Numb

“I’m tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless, lost under the surface. Don’t know what you’re expecting of me, put under the pressure of walking in your shoes.” –Linkin Park, Numb

"Numb" single cover by Linkin Park - source: www.gigwise.com

Menyusul kesuksesan album debutnya, band rock asal Amerika Serikat, Linkin Park, merilis album kedua mereka yang diberi judul “Meteora”. Album ini dirilis pada tanggal 25 Maret 2003. Seperti yang diharapkan, “Meteora” berhasil meraih sukses baik secara komersial maupun tanggapan positif dari berbagai kritikus musik. Sebagai single ketiga yang dirilis dari album ini pada tanggal 8 September 2003 adalah sebuah lagu bertajuk “Numb”. Lagu ini menjadi salah satu single Linkin Park paling sukses, terkenal, dan diakui. “Numb” menduduki peringkat puncak tangga lagu Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks selama 12 minggu berturut-turut. Enam minggu di akhir tahun 2003 serta enam minggu di awal tahun 2004. Menjadikan “Numb” satu-satunya lagu di dunia yang sukses mendominasi tangga lagu tersebut selama dua tahun.

“Numb” is a song about someone’s hunger for freedom. It’s about someone who’s not being themselves under some kind of circumstances they have. They’re trapped and lost, and don’t know how to get back. As much as they feel desperate, they’re tired. “I’m tired of being what you want me to be, feeling so faithless, lost under the surface. Don’t know what you’re expecting of me, put under the pressure of walking in your shoes.” How frustrating it must feel, to be held by those invisible hands in our minds? More than anything, even disappointing someone so important to you, it’s scarier to lose your own true self to someone else. “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.”

"Meteora" album cover by Linkin Park - source: www.amazon.com

And then, until one point that you don’t even could realize anymore, you’ve become so numb of everything. Those voices that haunt you all this times slowly fade away. Those pictures from the past begin to be blurry in the background. That basic instinct of human being to adapt and survive starts to come forward. You become yourself, more than anytime you’ve been through. “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.” In the end you realize that you come so far to that point only to discover another fact. It’s a fact that that someone was actually no different from you, that they’ve been through the same which had led them to that point when they tortured you. As you realize, you promise yourself to not become another-that-person. As you understand, you swear to yourself that there wont be another-you. “And I know I may end up failing too. But I know you were just like me with someone disappointed in you.”

DJ sekaligus personel Linkin Park, Joe Hahn, menjadi sutradara bagi music video (MV) “Numb”. MV ini dibintangi oleh Briana Evigan sebagai model dengan Praha, Republik Ceko dan Los Angeles, Amerika Serikat sebagai lokasi pengambilan gambar. Lagu yang diciptakan oleh seluruh personel Linkin Park ini kemudian di-remix dengan judul “Numb/Encore” berkolaborasi dengan rapper Jay Z. “Numb/Encore” meraih Grammy Awards untuk kategori Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. I personally love the original version of “Numb”. Somehow this song gave me this kind of thrill when I heard it. Chester Bennington’s screaming voice still amazed me until now. How could he make this kind of screaming voice that doesn’t hurt your ears? He sang very desperately in verse part, then it became more intense in bridge part, and then it blew up in chorus part perfectly. The climax was in the third bridge part and I adore it so much how the vocal part was done so perfectly. No wonder that “Numb” is Linkin Park’s one of most critically acclaimed songs.

“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.” –Linkin Park, Numb

“I’m tired of being what you want me to be

Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface
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
Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow

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

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

I'm tired of being what you want me to be”