Linkin Park: By Myself Meaning
By Myself Lyrics
Do I follow my instincts blindly?
Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams?
And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?
Do I sit here and try to stand it?
Or do I try to catch them red-handed?
Do I...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think we all have interpretations according to personal experiences. I've always loved this song, but I just really listened to the lyrics for the first time in a good 7 years.
It's about social pressure.
First verse he basically says
How do I ignore all this pressure to fit in, do I blindly just interact according to how I feel?, Do I swallow my pride and compromise myself to try to fit in and give in to the thought losing my indivuality
Second Verse
Do I just allow them to take it from me (individuality) Or do I stop them before its all gone? Do I trust the people, despite knowing that some of them might feel differently about me than how they openly appear to be and possibly end up getting hurt later on? Or do I just avoid this pressure and just keep to myself? Since if you don't conform to the group mentality, your just gonna end up a loner.
Third Verse
I can't hold on to myself with all this pressure. I interact and say the right things, but I begin to lose myself. Its working, I have this "personality" I put on that I know people love, but again I'm just reminded of how I've lost myself to fit in
Chorus
And its my fault, I can't even depend on myself to hold onto to my own personality. I'm beginning to lose the battle, the social pressure is too much to take. The more I try to hold on, the more paranoid I get that the people won't accept me for the real me.
Verse 4
If I turn my back on them, I'll be all alone. But to just follow the crowd just for the sake of fitting in doesn't make sense. If I just swallow my pride, and conform to fit in, they'll make sure that I'll have none of my indivuality left.
Verse 5 basically the same as verse 3
Verse 6
How have I lost so much of myself. I'm getting scared of becoming just one of them. And how will I know that the new me is a problem, when I've lost the ability to think for myself, and I just listen to whatever you tell me in order to fit in?
Verse 7
I'm so deep into it that no matter how hard I try to convince myself that compromising who I am is wrong, I've conformed to this new personality that isn't me but I know you all know and love it. I've completely lost who I was, and for the sake of fitting in, I've changed myself to the point that I'm just one of you guys. I'm stuck this way. -
This is definitely about Low self esteem. How he thinks whatever he thinks highly of himself is the complete opposite. He thinks he can win, he loses. He thinks he can be good, he's bad. He doesn't trust himself and has trouble fitting in society
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My interpretation was definitely different from everyone else. I felt that this song is about the internal struggle of someone with severe trust issues.
The life journey of someone who has suffered a lot of traumas at other people's hands and later in life is unable to put their trust in someone else despite wanting to feel differently. The internal struggle of knowing that you need other people to thrive, but stubbornly choosing to survive by themself.
The trust issues being so deep rooted that this person can't even trust their own judgement anymore. Thus trapped in a never ending cycle of taking out fears on other people and then ultimately internalizing them on yourself. -
To me, its about being lost in society. Feeling he does not fit, and that they are secretly mocking him, then wondering how to block those thoughts out. He wonders if going with the flow without thought would be the right way. If he hides his pride, keeping his emotions in would drive him crazy. Basically, the whole verse shows how confused about the current plight he is in, where no one seems to understand him, and naturally, feel everyone dislikes him.
The chorus tells that he thinks he's tried his best, but no matter what, everything still seemed wrong to him. He feels the stress and becomes paranoid (thoughts of failure sinking in)
The next verse also describes his confusion, but the last three lines tells another story. "killed by the questions", "buried by the silence of the answer". The short line after that, "by myself", shows he questions himself, and cannot find an answer (silence of the answer). This is the difference between this song and "Somewhere I Belong"
He wonders why he lost the life he used to have, probably in childhood innocence where everybody could get along easily. He worries so much, that he does not feel himself anymore. Then people condemn him for being so depressed, not knowing that he is lost in their words.
The stress the others give him, wanting him to feel better, is totally hypocritical, and only he knows it. He starts to scream out all his inner thoughts, that he can't break free from the vices of society. -
the first comment is so perfect i totally agree i also think the most of linkin parks songs are about social pressure and the difficulties or controversies to fit in the society. i really really related with any verse of this song
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I agree whole heartedly with 1+3
I'm 16 (and a half) and I'm self-certifiably mental, also a christian. This song seems to strike a note within me. Although kids have it easy in some ways, these days a LOT of pressure is exerted upon them. not through workload or style entirely, but more through expectation and passive pressure e.g. responsibility is given to children at younger and younger ages. We may not be required to grow through hard work and experience, but there are a lot of emotional stresses and growth. I think that's what this song is getting at.
There is also the internal struggle talked about. This could be the struggle between doing what is expected and what they want to do, socially, which is a big thing in a world where we have such a great freedom of speech/expression and we are morally ambiguous (as a group rather than individually). But there is another meaning. as I said I'm self-certifiable mental, another internal struggle. I'm a christian but also a very dark-minded,evil orientated person. This complete polar attitude has caused me to have split personalities, which is possibly the other interpretation that could be drawn from this section of the song. I won't go into details, but when you fight with yourself it's quite worrying and confusing. which sets your emotions onto a frenzied roller coaster.
Thats what this song means to me, a reflection of my raw emotion. It may not be the same for everyone.
I also love the music and the way it fits to the lyrics perfectly. The music is loud and crazed at some points and then smooth and calm at others, yet always under control. There's also the use of two different voiceswhich lends itself to my theory of split personalities.
If anyone wants proof of what I've said I'd be happy to back up my points with lyrics.
Strahd. -
I think this song was more about his childhood or teen years like most of their songs, seems like the first person who commented on this song was a lot more correct than the second person.
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Ok Im not saying your wrong becuase it seems like your a good fan, but you're kind of wrong. They wrote this song before Chester was in the band and it was about the struggles of trying to get into the business and eventually turned into the pressures of being on the road and getting things done.
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This song's about someone who has become untrustful of everyone, even themself. Mike (the rapper) also seems to talk about some 'inner demons', saying:
'If I let them go I'll be outdone.' It's a little obscure, but a nice headbanger tune for the chorus. This song has been redone about 4 times (Reanimation, Marilyn Manson, seperate remix and the demo).
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