse indicates that the singer is isolated and lonely, perhaps due to their past mistakes. They feel trapped in the cycle of life and unable to escape from their self-created problems. The "Blackbirds following me" symbolize their inner demons or negative thoughts that follow them wherever they go. The singer is digging their own grave by being caught up in their past, and the blackbirds are there to witness it all.
The second verse continues the same theme, with the singer feeling trapped and with no way out of their situation. They are struggling with their past mistakes and trying to cope with the pain of their actions. The lyrics suggest that starting afresh is much harder than continuing to live with the consequences of their actions. The chorus repeats the same sense of despair, the singer feeling as though they are drowning and unable to escape their past.
The third verse introduces a sense of resignation or defeat. The singer seems to have given up on fighting and is succumbing to their illness. The lines "What I want and what I need are at constant war/Like a well full of poison/a rotten core" indicates that the singer is fighting with their inner demons and cannot decide what to do. The final lines of the song, "Put pennies on the eyes/let the dead men sing" suggest that the singer is ready to give up and let their fate be sealed.
Line by Line Meaning
I shiver and shake the warm air cold
I feel a deep sense of unease and discomfort even in pleasant surroundings.
I'm alone on my own
I am isolated and disconnected from others.
In every mistake I dig this hole
Each error I make only makes my situation worse, as I literally dig a hole for myself.
Through my skin and bones
My mistakes affect my entire being and cause me great pain.
It's harder starting over than never to have changed
Starting over after failure is more challenging than not taking risks at all.
With Blackbirds following me
My past mistakes and regrets are constantly haunting me.
I'm digging out my grave
I am trying to escape the consequences of my actions before it's too late.
They close in, swallowing me / The pain, it comes in waves
My regrets and mistakes are overwhelming and cause immense emotional pain that ebbs and flows.
I'm getting back what I gave
The consequences of my actions are catching up to me and I am reaping what I have sown.
I sweat through the sheet as daylight fades / As I waste away
I am filled with anxiety and dread as the day ends and my situation continues to deteriorate.
It traps me inside mistakes I've made / That's the price I pay
My poor choices have led me to a situation that feels inescapable and I must accept the consequences.
I drop to the floor like I did before / Stop watching / I'm coughing / I can't be more / What I want and what I need are at constant war / Like a well full of poison / a rotten core
I am again succumbing to my vices and addictions, which are tearing me apart from the inside out.
The blood goes thin / the fever stings / And I shake from the hell that the habits bring / Let the sick ones down / the bells will ring / Put pennies on the eyes / let the dead men sing
My physical health is deteriorating rapidly due to my addiction and self-destructive behavior, and it feels like death is creeping up on me.
Contributed by Ella J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bettina Megyeri
I shiver and shake the warm air cold
I'm alone on my own
In every mistake I dig this hole
Through my skin and bones
It's harder starting over
Than never to have changed
With Blackbirds following me
I'm digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I'm getting back what I gave
I sweat through the sheet as daylight fades
As I waste away
It traps me inside mistakes I've made
That's the price I pay
It's harder starting over
Than never to have changed
With Blackbirds following me
I'm digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I'm getting back what I gave
I drop to the floor like I did before
Stop watching
I'm coughing
I can't be more
What I want and what I need are at constant war
Like a well full of poison
A rotten core
The blood goes thin
The fever stings
And I shake from the hell that the habits bring
Let the sick ones down
The bells will ring
Put pennies on the eyes
Let the dead men sing
With Blackbirds following me
I'm digging out my grave
They close in, swallowing me
The pain, it comes in waves
I'm getting back what I gave
I'm getting back what I gave
I'm getting back what I gave
Emily
Spotify needs to add this song ASAP. Damn, I can't believe I just heard this song for the first time.
Iconofthecrazymonkeyman
That’s why it’s called a bonus track on Apple music. Spotify has that too, in mostly pop bands!
Gividu Dilsha
masterpease right ?
Lego Cheesebeans
@Gividu Dilsha it's spelled masterpiece. Sorry for me being this way
raymond withrow
This is such a great song. I wish this was on the 1000 suns album
Harold Torres
It is the Deluxe version
Dhan Thiko
The style is from minutes to midnight
llyorch
@Dhan Thiko It is from the MTM era
Elegant James
This is on the iTunes exclusive version of A Thousand Suns
NFSF1McLaren
it was released on the ATS but it was recorder in the MTM era.