The song In the End from the band’s debut album Linkin Park was enthusiastically received by most professional critics and ordinary fans of modern rock music. It hit the top ten of the charts, entered several authoritative ratings of the best tracks, sold out in huge circulation and became the hallmark of American alternative music.
The composition is also remembered for a surreal video clip with a flying whale. The main idea of the video is also described below in the article.
The history of creation and the meaning of the song In the End – Linkin Park
Co-authors of the work are Brad Dalson, Chester Bennington, Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon and Joe Hahn.
Shinoda talked about how the band Linkin Park composed In the End:
I remember we created it in our rehearsal studio at Hollywood and Vine, working all night in a windowless room. I had no idea what time of day it was. I just fell asleep when I was tired and worked on this song until it took shape. The first person to hear it was Rob, who said (I’ll paraphrase) that this was exactly the song he wanted from us.
Everyone is free to understand the meaning of the song In the End by Linkin Park in their own way. Most likely, we are talking about the failed relationship of the protagonist with his former lover, although many fans tend to interpret the main idea of the track in a broader context.
Release and achievements
In the End is the fourth track on Linking Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, released in 2000. In October 2001 it was released as a single.
The song topped the Alternative Songs and Billboard Top 40 charts, peaked at number two on the Hot 100, and climbed to the top of the charts in Poland and Brazil.
Answering questions from Australian fans, Chester Bennington admitted that he was not impressed with the song at first:
Actually, I don’t take part in the selection of singles. I came to this after working on Hybrid Theory. I’ve never been a fan of In the End and honestly didn’t even want to record it.
VMusic.com.au, 2013
In the End has been included in several prestigious lists of the best music, including:
- “100 Greatest Songs of the 2000s” – VH1,
- “Top Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century” – Loudwire,
- “The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born” – Blender.
Kerrang! called In the End the best rock song.
Clip In the End – Linkin Park
Linkin Park’s album Reanimation included a remix of the song entitled Enth E ND. A music video was filmed for it.
In the End – Linkin Park
The music video for the song was directed by Nathan Cox and Joe Hahn. When creating visual effects, Joe Hahn drew inspiration from the canvases of the artist Alphonse Mucha (Alphonse Mucha).
In the video, the band members perform the song in a strange tower erected in the middle of a scorched desert, over which a strange whale flies. In the course of the video, heavy rain begins, bringing nature back to life.
Joe explained where the whale came from:
I didn’t just get it out of my ass. For me, this makes sense. It’s more about the natural elements. When you think of a whale, you associate it with water, but there is a contrast with the environment, because there is no water there. Accordingly, it was a way to visually connect the earth with the heavens, with the tower in which we were.
MTV 2002
Khan also elaborated on what Linkin Park’s “In the End” video is about:
When you hear a song, it’s basically in a cycle. He is shown in the video. The life cycle begins in a desert, completely dry environment. From this point, where there is nothing, he moves to the end, where the whole evolution takes place.
MTV 2002
Cox shared his vision of the meaning of the song In the End and the music video:
The song can be taken in a negative, such an oppressive context: “I tried so hard and went far, but in the end it all means nothing.” She has a positive tone, but the words are really negative. So the world they start in is bleak, abandoned, deserted, and then it starts to rain and the world becomes a beautiful place.
MTV 2002
Watch the video clip of In the End – Linkin Park.
Cover versions of In the End – Linkin Park
Let’s listen to the remix of Tommee Profitt – In The End (Mellen Gi Remix).
Interesting facts about In the End
- This is the song that Linkin Park most often performed at concerts.
- The track hit the charts again after the death of Chester Bennington in 2017.
- In March 2001, fifteen-year-old Charles Williams shot and killed two classmates in Santee, California. The note he left for his father included a quote from the song: “I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter.”
In the End Lyrics
It starts with one thing
I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time
All I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
You didn’t look below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on, but you didn’t even know
Wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What did it mean to me
Will eventually be a memory of a time when
chorus:
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
One thing, I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme
To remind myself of a time when
I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I’m surprised it got so
Things aren’t the way they were before
You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me in the end
You kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when
Chorus
I’ve put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
I’ve put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
Chorus
Brad Delson / Chester Charles Bennington / Joseph Hahn / Mike Shinoda / Robert G. Bourdon
Lyrics to In the End, © Universal Music Publishing Group
Linkin Park Lyrics
It always starts the same
I do not know why.
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try.
Remember this.
I came up with this rhyme
To explain at the proper time.
All I know is
Time is a valuable thing.
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch him count down to the end of the day.
Life goes by under the ticking of the clock.
It’s so incredible
You didn’t look
Didn’t see time go right through the window.
I tried to save everything, but you didn’t even understand.
I wasted everything and only saw you leave.
I kept it to myself.
And even though I tried, everything fell apart.
What was important to me
In time it will only become a memory.
Chorus:
I tried so hard
And went so far
But ultimately
It doesn’t matter at all.
I had to fall
To lose everything
But ultimately
It doesn’t matter at all.
It’s the same, I don’t know why.
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try.
Remember this.
I came up with this rhyme
To explain at the proper time.
I tried so hard
Even though you made fun of me
Acting like I’m your property.
I remember how you fought me.
I’m surprised it came to this.
Now it’s not like it used to be.
You don’t even recognize me
I’m not the same as you knew me then.
But in the end everything is remembered.
You kept it to yourself.
And even though I tried, everything fell apart.
What was important to me
In time it will only become a memory.
Chorus
I trusted you
Fought to the end
For all this.
You only need to know one thing:
I trusted you
Fought to the end
For all this.
You only need to know one thing…
Chorus
Quote about the song In the End by Linkin Park
…another piece of goofy MTV rap rock at the bottom of the food chain.
NME
