Turn my mic up louder,
I got to say something.
Lightweights stepping aside,
When we come in.
Feel it in your chest,
The syllables get pumping.
People on the street,
They panic and start running.
Words on loose leaf,
Sheet complete coming.
I jump on my mind,
I summon the rhyme I'm dumping.
Healing the blind,
I promise to let the sun in.
Sick of the dark ways,
We march to the drumming.
Jump when they tell us
They want to see jumping.
Fuck that, I want to
See some fist pumping.
Risk something.
Take back what's yours
Say something that you know
They might attack you for
'Cause I'm sick of being treated
Like I had before.
Like it's stupid standing for
What I'm standing for.
Like this war is really just
A different brand of war.
Like it doesn't cater the rich
And an abandon the poor.
Like they understand you
In the back of the jet,
When you can't put gas in your tank.
These fuckers are laughing their way
To the bank and cashing their check
Asking you to have compassion and to have some respect.

For a leader so nervous
In an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling
For nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world
Watching at the end of the day
In the living room laughing
Like what did he say?

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen

In my living room watching,
But I am not laughing.
'Cause when it gets tense,
I know what might happen.
The world is cold,
The bold men take action.
Have to react,
Or get blown into fractions.
Ten years old is something to see,
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep,
Taken and bound and found later under a tree,
I wonder if he thought the "next one could be me".
Do you see?
The soldiers they're out today.
That brush the dust from bulletproof vests away.
It's ironic,
At times like this you pray,
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads,
Inside your markets, your shops, your clothes,
My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show.
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine.
In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,
When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling
For nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world
Watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry
Like what did he say?

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
As the ocean opens up
To swallow you.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you.

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you.



Lyrics submitted by theDrunkPianist

Track duration: 03:53

"Hands Held High" as written by Chester Charles Bennington, Robert G. Bourdon, Brad Delson, Mike Shinoda, Dave Farrell, Joseph Hahn

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Hands Held High song meanings
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283 Comments

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  • +2
    My Interpretation:I thought it was pretty clear that the little book with a red cover was a Quran, not a bible. The entire verse describes war from the viewpoint of a Muslim child, probably in Iraq or Afghanistan. This is further backed up by the line saying "At times like this you pray, But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday."

    The first part of the song is from the American viewpoint, and the things that they are angered by, and how they think that the world is laughing at their leader; the second part from the viewpoint of the outside world, watching the leader stuttering and lying and feeling scared and angry, not laughing.
    Flagged doggonemesson January 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:the little red book is a bible and his brother put in that saying " when the rich wages war its the poor who die" which means when the rich (government) declares war its the poor and the common people who go fight it for them
    Flag tiktikboomon August 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:after reading the comments i have come to the conclusion that while everyone can identify this as an anti-war song not even half of the people on here really understand what's happening in terms of politics both back then and probably right now, mostly because they're looking in all the wrong places. unfortunately in order to get the info you need you have to turn off the network and mainstream news and start watching independent news agencies that aren't on viacom and other media corporations' payrolls. news organizations who are in the business of journalism, not making a buck. oh yeah, and you'd have to spend more than fifteen minutes a day and not just glancing at it.

    so if yah take anything away from this song think of it as a reason to get POed and to start looking elsewhere for the facts. educating ourselves is one of the first few steps people need to take if this world will ever change for the better

    huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/21/…
    Flag Aeetoson June 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One of the best songs I heard from Linkin park..

    "For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
    Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
    And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
    In their living room laughing like, "What did he say?
    Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen"


    Here linkin park meant religious leaders, like priests. How they are hypocrites and how they pretend that they are religious. How they go on tv and get nervous..

    This song is so deep, human.

    Best part of the song:
    "Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before.
    Like i'm stupid standing for what I'm standing for."
    Flag chalhoubgeorgeon November 13, 2011   Link
  • -3
    Song Meaning:
    ITS ABOUT WAR DUMB ASSES
    Flagged linkinparkandmumfordandsonfanon October 19, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:The meaning is pretty much about after a war, what happens and how people react to it.
    Quote:

    It's ironic.
    At times like this you pray,
    But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.

    It is about war mostly. My favorite song of theirs. :)
    Flag BlackWinter98on July 23, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's:

    "You have to react OR get blown into fractions"

    I thought it was "to" and not "or" for a while, but listening to it repeatedly made be realize that it is, in fact, "or".

    Also, it's:

    "With hands held high into a sky so blue, AS the ocean opens up to swallow you."

