awesomeandy2 September 14th, 2005 03:59PM  
This song is about having a previous relationship with someone which is broken up now.

"One thing I dont know why it doesnt even matter how hard you try" means why try when everything falls apart? "Time is a valuble thing" means you can't live your life sheltered, you have make with what time you have. "I tried so hard and got so far but in the end it doesnt even matter" means he did hid best, even more than that, actually, but they broke up eventually anyway.

anonymous August 3rd, 2006 07:52AM  
I`ll give you all my thoughts on this song I love this song and I feel like i`m living it right now. This song can mean so many things a guy girl relationship a friend relationship or just your relationship with the whole world your past this is my life right here this song. I`m not gonna break down the song for you because everyone is different but my thoughts are that pretty much everything in his life is messed up from when he started school being an outcast feeling alone and being the nicest person in the world but everyone turns away and he is lost. Finally getting a girlfriend and it turning bad never being able to open up to her and completely trust her and finally when he does its to late the relationship is over trying so hard to change and getting so far but didn't get far enough so in the end all the work he did didn't even matter. I don't know I could say a lot more but I don't want to spend an hour doing this.

Slomifier August 25th, 2006 10:44AM  
I believe this song is about no matter how far we get in life, how rich or famous we get, in the end,(when your dead), none of it matters.

anonymous December 3rd, 2006 08:55PM  
Wow all of these interpretations do work, but from what I have heard and know about the lead singers past, I would say it's about death and suicide. In fact I ahve heard from a good number of people that the Lyrics were from a suicide note, whether it was one Chester himself wrote or one he saw somewhere I am not sure but I was listening to the radio one day and I believe it was a St. Louis station near a concert but, he was talking about previous battles with depression and fear of rejection, despite his success as an artist.

Indexit November 24th, 2007 08:52PM  
I actually think that this song has multiple meanings. Some say that it is about a failed relationship, while others suggest a last-call suicide note. Both suggestions fit well with the lyrics, with evidence on each side. In Verse (II), [he] sings "Despite the way you were mocking me / Acting like I was part of your property / Remembering all the times you fought with me / I'm surprised it got so far / . . . . You wouldn't even recognize me anymore / Not that you knew me back then/. In my eyes and ears, it seems like [he] is explaining possible issues with a relationship. But also throughout the song, his choruses, can be seen as a last resort way of ending everything-- suicide. If someone talks about "trying so hard" or "in the end it doesn't even matter" then it seems like someone is giving up hope because, literally, in the end, it won't matter because I will be dead. This song probably has 2 levels of meaning too it. If not these two ^ then what else is it?

Fantastic Song, of course.

NobodyKnows December 17th, 2007 05:12PM  
I think I might just be thinking about this too deep but to me this song expresses a lot ideas about life and existential ideas. First line: It starts with One thing / I don’t know why. The one thing is your birth, and nobody knows why because nobody knows the meaning of life. "What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried so hard And got so far But in the end It doesn't even matter" - which means that even if you go through life and do the best you can do, it won't matter at the end because we all die and we all will only be a memory. Also the first half of the song about time talks about how fast it can go by and that we will die soon if we don't use it to the fullest. Also this part of the song that makes everyone think that it is about a ex-girlfriend and their broken up relationship can mean more that you might think : "In spite of the way you were mocking me Acting like I was part of your property Remembering all the times you fought with me I’m surprised it got so (far)Things aren’t the way they were before You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore Not that you knew me back then" It really doesn't have to be about a girl, it is talking about a relationship though. The relationship is about a person and society. society was holding him back. "mocking me" talks about how society holds a certain standard for success which it always make you compare your life to but for almost all of us can't measure up to. "acting like I'm part of your property" refers to how society tries to owns us by setting a guild line for how actions. "Remembering all the times you fought with me" refers to the many times you try to break out from the control of society and be your own person. "I’m surprised it got so (far)Things aren’t the way they were before You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore" refers to how long it took to find his own identity without conforming to what society has set for him. Well anyways that is basically all I got, but I can explain more if needed.

