Linkin Park

Released: September 8, 2010

Songwriter: Linkin Park

Producer: Rick Rubin Mike Shinoda

[Intro: Mario Savio]
There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious
Makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part
You can't even passively take part
And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels
Upon the levers, upon all the apparatus
And you've got to make it stop

[Verse 1: Mike Shinoda]
To save face, how low can you go
Talk a lot of game but yet you don't know
Static on the way, make us all say whoa
The people up top push the people down low
Get down and obey every word
Steady getting mine if you haven't yet heard
Wanna take what I got, don't be absurd
Don't fight the power, nobody gets hurt
If you haven't heard yet then I'm letting you know
There ain't shit we don't run when the guns unload
And no one make a move unless my people say so
Got everything outta control, now everybody go

[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
Steel unload, final blow
We the animals, take control
Hear us now, clear and true
Wretches and kings we come for you

[Verse 2: Mike Shinoda]
So keep pace, how slow can you go
Talk a lot of shit and yet you don't know
Fire on the way, make you all say whoa
The people up top and the people down low
Get down and I'm running it like that
The front of the attack is exactly where I'm at
Somewhere in-between, the kick and the hi-hat
The pen and the contract, the pitch and the contact
So get with the combat, I'm letting 'em know
There ain't shit you can say to make me back down no
So push the button let the whole thing blow
Spinning everything outta control, now everybody go

[Chorus: Chester Bennington]
Steel unload, final blow
We the animals, take control
Hear us now, clear and true
Wretches and kings we come for you
Steel unload, fire blow
Filthy animals, beat them low
Skin and bone, black and blue
No more this sun shall beat onto you

[Bridge: Mike Shinoda]
From the front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high
Front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high
Front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high
Front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high
Front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high
Front to the back and the side to side
If you fear what I feel, put 'em up real high

[Outro: Mario Savio]
When the operation of the machine becomes so odious
Makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part
You can't even passively take part
And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels
Upon the levers, upon all the apparatus
And you've got to make it stop
And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it
That unless you're free
The machine will be prevented from working at all

Hybrid Theory isn’t just the title of Linkin Park’s chart-topping debut album, but a career mission statement.

From day one, the same six players (lead vocalist Chester Bennington, drummer/percussionist Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave ‘Phoenix’ Farrell, DJ/Programmer Joe Hahn, and keyboardist, guitarist, and co-lead vocals Mike Shinoda) built the band by fusing all their favorite styles of music into one unmistakable signature sound. With each album, Linkin Park defiantly challenges themselves and their fans by blasting into new musical territory. After setting the template for rock that incorporated hip-hop influences with Hybrid Theory and Meteora, they shifted gears completely and defied expectations with the polychromatic Minutes to Midnight, and again with the esoteric A Thousand Suns, before melding a piece of them all into 2012’s LIVING THINGS. With their 2014 release and heaviest offering in years, The Hunting Party, Linkin Park manage to capture their ever-innovative spirit with a hunger seldom seen in bands on their seventh album. One More Light (2017) is an interesting personal album, filled with a lot of emotion.

Unfortunately, on July 20, 2017, Chester unexpectedly died by suicide, shocking and saddening both fans and his own band members alike.

more tracks from the album

A Thousand Suns

From the album

A Thousand Suns (2010)

Linkin Park popular songs

Wretches and KingsLinkin Park

Linkin Park

A Thousand Suns