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"Numb" is a song by the band Linkin Park. It is the thirteenth and final song on Linkin Park's sophomore studio album, Meteora and is also the album's third single. "Numb" topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart for 6 weeks in 2003 and 6 weeks in 2004, making it the only song in history to be the most successful song of the year on the chart for 2 years. It remains one of the most well known rock anthems of all time.

Music video[]

Numb (Official Music Video) [4K UPGRADE] – Linkin Park
Publish date 5 March 2007
Director Joe Hahn
Place shot Prague, Czech Republic
Views 2,197,197,218
(as of 14 March 2024)

Directed by Joe Hahn, shot in Prague, Czech Republic in mid June 2003. The band's performing scenes of the video were shot a little later on June 25th, in a church in Los Angeles. The school interiors, the classroom, the corridor, and the outside playground are set in the Johannes Kepler's Gymnasium in Prague.

The music video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of a young (portrayed by Briana Evigan), unpopular female student. The girl apparently spends much of her time drawing pictures, revealing that she probably has dreams of becoming an artist. She is largely ignored and ridiculed at school, considering that when she is told off by the teacher for drawing in class everybody laughs at her, when she trips on the stairs nobody stops to help her up, and that when she tries to join a group of girls at a lunch table they immediately get up and leave. Also, there is a scene where her mother is ridiculing her for not being the daughter she wanted. There are also self-inflicted cut marks on her arms, which actually say "NUMB" - the title of the song. She is shown near the end of the video rubbing the marks after a stressful day and then deciding to work off her stress by throwing paint instead. At the end of the video, the girl runs into the church that the band was playing in, almost as if she heard them.

Throughout almost the whole video Chester Bennington has his eyes closed, they can just be seen open when he blinks as he sings the word: "Tightly" from the second verse during the line "Holding too Tightly; afraid to lose control. 'Cause everything that you thought I would be, has fallen apart, right in front of you."

MuchMusic's 100 has ranked it at #40 on their Best Videos list.

Reception[]

The track became one of Linkin Park's most critically-acclaimed songs, as well as one of their most commercially successful, peaking at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on February 24, 2004, and spending 3 weeks on top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks and 12 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks. It was also successful in Oceania, peaking at #10 in Australia and #13 in New Zealand. It is among the most popular and well-known songs in the world today. The music video has over 2.2 billion views on YouTube as of 2024.

Versions[]

Numb/Encore[]

Main article: Numb/Encore

In 2004, MTV and Jay-Z asked Linkin Park to participate in a joint performance to re-perform Jay-Z's songs live. During the talks, Mike Shinoda produced two remixes of both's songs: "Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You" and "Numb/Encore".

According to Shinoda: "His reply was "Oh Shit!" Needless to say, we were off on the right foot." On 6 November 2004. the song was released as the third promotional single of the album, and later the lead single from it, becoming a massive hit for both artists, peaking at number eleven on Billboard Hot 100 charts, surpassing the peak position previously earned by "Numb" (number twenty), and becoming band's fifth Top 20 hit single.

Lyrics[]

 Chester   Mike 

I'm tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless
Lost under the surface
I don't know what you're expecting of me
Put under the pressure
Of walking in your shoes

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you

I've
Become so numb
I can't feel you there
Become so tired
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you

Can't you see that you're smothering me
Holding too tightly
Afraid to lose control
'Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take

I've
Become so numb
I can't feel you there
Become so tired
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you

And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me
With someone disappointed in you

I've
Become so numb
I can't feel you there
Become so tired
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you
I've
Become so numb
I can't feel you there
(I'm tired of being what you want me to be)

I've
Become so numb
I can't feel you there
(I'm tired of being what you want me to be)

Related to 'Meteora', the second studio album by American band Linkin Park
'Meteora' original release (2003)

"Numb"

GalleryDemosRelease historyCertificationsAwardsCreditsThe Making of Meteora
Meteora - 20th Anniversary Edition

"Interrogation"
"Faint
(Meteora20 Demo)"
"Plaster 2"
"Shifter"

Release historyChart performance
Linkin Park
Emily ArmstrongColin BrittainBrad DelsonPhoenixJoe HahnMike Shinoda
Chester Bennington† • Rob Bourdon
Albums Hybrid TheoryReanimationMeteoraMinutes to MidnightA Thousand SunsLiving ThingsThe Hunting PartyOne More LightFrom Zero
Other Hybrid Theory EPCollision CourseHybrid Theory: 20th Anniversary EditionMeteora 20th Anniversary EditionLost DemosPapercuts
Singles "One Step Closer""Crawling""Papercut""In the End""Somewhere I Belong""Faint""Numb""From the Inside""Lying From You""Breaking the Habit""Numb/Encore""What I've Done""Bleed It Out""Shadow of the Day""New Divide""The Catalyst""Iridescent""Burn It Down""Lost in the Echo""Castle of Glass""Powerless""A Light That Never Comes""Guilty All the Same""Until It's Gone""Wastelands""Final Masquerade""Heavy""Talking to Myself""One More Light""She Couldn't""Lost""Fighting Myself""Friendly Fire""The Emptiness Machine""Heavy Is the Crown"
Side projects XeroDead By SunriseFort MinorGrey DazeStone Temple PilotsJulien-KProjekt RevolutionRelative DegreeStyles of Beyond
CertificationsGalleryAwardsDiscographyLinkin Park Underground
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