What does Numb mean?

Linkin Park: Numb Meaning

Album cover for Numb album cover

Song Released: 2003


Covered By: Dead By April (2017)


Numb Lyrics

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...

  1. anonymous
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    Jul 3rd 2008 !⃝

    It's about feeling like everyones judging you expecting you too meet up to certain standards and it hurts so bad when you don't. After so long of not meeting up to someone else's standards you get used to the pain of that inside of you so much it becomes a part of you.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  2. barx91
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    Jun 26th 2008 !⃝

    This song is about being completely over looked by the world and feeling inadequate and numb to the world as a result of conformity and oppression, someone trying to follow their own path but being told its wrong and being forced to conform.

  3. conner
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    May 27th 2008 !⃝

    It's about a teenager who's always had to become what people wanted them to be. They've finally reached the point where they're tired of being what everyone else wants them to be. Thus they become numb to the feeling of rejection because they've received it so many times. They've become tired of being rejected, but also so much more aware that no matter what they will unless they become what they want to be not what people want them to be.

    Everyone's had this feeling at some point so just about everyone can relate. But not everyone makes it to the point of self mutilation. For those who do their is someone who will love and accept you no matter what you're doing or have done and his name is Jesus...This song relates to so many kids in High School and I think that's one of the main reasons Linkin Park did this song.

  4. SXcalibur
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    May 14th 2008 !⃝

    To me the song is about either an older brother or a parent who they can't live up to and they are bring put down constantly because of it and so they slowly become numb to the person they're being compared to but they begin to figure out that they're more alike than he thinks because the brother probably had the same thing happen to him,but in the end the main dude still wants to be his own person

  5. anonymous
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    Feb 17th 2008 !⃝

    Theres really nothing to explain in this song.. If a person listens carefully or even watches the video its self explanatory..

    It's about a person who is being pressured to be the way every one else is.. So she (ref to the girl in the video) eventually become Numb and is she doesn't pay any attention at all to others. Though she wants to fit in and match up to her mothers expectations.

    In the last part of the song the words clearly reveal that she feels that the reason why people and her mother especially want her to behave in a certain way is because they too once had people who expected too much from them and were disappointed in them for not matching up..

    as simple as that..
    LP have very easy to understand lyrics and they all make complete sense. They are also very personal to every person who hears them.

  6. blu3prinz3
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    Jan 22nd 2008 !⃝

    The mother never appreciate what the kid do. all of the kid's success means nothing to the mother. The mother always condemn instead of supporting(putting more pressure). The kid become a victim to the mother when temper flare. The kid was like a sandbag or punching bag to the mother. The mother expect the kid to go through the same life like the mother did instead of giving a good life to the kid. Due to frustration and depression, the kid went into drugs. The kid climb back up but the mother steal, rob and destroy the kid's success. Ended up the kid become numb to his mother's attitude.

  7. Natsoccer
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    Sep 10th 2007 !⃝

    This, like most of Linkin Park's songs, is about that person who wronged Mike or Chester or whoever. The person pushes him to be perfect, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't please them "Every step that I take is another mistake to you." Being "...caught in the undertow" means they are helpless to go against the tide, and are trapped. It could mean parents, a partner, or friend, or anything you want it to be; Linkin Park's songs are tailored for everybody to relate to.

  8. bazzi
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    Aug 22nd 2007 !⃝

    This isn't neccessarly about a teenager that's just their target group marketing thing as someone stated earlier about a teen in the video. Let's be realistic, they don't sell the majority of music to age groups 30-50 its age groups 10-29.

    Listen this thing about being numb is simply just this, as I've went through something similar. You see yourself as something that you want to be, put things like your parents, society etc. all say you have to be a certain way. So you sit in a shell and you do what society and parents say is best. You never expose that creative side of yourself and your just stuck to a certain guideline to follow. They way society wants you to be and the way your parents want you to be, but you never stop and wake up and say HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE. after a while of following these guildelines you don't even know who YOU truely are anymore, hence the feeling NUMB.

  9. anonymous
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    Jun 29th 2007 !⃝

    I think it's about a boy in the age of 18 (or something like that) who wants to go his own way, but his father is always telling him to do anything he doesn't want to do.He wants to go his own way, but no matter what he does, its a mistake for his father (and every step that I take is another mistake to you).
    I like the song very much, because whatever I do, my father its never good enough for my father, and he tries to make me think like him!

  10. anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2007 !⃝

    I think that it's about a teenage guy who is pressured by his parents to be perfect, you know, make perfect grades, do everything right, the works--and he just can't do it. My mom and I were having this discussion the other day, and that's what we came up with. Like where he says, "put under the pressure of walking in your shoes, every step that I take is another mistake to you," I think that means that his parents think they have the best in mind for their son, but he just can't or won't do what they have in mind for him to do. His parents want him to wind up exactly like them, and he doesn't want that. He has now become numb to their feelings and, quite possibly, his own as well.

  11. anonymous
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    Jun 18th 2007 !⃝

    To me it's about a guy in school. He's tired of walking in his father's shoes, and his dad is pushing him....he'd rather be himself. He knows his grandfather did this to his dad, and now he's become so numb he can't feel the other people around him....

  12. borbas001
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    May 21st 2007 !⃝

    I think it's about a girlfriend using him and telling him what to do like what to wear and to see what people. He can't do anything about until he can't take it anymore and tries to make the girl a little more like him.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  13. anonymous
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    Mar 18th 2007 !⃝

    I think it could be just anything that he's going through. It could apply to anyone, but the music video suggests that it is a teen.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  14. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2007 !⃝

    I get the impression that its exploring feelings of someone experiencing depression, the video indicates self harm on the girls arm, the trapped feeling of the world going on around you is something I can relate to, again using the video for reference it may indicate that someone is bipolar (manic deppressive) the fact the girl is artistic and has energy to explore this while not in a so depressive states would mirror this idea but that's just my viewpoint on the video which has been well constructed to reflect the lyrics

  15. anonymous
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    Jan 8th 2007 !⃝

    I think it is about a kid and his dad and the dad wants the child to to follow in his footsteps but the child knows how his dad was brought up.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway



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