Cover of single Breaking the Habit.
| Breaking the Habit | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Linkin Park from the album Meteora | |||||
| Working title | Drawing | ||||
| Released | June 14, 2004 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 2002 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock Electronic rock Soft rock Rock | ||||
| Length | 3:16 | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Writer | Linkin Park | ||||
| Producer | Linkin Park • Don Gilmore | ||||
| "Linkin Park singles chronology | |||||
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"Breaking the Habit" is an alternative rock, electronic rock, electronic music, soft rock and rock music-influenced song by the nu metal band Linkin Park, from their 2003 album Meteora. It was released as the sixth and final single from the album in 2004. It became the fifth consecutive single from Meteora to reach #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a feat unmatched by any other artist in the history of that chart. It was also the second single from the album to reach #1 on the Mainstream Rock miccasx Tracks chart. It was a pop hit, peaking at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 7, 2004.
Breaking the Habit features many electronics, live strings and guitar. There are no distorted guitar riffs, and it is the first single released by Linkin Park to include no vocals from Mike Shinoda.
A common misconception about this song is that it was written by lead singer Chester Bennington, when in fact, band member Mike Shinoda was the original writer. It is a common idea that it was written about Bennington due to his extended drug abuse issues, although Shinoda began writing the song before he met Bennington. The rumor has its roots in Bennington's reluctance to play the song at early live shows, because he was able to relate to it so closely. He has talked about the song and described it as so that Mike was writing about his life, and revealed he got emotional and even got teary, trying to record the song in the studio.
In an issue of Kerrang, Mike Shinoda mentioned that the song was originally going to be an instrumental track over three minutes long, but was convinced by the band to change it. Before Meteora, Mike had been trying to write the song for around 5 years, as he said in the Making of Meteora DVD.
Music Video[]
The music video for "Breaking the Habit" was directed by Joe Hahn and uses an anime-style animation which was supervised by Kazuto Nakazawa.
The video was shot of the band performing the song and was later rotoscoped. The animation style is tied closely to the animated segment from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003). This video has also been a favorite among MTV viewers going so far as to winning the 2004 MTV VMA Viewers Choice Award.
At the beginning of the video, a man is shown lying on a car's roof. The car has been surrounded by police tape, and a crowd is beginning to gather. Police are shown investigating the reason for the fall. The video then cuts to other characters, many shown to be depressed or frustrated with their lives. The first noteworthy character is a girl who breaks a mirror, then writes "I'm nothing" onto a sheet of paper. She then picks up a shard of broken glass, clenches it in her hand, and smears her blood on the paper. Throughout the whole video, a wisp of smoke twists around the characters as their stories are played out, and Chester Bennington's face flashes around various scenes. Suddenly, the smoke flows into the mouth of the dead body, and video rewinds itself, revealing more about the characters and their stories. The dead body rockets upwards and lands on the roof of a tall building, where it is revealed that it was Chester who died. Once Chester lands on the roof, the entire band is shown playing, and finishes the song on the roof.
There is also a second music video, entitled "Breaking the Habit (5.28.04 3:37 PM)", showing the band in their studio performing the song. The video was directed by Kimo Proudfoot and is available on the Breaking the Habit DVD.
Linkin Park - Breaking the Habit
Lyrics[]
Memories consume
Like opening the wound
I'm picking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more
Than anytime before
I had no options left again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I know it's not alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
But now I have some clarity
To show you what I mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight