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)
Plaster
Linkin Park Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shut up!
Shut up!
I'm talking to you!
I cannot take this anymore
Saying everything I've said before
All these words they make no sense
Less I hear the less you'll say
You'll find that out anyway
Just like before
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
I find the answers aren't so clear
Wish I could find a way to disappear
All these thoughts, they make no sense
I found bliss in ignorance
Nothing seems to go away
Over and over again
Just like before
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
Shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up when I'm talking to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
I'm about to break
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
Everything you say to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
I need a little room to breathe
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
Linkin Park's song "One Step Closer" is a powerful expression of frustration and anger towards someone who just won't listen. The first verse, "I cannot take this anymore / Saying everything I've said before / All these words they make no sense / I found bliss in ignorance," sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer is tired of being ignored and dismissed, and has resorted to embracing ignorance as a means of coping. The repetition of "shut up" emphasizes the singer's desperation and desire for the other person to just stop talking.
The chorus reveals the source of the singer's frustration: "Everything you say to me / Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break." The other person's words are pushing the singer to the brink of their emotional limit, and they need "a little room to breathe" in order to prevent themselves from completely breaking down.
The second verse deepens the sense of hopelessness and desperation, with lines like "I find the answers aren't so clear / Wish I could find a way to disappear." The singer is overwhelmed by their own thoughts and emotions, and sees no way out of their situation. Once again, they express a preference for ignorance: "All these thoughts, they make no sense / I found bliss in ignorance."
Overall, "One Step Closer" is a cathartic expression of frustration and anger towards someone who won't listen. It speaks to the universal experience of feeling ignored and dismissed, and the intense emotions that can come with that. The repetition of "shut up" and the powerful chorus make it a memorable and relatable song.
Line by Line Meaning
Shut up when I'm talking to you!
Stop speaking while I am speaking to you!
Shut up!
Be quiet!
Shut up!
Hush!
I'm talking to you!
Pay attention to me!
I cannot take this anymore
I am past my limit, and cannot tolerate this any further
Saying everything I've said before
Repeating the same things over and over
All these words they make no sense
The words are meaningless
I found bliss in ignorance
I was happier when I did not know
Less I hear the less you'll say
The less I hear, the less you will say
You'll find that out anyway
You will eventually learn this on your own
Just like before
It is similar to what has happened in the past
Everything you say to me
Every word you speak to me
Takes me one step closer to the edge and I'm about to break
Every word brings me closer to a breaking point
I need a little room to breathe
I need a moment to collect myself
Because I'm one step closer to the edge, I'm about to break
I am reaching my limit and feel like I am going to break
I find the answers aren't so clear
The solutions are elusive
Wish I could find a way to disappear
Wish I could escape this situation
All these thoughts, they make no sense
The thoughts are nonsensical
Nothing seems to go away
The problems persist
Over and over again
The cycle repeats
Shut up when I'm talking to you
Be quiet while I speak to you
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up when I'm talking to you
I need you to be quiet while I am speaking
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
Stop talking so I can have a moment of peace
I'm about to break
I am on the verge of a breakdown
Contributed by David L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@maxdelacruz.0228
LYRICS
The light kicks in and the night begins
Goes back to the way that it was before
I gave everything that I can't give in
And still you look at me like I owe you more
So I take what's mine,
until it all it's gone
Thinking of other ways
that you do me wrong
And the lights stay out
and the night goes on
and force things to fit
when they don't belong
Even in the times when I backed away
I still found everything coming back to you
But I never believed
all the things that you say
until I found out that I was saying it too
So I tried to undo what I thought was gone
Trying to take it back how I did you wrong
And as the lights stay out
and the night goes on
I pretend that I fit where I don't belong
@m0002856
Also: After listening to this and the other demo that is more basic and features Chester's vocals only- I'd assume the writing process for this song was something like as follows:
Chester probably came up with a sick idea and recorded the original demo with his voice. It's pretty basic, lacks some of the more refined guitar work of this demo, and doesn't have any of the added effects like the intro segment.
He probably was super happy with the original idea (rightfully so), sent it over to Mike who then added his rap ideas, added effects like the intro sequence, and updated the guitar work to be more interesting with those big open chords. Not sure if it was only Mike who had a hand in those additions and alterations.
There's probably a metric ton of missed steps in between those two and in between this demo and the final version, but it's still cool to get a picture of how some of these songs were likely concepted, written, and iterated upon by the band. We know that they did this process with a lot of their music and it's like... I think the fact that they did have multiple songwriters really only enhanced the final products. One person comes up with an awesome idea that they're excited to share with the band be it a guitar riff, a chord progression, a melody, or some kind of feeling, and they take it and run with it.
I'd assume most of the changes to the song between this and the final product were the band coming up with different lyrics that all fit together and then probably some interference from the producer/label telling them to change some things up to make it more different. I'd almost pin the guitar work in the chorus being changed as a result of producer interference telling them that it was too similar to the verse and to change it up a bit to catch the ear of the listener more than if they repeated the same idea from the verse. That's usually the kind of thing that the producers would have an influence on.
The fact that they were able to write music this way without stepping on anybody's toes shows the level of respect that they had for each other, and it really only served to enhance the songs they were making. I love seeing this peak behind the curtain. I know Mike has gone on record as having expressed hesitance toward making this 20th anniversary album as they didn't want it to become an expected trend with all of their stuff, but something about his response to the Meteora 20th album tells me that he had a really good time going through their old stuff after the initial hesitance wore off.
I hope the time spent sifting through the old work was memorable and pleasant, and I look forward to never seeing another 20th anniversary release from you guys unless you guys decide that you want to do it again and it isn't something that you're pressured to do.
@cnknguyen
I listened to yall through High School and still blast it in my car 20 years later.
@ejicon3099
Me too but I was out of High School when this album came out.
@C.A._Old
Masterpiece demo's!
@C.A._Old
Masterpiece !
@nathanielkile6258
Same, but only 10 years later to the year. Much love to you other fans, older and younger generations that love LP the way we all simply do! 🖤
@C.A._Old
@@nathanielkile6258 remember: soldiers forever!
@joeyortiz7359
This is so crazy! So Figure.09 was supposed to be a sequel to One Step Closer all this fucking time? I fucking love it ❤
@ondraspendlik9759
I noticed a similarity between the two songs a some time ago. The riffs are similar, including the switch from the more muted to the louder parts, the song structure is basically identical, even including the pre chorus interludes, they just seem to have a lot in common.
@joeyortiz7359
@@ondraspendlik9759 I saw another comment that mentioned "Pushing Me Away" inspired to that same effect "Numb". I can hear it in all four songs how they flow into one another. I hope we get more things like this for future albums!
@DaniTheDead
Where does it say that it was supposed to be a sequel?