annie November 19th, 2004 03:11AM  

this song talks about a teen in school who always feels like nothing is good enough for his/her parents...like the begin *tired of bein what you want me to be.....put under the pressure of walking in your shoes*...something we all feel sometimes...It's about becoming NUMB to the feeling of being put down or discouraged because of parents expecting so much out of their kid. Then again, this could go with anyone not just kids and their parents, ya know?

rebecca August 12th, 2005 04:13PM  

The first interpretation is about the video, not the song. I agree with the second interperentation, in that the topics of rules and authority and being under pressure. It may not even be a parent, it could be someone you look up to like an older sister or brother who dissapprove of you.

Dissaproval is the main theme of this song. Numb is a song about dissapproval but doesn't come across as a depressing song. The intro to the beginning of the song conveys the feeling of being numb. Then, the main hardcore guitars after the first two counts of eight may represent the pressure and dissaproval.

Maybe I'm looking too deeply into it, what do you think?

rockmaniac July 14th, 2006 10:30PM  

this song to me is about a parent and a teen. He's always expected to be and do so much. but that's not who he is and that he wants to find out what he wants to do with his life himself. He's not a great person and his dad was the same way. In the song he says
(but I know i may end up failing too
but I know you were just like me
with someone disappointed in you)

which says to me that they pretty much made they made same mistakes but he wants his own identity and to make his own. without all the pressure to be greater than his father.

anonymous September 5th, 2006 06:18AM  

This song may be about a child and a parent but there is no direct mention that it is about a child and a parent. This leaves the song open to a number of different interpretations depending on a persons backround or what is happening in their life right now. So many people could beleave that the song is talking about sociaties views of people and saying that they don't want to live like how they are thought they should and that they just want to be themselves and be an indevidual

anonymous June 18th, 2007 08:58PM  

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....

anonymous June 21st, 2007 04:43PM  

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.

anonymous June 29th, 2007 02:43PM  

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!

bazzi August 22nd, 2007 03:27AM  

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.

Natsoccer September 10th, 2007 07:51PM  

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.

blu3prinz3 January 22nd, 2008 02:35PM  

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.

anonymous February 17th, 2008 01:45AM  

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.

SXcalibur May 14th, 2008 11:30PM  

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

conner May 27th, 2008 10:02PM  

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.

AvengerK August 20th, 2008 10:40PM  

Based on the video it's about a girl who is generally unpopular and is misunderstood by everyone. Her art is also unappreciated so she has no way of expressing herself. She tries to be popular but ends up hurting herself more. She then tries to find herself in her art again. She knows she might fail and be worse off then before.

anonymous September 4th, 2008 06:22PM  

Firstly I have only seen the video a few times, but it has obviously shaped several interpretations of the song on the database. Video clips – while an essential part of a modern song's epistemology – are ultimately only informed by a lyric’s meaning, not a key to it. Some of these other reviews annoy me as the protagonist in Numb is clearly gender (and age) neutral.

Instead the song resonates universally as a discourse on the destructive nature of control in a relationship, when one participant tries to exert or project their own ideas onto another. This relationship could be parental, romantic or simply a platonic friendship. The narrative of Numb presents a protagonist who has initially tried to ‘go along’ with the ideas or wishes of their partner despite knowing it isn’t congruous with their own beliefs. This essentially results in failure on two levels:

1. Failure of the protagonist self-actualise and develop their own potential ; and inextricably linked to this...
2. A failure to please the other partner in the relationship.

In effect, the title of the song ‘numb’ is an eponymous visceral manifestation of this failure.

anonymous November 3rd, 2008 12:58AM  

Looking at the lyrics of the song it doesn't say who it is about, so it doesn't have to be a teenager and his/her parents. However it does seem to be more teenaged based. The Lyrics suggests that he/she is tired of being "expected" to be like everyone else whether by parents, school peers or even work colleges. This person has been pushed and pushed to live up to the expectations of the others around them, this leads them to become numb to the people around them. The lyrics "be more like me and less like you" and "put under the pressure of walking in your shoes" tells us that they wish to do as they want with their life, not have it ruled over by the expectations of the other people.
also the lyrics "can't you see that your smothering me, holding to tightly, afraid to lose control" show how this person wants to be able to express themselves and not be held back to be formed into something they are not.
"every step that I take is another mistake to you" tells us how although they try they are just shot down.

That my interpretation anyway. Sorry that its long. I suppose above all other it is teenagers who can relate best to this song because of school and parents. great song and powerful lyrics

anonymous November 12th, 2008 03:39PM  

Great lyrics,good instrumentation but whoever told that Chester guy he could sing needs to be beaten severely.He sounds like he has been gargling Drano.The other singer is pretty decent.

anonymous January 21st, 2009 12:59PM  

I believe it can also be applied to a failed couple relationship, I recently went through one, and she never seemed to be satisfied/happy with any of my great efforts, anything I did seemed to be a failure, the song reflects my actual feelings, faithless, lost under the pressure, "Cause everything that you thought I would be has fallen apart right in front of you" .. This song it's about the burden of having to live up to someone else's expectations.. you expect that your actions will have a positive impact, just to be talked down by the very person you love and admire.. over time, you will become faithless, numb, and with an awful feeling of disappointment...

anonymous February 7th, 2009 01:14AM  

I haven't had a look at the video but I relate this to a conflict within each individual with his conscience or with god. That he's expected to always choose the right path and on constantly failing to realize what this path actually is he thus becomes desperate to find an answer to what it is that will put him to peace. I don't know if this will make sense to most of you, but according to me its an outburst within an individual trying too hard to find out what RIGHT. Hope you guys understand what i'm trying to put through here.

anonymous March 20th, 2009 02:33PM  

Ok so this is what I think the song is about A girl who wants to be an artist and be free from authority mainly her mother. But no one will support her... she has no friends and the only thing that keeps her going are knowing that are and linkin park will always be there for her. I think this is the meaning for 2 reasons 1 the music video(watch it! it is really cool) 2 Thats how I feel sometimes so I can really understand how the character feels