Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong

One of the judgements it's easy to make when listening to a lacklustre piece of music is to assume the artists and producers put no effort into the song you're not enjoying and were coasting on how much money would come from it. Having tried songwriting a decent amount myself, as well as observed the processes of close friends whose tastes are more "normie" than mine, I can counteract and say that's definitely not true - some days you're unable to come up with any ideas that thrill you, and it feels like the right series of notes that will turn your song into a distinct entity will never arrive. If anything, weaker songs can take a lot MORE time and effort because they lack the obvious magic that's sparked from obviously-great ideas and songs.

It's something I was able to sympathise with when I read about the background of this song's creation. The band allegedly wrote over 40 different choruses for this song, each time showing it to an attendant in the studio only for their reaction to be "it's alright" instead of "this is the greatest song I've ever heard!". I'm actually amazed this was actually chosen as the first single of Meteora, because it sounds like they never reached that chorus that would actually make it someone's favourite song. Tune-wise, it's easily the least distinctive or memorable chorus of any single from their first 2 albums and can't hold a candle to the instantly-identifiable choruses of "In The End" or "Numb" or even a "Crawling" or "Faint". Moreover, there are none of the distinct electronic hooks that also added to the character of any of those song either, the band's effectively left to just play a tried-and-true formula of quiet verses and loud choruses without any distinct parts from the guitars or drums coming through in the performance. In other words, it's a song that earns that dreaded "G" word that I threw around carelessly back in the day. Luckily, the spark of inspiration would come through on the later singles of the album, which are far more distinctive and remain far more ingrained in the public consciousness for a reason.
Laatst gewijzigd: 29/11/2017 12:29