    Unless of course the lyrics in the album cover booklet say different.
    Flag R1G0RM0RT1Son July 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The great thing about this song is it holds Just as true right now under Obama, as it did when Bush was president. It's a song about not understanding why we're at wrong, and or not agreeing with it. There's also strong tones to just reject violence and war, as it just causes pain for people. Beautiful song.
    Flag chitown15on March 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Will not analyze any politics here, but instead input my opinion on the meaning of the outro. Specifically "hands held high...swallow you."

    Noah's Ark (whether or not you believe in the bible. This is simply a literary interpretation) occurred as God, angry at his children, flooded the world. But God had a contingency. Even though our behavior was (in His eyes) not up to par, God knew that not all people had turned their backs on him. He sent a message to one of these "good" people, Noah, and had him save humanity's future by telling him to build an ark.

    On to the lyric. Holding hands high, in my opinion, is a mark of glory, a la the statement "glory to the world" or "the glory of God". In essence, the good, and the bad, are all part of one world. We must take the storm and weather the storm, as "the ocean opens up to swallow [us]" In short, like Noah, we must be willing to see that the good, and the evil, in our world are not worthy of any attention without its counterpart. So without sin (returning to Noah, God, and the bible as part of extended metaphor), there can be no glory to worship of God, because we would not have the free will to decide for ourselves. Likewise, without good (in this metaphor, God), evil may reign, but sin would not be as "fun (for lack of a better word)" as it is when it is a forbidden fruit.

    Take my opinion or leave it
    Flag Salegon March 05, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:Jump when they tell us they want to see jumping.
    Fuck that, I want to see some fist pumping.
    Risk something.
    Take back what's yours.
    Say something that you know they might attack you for
    -You have to be obedient and do what your superiors say, but he's saying that's not what matters, it's what's important to you that matters. So what if there are consequences? If something has meaning to you, do something to protect that.

    Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before.
    Like I'm stupid standing for what I'm standing for.
    Like this war's really just a different brand of war.
    Like it doesn't cater to rich and abandon poor
    -People discriminate and insult you if you stand up for what you say, if it's not something that everyone else believes in. I believe this part refers to the war in Iraq; we try to justify our actions for entering the war, but so what? War is war. War helps the rich and generally hurts the poor as prices go up; the poor struggle to survive while the rich benefit even more from this because war stimulates economy.

    For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
    Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
    And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
    In their living room laughing like, "What did he say?"
    -Our leaders, an example being Bush, are just stupid and ignorant and they barely know what they're saying, only repeating what they're told to say. People question what he says because he obviously has no idea what he's talking about.

    Amen x6 is referring to prayer obviously, saying that with such corruption and so many flaws in our country, we need to pray, hoping that these problems are solved.

    In my living room watching,
    But I am not laughing.
    'Cause when it gets tense,
    I know what might happen.
    The world is cold, and bold men take action.
    Have to react to get blown into fractions.
    10 years old is something to see,
    Another kid my age drugged under a G,
    Taken and bound and found later under a tree,
    I wonder if he thought, "The next one could be me."
    -We enter war, and soldiers (bold men) step up and protect the country, risking their lives every day. "10 years old is something to see" it's surprising people can live past 10 (not exactly, this is an exaggeration) because of all the crime and corruption. People are killed left and right, and you'll never know when you could be the next target of a crime and wind up dead.

    Do you see?
    The soldiers that are out today.
    That brush the dust with bulletproof vests away.
    It's ironic.
    At times like this you pray,
    But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.
    -We pray for the soldiers to be safe, but it's ironic that we pray for them because religion is what started this war. Muslims and Christians have been clashing for over a millennium now, and this is what has brought us back to war.

    There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads,
    Inside your market, your shops, your clothes,
    My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know,
    But enough pride inside not to let that show.
    -A threat looms everywhere, as we are told. We are never safe, even in our houses. The fear the constricts the nation is used as a tool by political leaders to encourage the war. People are scared but have too much pride to show their fear.

    My brother had a book he would hold with pride,
    A little red cover with a broken spine.
    In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,
    "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die."
    -Someone stands up for their beliefs, and this ties back to what is said the first time.

    Repeats...

    With hands held high into a sky so blue,
    The ocean opens up to swallow you. (x6)
    -We hope that someone, maybe even God can get us out of this whole mess. This catastrophe is too much for us to handle, so in our desperation we turn to a figure greater than ourselves to solve our problem.

    Basically, I believe the song is about how people are attacked and insulted just for being different. We are all fearful; fearful for speaking for what we stand up for, fearful of threat. We try to justify going to war with another country, but we truly can't justify it. War is war, and we're waging it for a similar reason.
    Flagged daasianmanon February 24, 2011   Link

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