Linkin Park – Breaking The Habit

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  General Comment:From listening to the song non-stop for the last hour, I've been able to grasp a view of what this song could represent. Yes, the song does talk about drug use, but if you watch the video clip, you can also see that it's describing the pain of a few other things;
  - Being Cheated on
  - Drug Use
  - Depression
  - Being told you're worthless
  
  And so on, all these idea's link up to one thing depression for mostly everybody involved in the activities, talking about this makes up around 1/2 the song and also 1/2 for the video clip, but the Idea of the chorus, is that these patterns and these cycles can be broken out of "Breaking the habit", the song suggest's that we all know what we have to do, but sometimes we simpley don't do that i.e. "Clutching my cure
  I tightly lock the door"
  At the end of the video clip, everything is sent in reverse kind of implying that everything could be changed if we broke out of our cycles earlier, or had frequent changes of heart.
  
  What I have said May not be right, but I thought I may as well share my thoughts..

  Flag Mathazadon May 29, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:I think this is about having a friend(s) who changed and became pretty mean.
  You still want to hang out with them due to memories of your good times together ("Memories consume, like opening the wounds"), but it really can't work, so you need to just break the habit and separate from them. "You all assume I'm safe here in my room" could mean that they think you still like to be with them. "Inside I realize that I'm the one confused" I think is about them influencing you and now you're losing your original self; you don't know what's right or wrong.
  "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." This could be about when you try to break up with them, you don't know how. Sometimes, you feel empathy for them and you try to be diplomatic and nice without being harsh, but they just don't take you seriously. So you try to say it more harshly, but you get out of control and tend to insult them (which ends up in them thinking you're joking, so they don't take you seriously -_-). "I don't know how I got this way, I know it's not alright, so I'm breaking the habit." Like I said before, you get influenced by them badly and you're trying not to talk or listen to them.
  The thing is, I don't know what the "battles" and "fighting" is about.

  Flag FruitCakeson May 19, 2013   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:Putting aside the heavy addiction theme, this song has always struck me as a reflection of living with severe depression.

  Flag dalakaon May 15, 2013   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:I think it could be about the drug problems Chester had while younger

  Flag George8521on January 27, 2013   Link

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• -3
  General Comment:I think it's about a girl (or guy) whose boyriend is out of town for a few more days; she's feeling down (as she always does this time of year); and she wants to use someone so he'll keep her company until lil' Jasmine or Nicole returns for some good lovin'. She's really not going to break any habit. She wants to repeat the cycle at his expense. And he wants none of it 'cause he knows the end result. It doesn't change. Good song.

  Flag cumonbabylitemyfireon December 28, 2012   Link

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• +4
  My Opinion:Ok to start off before I give my opinion what this song means.. I'm just going to say a couple things about everyone's interpretation. This song is about a drug addiction yes, but what most people don't realize is that this song isn't just about that. It's about your own meaning of the song. You may think it means something about an unhealthy relationship, addiction to drugs, addiction to something else, but the real meaning is what you define it as. In Linkin Parks case they made this song about a drug addiction and learning to break that nasty habit of yours.
  
  Bottom line is that: We as people all have problems in life. Some may say, we should fix them, but others may say we should let them go. Once you've overcame your problem you're always going to have another problem occur sometime in your life. You can either try to build up and learn from it(move on) or you can just choose the fact that you have that particular problem and than move on to not worrying about it.

  Flag gurton September 15, 2012   Link

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    If you think this song means something about an unhealthy relationship, that's what you're defining it as, not what the band or what the actual song is about.

    Flag gurton September 15, 2012  
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  Song Meaning:Well to tell you the real meaning of the song ,it is about Chester's drug addiction and Mike wrote the song for him. The way I like to interpret it is self-harm because I'm a self harmer and whenever i listen to the song it helps me not self harm.

  Flagged alexdbzalexon August 14, 2012   Link

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• +1
  My Interpretation:To me, this song is about someone who's misunderstood and has done some bad things. My example would be the Joker. "I don't know how I got this way," would refer to his scars or him becoming an insane criminal. He doesn't know why he does things, he just DOES. The song really speaks to me for that reason, and it always reminds me of some aspect of my life.

  Flag Ari15on July 28, 2012   Link

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• +4
  General Comment:This is one of my favorite songs of all time. The song describes the thoughts/emotions of someone who is about to commit suicide. It also refers to what may have caused the person to become that way. The lyrics are very general and vague so almost can relate to it. They can refer to almost any great emotional/physical struggle life gives us. Lost love, unrequited love, abusive relationship, cheating spouse, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, sexual abuse, bullying, PTSD, war trauma, self-harm, self-image issue etc. The list goes on and on.
  
  It’s such a beautiful song. It brings out the thoughts that someone who is suicidal more accurately, clearly and emotionally than any other song I have heard. If you want just a small idea of how horrible a person going through those experiences goes through, just listen to this song.
  
  By the way, anyone who has previously post that this song is about “breaking the habit” of drug addiction or whatever someone’s problem might be should have a closer look at the lyrics. This is clearly NOT an inspirational song about getting over your problems. This is made clear towards the end with the lines:
  
  “I will never fight again and this is how it ends” and “I don’t know how I got this way I’ll never be alright so I’m breaking the habit tonight” This is clearly saying that the person stopped fighting to fix their problem and has given up. He knows he will never get over his experience. It has made him so suicidal that he is going to kill himself tonight.

  Flag griffon651on July 17, 2012   Link

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    You should give a listen to VNV Nation Ghost, Blue October Into the Ocean, Elizabeth on the bathroom floor by the Eels to name a few ^^

    Flag TheXFactor3on March 22, 2013  
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  My Interpretation:I interpret this song to be about a drug addict.
  
  VERSE 1
  "Memories consume like opening the wounds" - He knows he's addicted, but feels pain over quite being able to stop it. "I'm picking me apart again" could be a metaphor also, about how he's destroying his body with the drugs. As for the rest of the verse, people think he's safe away from drugs, but if he goes too long without them he -could- find a way to get them again.
  
  VERSE 2
  The addict has, after some time, finally got his hands on some drugs. He was out of breath from what it took to get/buy/steal them. He's suffering from withdrawal, which is why he "hurts much more than any time before". Trying to quit is too much, so "he has no other options left" - the "again" hinting that he tried and failed to stop before.
  
  CHORUS
  He wants to get better, not to have to fight the addiction - but it's messed him up. He doesn't know whether it's worth it to fight the addiction or figuratively fight his friends and family (pushing them away because of the drugs). Also, he's starting to think about not WHEN he'll be free of the addiction but IF.
  At the last chorus there ("but now I have some clarity to show you what I mean), previously he had felt like no one around him had truly understood his situation and the power of the addiction, which is why he composed the song.
  Just before the last chorus, he's giving up - "I'll never fight again."
  He believes that it's impossible for him to be free of his addiction("I'll never be alright"), yet he doesn't really want to live as a hopeless addict. The only other option is death, which is how he truly "breaks the habit".
  
  And this is how it ends.
  
  
  Just my two cents.

  Flag YamiNoKaabiion June 22, 2012   Link

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    Interesting perspective though I always assumed it meant he would often rage about things and is in a moment of self-disgust for saying hurtful things or possibly being violent.
    
    "Clutching my cure
    I tightly lock the door
    I try to catch my breath again"
    
    This sounds as if the "cure" is to calm down and think or take a breath before he attempts to confront the "issue" that causes him to habitually loose his temper.

    Flag driftingdreameron June 22, 2012  

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