“Numb” is the thirteenth and final song on the 2003 album Meteora by the Nu Metal band Linkin Park, and is also the album’s third single. “Numb” topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 12 weeks.
Music video:
Directed by Joe Hahn, the indoor scenes of the music video are set in a church in Los Angeles, while the outdoor scenes are set in Prague, in Czech Republic. The school interiors, the classroom, the corridor and the outside playground are set in the Johannes Kepler’s Gymnasium in Prague.
The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular young female student (portrayed by Briana Evigan). The girl apparently spends much of her time drawing pictures, revealing that she probably has dreams of becoming an artist. She is largely ignored and ridiculed at school, considering that when she is told off by the teacher for drawing in class everybody laughs at her, when she trips on the stairs nobody stops to help her up, and that when she tries to join a group of girls at a lunch table they immediately get up and leave. Also, there is a scene where her mother is ridiculing her for not being the daughter she wanted. There are also self-inflicted cut marks on her arms, which actually say “NUMB” – the title of the song. She is shown near the end of the video rubbing the marks after a stressful day, and then deciding to work off her stress by throwing paint instead. At the end of the video, the girl runs into the church that the band was playing in, almost as if she heard them.
Throughout almost the whole video Chester Bennington has his eyes closed, they can just be seen open when he blinks as he sings the word: “Tightly” from the second verse starting: “Can’t you see that you’re smothering me?”
Numb – Linkin Park – Lyrics
I’m 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 take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
[Chorus]
I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I’m becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
Can’t you see that you’re smothering me
Holding too tightly afraid to lose control
Cause everything that you thought I would be
Has fallen apart right in front of you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is another mistake to you
(Caught in the undertow just caught in the undertow)
And every second I waste is more than I can take
[Chorus]
I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I’m becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you
[Chorus]
I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
Become so tired so much more aware
I’m becoming this all I want to do
Is be more like me and be less like you
[Chorus]
I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
I’m tired of being what you want me to be
I’ve become so numb I can’t feel you there
I’m tired of being what you want me to be