GarrettGenocide June 18th, 2008 03:50AM  
I'm not saying anybody is wrong but this is my interpretation of this song. The numbers go along with the interpretation such as 1 on a part of the song goes with the other number one which would be the interpretation.
1 "(It starts with)
One thing / I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try"
2 "Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time"
1} This "One thing" can be anything take for example trying to change yourself to fit in at a new school, at first he doesn't understand much about anything or anyone. 2} He wants you to remember what he says at the begining to help understand later the story he's going to tell you with this song.
3 "All I know
time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
3} He's learned that time you waste you can't get back yet he continues to waste it with whatever this "One thing" is. And he can't believe how fast the time goes by "{It's so unreal}"
4 "Didn’t look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on / but didn’t even know
Wasted it all just to
Watch you go"
4} At this point in time he hasn't really looked around and took in the scene and everything around him and he's still trying to keep the time that he's wasted already but he doesn't realize that no matter what he does it ends up going to waste anyways. " Watch you go" could be anything from maybe a family member dying or bad family/friend/GfBf relationship.
5 " I kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried
so hard"
5} He has strayed away from everybody and or everything other than the "One thing" that's started this whole thing. And he still tried to keep it all together, possibly his sanity. But eventually he will forget about it and it will just be one of those memories that you remember every now and then.
6 {THE CHORUS} "of a time when I tried
so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
6} He's tried so hard to fix what he has done wrong now or to make something right that maybe he didn't mean to start, " I had to fall to lose it all" he's saying if you don't keep at what your doing or you lose your determination you end up back where you started from and have to do it all over again and he has it that in his mind he will always fall and therefore in the end it doesn't even matter. It's basically futile to keep at it.
7 "One thing / I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how
I tried so hard"
7} He has made something in his mind or phisically to remind him of his failures to try and help him keep his determination and remind him of how what he did wrong after he tried so hard to do that thing.
8 "In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I’m surprised it got so (far)"
8} Even though he's had people put him down for something he's done or said and from the pressure from maybe a relationship with his parents or girlfriend bf, he's remembered those fights and downers from the past, and he can't believe how bad it got and far he has gotten.
9 "Things aren’t the way they were before
You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me
In the end"
9} He's saying that he has changed a lot from what he used to be like and that it's such a change that nobody would know who he is by looking at him, but he's saying that this person never really knew him to begin with or didn't really care about him, yet this person reminds him and it triggers that memory of the past.
10 "You kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I"
10} This goes along with any relationship, a good example is marriage, the man and woman can't just give 50% each towards that relationship each person has to give a 100% all the time and that's how you comprimise and such, but this is like the other part of the song where he kept everything inside yet he couldn't help himself and now this person is keeping it inside and he's trying to help but its not worth it.
11 "I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know"
11} He's trusted this person with everything he keeps inside and that he's ever known and he can't keep on living like he used to even though he has changed it's coming back to him in the end after all he has done to change himself. And he wants this person to know that no matter what he's always tried for that person or even for himself but he's finally giving up.

I'm not entirely sure if most people will understand where I'm coming from with this but this is the best way I could put it without it just being strictly a boo hoo story about how some girl ripped his heart out after all he's done for her even if that is what it's about. But what I think about these songs is what ever it strikes inside of you is what that interpretation is. It could possibly strike anger into your heart or body because of maybe something you've done in the past or recently, or even sadness because you understand that eventually once your time is up there was no point in anything you have ever done in your life except for the most important things other than the little things that you wasted your life on.

barx91 June 26th, 2008 09:42AM  
Might sound strange but I believe this song is sorta about anti-materialism in that its saying that no matter how much we hav and how much we gain in life it doesn't really matter, and wats the point of trying so hard to get so far if in the end it doesn't even matter

anonymous December 18th, 2008 11:29PM  
I've always thought this song was about relationships. You put so much time, thought, and effort into one person. Nothing is forever time just slips away. Everything in life has to come to an end. And when it does....nothing real does matter anymore.

madmatt92 March 31st, 2009 03:03PM  
to me this song is about when we die ''in the end'' nothing we accomplish like fame, money will not even matter ''we tried so hard and got so far but in the end it doesnt even matter''.

kanu April 5th, 2009 12:39PM  
For me song means this (1)((It starts with)
One thing / I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time) means that the two artists in the song represent two frendz who got split due to a certain reasons and tell their story (2) (All I know
time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
Didn’t look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on / but didn’t even know
Wasted it all just to
Watch you go
I kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried so hard) means now they feel that it (friendship) was a waste of time as they believe the y wasted time watching each other go n they tried to hide this fact but can't and now it all is a old memory (3)(And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
One thing / I don’t know why
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind / I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how
I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I’m surprised it got so (far)
Things aren’t the way they were before
You wouldn’t even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me
In the end
You kept everything inside and even though I tried / it all fell apart
What it meant to me / will eventually / be a memory / of a time when I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter) it means that they went a long way being frendz but it was all in vein they tried to prevent it but could'nt. To keep their friendship he acted like he was his pet,property and though they fought he thinks, then also they remained friends . But thinks have changed now he has become so diffrent person that be recognised with the person he was before.You knew me back then, but now our friendship comes backs me. Though you tried to hide it all but it was known and now in the end it does'nt matter. (4)(I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There’s only one thing you should know
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn’t even matter)it means that he use to trust him blindly but that truth was shattered and he want to tell him this but it's all over.........
and if you have seen the video, it starts at a place like underworld, it depicts that by breaking their friendship the've made their lives like hell and are alone. As vegetation grows and rain comes their, it tells that life replenish itself later

anonymous June 30th, 2010 07:49PM  
Almost all songs by Linkin Park have a motivational meaning ,a positive meaning ,including this one,and "in the end"-means nothing of negative things that happens in real life ,that they doesnt even matter,because when we die there is yet another beggining ,an eternal life ,only positive moments that we create matters....

anonymous September 1st, 2010 11:40AM  
This song is literally about a game of chess.

-source: the band