Linkin Park’s Biggest Song Disproved Itself

Classic rock is full of ironies. For example, Linkin Park’s most famous song disproved itself. That doesn’t make it a bad song in the slightest. It just makes it an odd listen at this point in time.

Linkin Park’s biggest song is about nihilism

Nu metal could get pretty nihilistic at times. Linkin Park was never a particularly sunny band, so it’s no surprise that their biggest song on the Billboard Hot 100, “In the End,” is nihilistic. It’s a song about how nothing really matters. That’s not the sort of sentiment that you usually hear in pop songs, but it worked for audiences in the early 2000s. After all, the United States was not in a good mood in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Pop nihilism is fun and all, but sometimes it disproves itself. “In the End” is a song about how nothing matters that mattered to a lot of people. It was a big hit at the time, it changed the sound of rock ‘n’ roll for the next few years, and its impact is still being felt today. It still gets regular radio airplay and you can hear its influence on Machine Gun Kelly’s moody rock tunes. Who knows if Black Veil Brides would have called their signature song “In the End” if Linkin Park hadn’t written a song with that title first?

You can enjoy Linkin Park’s biggest song on its own terms

Do “In the End”‘s internal contradictions ruin it? Not really. Some listeners (including critics) feel the need to always put a work of art in its cultural context and examine its impact. There’s a place for that, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying “In the End” on its own terms and ignoring its greater palace in rock ‘n’ roll history. 

I’m not sure if artists are doing the world much good by promoting this sort of negativity, but if people get something out of “In the End,” that’s their prerogative. After all, misery loves company. If someone is feeling that they can’t do anything right, a song like “In the End” might paradoxically soothe them by showing that other people struggle with the same feelings. 

“In the End” got a makeover on the record Collision Course. There, Jay-Z combined it with his song “Izzo.” Who would have thought that a rapper as braggadocious as Jay-Z would see something in “In the End?”

‘In the End’ was exactly what the world wanted to hear

“In the End” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 39 weeks. The track became the band’s highest-charting and longest-charting single in the United States. The tune appeared on the seminal album Hybrid Theory. That record reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and charted for a whopping 338 weeks. For a hard rock album, that’s an incredible feat.

Hybrid Theory produced two other singles that became minor hits. “One Step Closer” peaked at No. 75, and “Crawling” peaked at No. 79.  While those tunes were moderately successful, none of Linkin Park’s releases lived up to the popularity of “In the End.”

In the end, “In the End” proved that our actions do matter in the end.