Linkin Park – With You (Hybrid Theory, 2000)
written by matt
Okay, some people don’t like Linkin Park at all, and to be fair, looking at their other music, I can understand why – but how could you not like Hybrid Theory? It managed to be completely different from what the genre expected, and ‘With You’ is an excellent example.
‘wicky wicky wah’ synth scratches, a brooding bass line, and some guitar effects lead into the main groove at :14, resolving at :22 into the high screamy synth, rhythm electric guitars, and rock percussion. So far, pretty average (apart from that bendy synth), and then you get the lyrics, presented in a sort of quiet rap:
I woke up in a dream today,
To the cold of the static
and put my cold feet on the floor
Forgot all about yesterday
Remembering I’m pretending to be where I’m not anymore
A little taste of hypocrisy
And I’m left in the wake of the mistake, I’m slow to react
Even though you’re so close to me
You’re still so distant and I can’t bring you back
Nearly all these lines are gold: “woke up in a dream today”, “a little taste of hypocrisy”, “left in the wake of the mistake, slow to react”… and the repeated word in “the cold of the static and put my cold feet on the floor” doesn’t even bother me, for some reason. The melodic sceamo chorus is so-so, but is a lot more stomachable and harmonic then other stuff I’ve heard. And then the rapping comes back:
I hit you and you hit me back
We fall to the floor the rest of the day stands still
Fine line between this and that
When things go wrong I pretend the past isn’t real
That whole phrase is fantastic – four lines, and he’s created the setting for an entire story. Among all this, the guitars manage to be distorted and still in-tune, the percussion (which is consistently spot-on throughout Link Park’s tracks) frames everything else, and the trade-off between rapping and melodic screaming works to communicate the sort of ‘intelligent passion’ feel of the lyrics.
The break at 2:18 showcases some more mixing trickery before sliding into the optimistic bridge:
No, no matter how far we’ve come
I can’t wait to see tomorrow
And then it’s over – the ‘bad radio reception’-effected percussion fades out and takes the bubbly synth with it.