Meanspeed Summary
song title=”Mrs. Robinson”
performer=Simon & Garfunkel
composer=Paul Simon
Album=Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
Recording Source=iTunes® by Apple®
Download hardware=Apple® iBook G4
Intellectual Rights=SONY® MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT INC., 1972
File=m4p
Size=3.6 MB
Bit Rate=128 kbps
Sample Rate=44.100 kHz
Volume=(-7.9 dB)
Profile=Low Complexity
Channels=Stereo
FairPlay Version=2
Special Event=from Paul Simon’s soundtrack for the film “The Graduate”
Beats Calibrated=4,128
Beats per trial=688
Total Time Elapsed=2,027.13 seconds
Mean Time per Trial=225.237 seconds
average beat length=0.327 seconds
Average Standard Tempo/Mean speed=183.3 beats per minute

I had the idea to calibrate this song while I was, excuse the phrase, sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon. I was, as mentioned in the song, literally ‘going to a candidate’s debate’ with ubiquity in the mediasphere and the blogosphere - going full out, watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama make compelling cases for themselves. I was also thinking about the past, making it all rose-colored and great, as the brain has a way of releasing most pain memory.

This is a tricky song, in terms of rhythm. I propose on the top that the speed of the beat be counted with eighth notes rather than the usual quarter notes. Why is this ‘tricky’? Because the rhythm works on two speed levels. The more driving, pronounced rhythm is the faster, hard driving “du du du du du du, du du du du du, du du du du”s [sp] which open up the vocal as beat. Behind the hard driving 183.3 beats per minute is the half speed quarter note rhythm section groove, where bass drum and snare drum notes are literally playing at half the speed of Paul Simon’s twice-as-fast acoustic guitar and Garfunkel’s similarly twice-as-fast “du du du du du du du du du du du du du du” [sp]s. Playing with the rhythm of the speed as the verse turns into the bridge and then the chorus - though one woman’s bridge is another man’s chorus! - Paul Simon was an innovator that was to be seen in the songs of the Police and the ground breaking percussion composition of drummer Stewart Copeland. Sting gets *complete* songwriting credit on some songs where Stewart’s drum compositions are more important, or at least *as* important as the guitar playing as that of an Andy “Andrew” Summers.

I was curious as to what the song *meant* - because if I posted the lyrics and pointed to where each beat comes by number, I would be breaking the law in front of the cyberworld and beyond, so I do not do that. I am not beyond checking out the supposedly legal sites out these that get the clandestine “kevin” to send in the lyrics illegally, songmeanings.net illegally republishes them for profit, and laugh in Paul Simon’s face. I’d love to see that team over there laugh to his *actual* face - then again, they don’t seem the type that with whom Paul would spend any time talking.

The slideshow was prepared by Sophia St. John Newman - one of her finest!

Here are opinions taken, uh, used for educational purposes for, courtesy of the collective moral thinkers at songmeanings.net - sent to us by “pat” - so we, like, have no legal claim on any of the stuff pat sent us. It is interesting stuff, though! Thanks!

Used under the fair use doctrine, © 2008, songmeanings.net:
MRS. ROBINSON MEANS TO THESE 76 PEOPLE –

by SomthinCorporat on 05-01-2002 @ 12:03:37 AM
What does this song mean? I don’t quite know. Did Mrs.Robinson do something bad? Who is she? And why do they talk about DiMaggio in the end?

by geirkbend on 05-01-2002 @ 08:50:58 PM
I don’t really think it has any special meaning.
It was made for a movie,or at least used in the soundtrack. Maybe it’s something with the theme in the movie? I don’t know for sure

by spliphstar on 05-01-2002 @ 08:56:24 PM
this song is from the movie The Graduate, staring ann bancroft and dustin hoffman. long story short: guy meets girl, guy wants girl, girl engaged to other guy, so first guy has affair with girl’s mother, Mrs. Robinson. Famous quote: “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?” it’s a classic, and they are actually doing it on Broadway, but i’m not really interested in seeing kathleen turner naked.

by Bite Me on 05-13-2002 @ 12:34:23 PM
I hate the way they try to reference the Beatle song “I Am the Walrus” with “Coo coo ca-choo.” It’s supposed to be, “Goo goo g’joob,” dammit!

by glamorous*sunrise on 05-17-2002 @ 01:07:25 PM
yeah, it’s just about having an affair with a woman old enough to be your mom… i don’t really understand all the details of the lyrics. the first part sounds like she’s in some sort of institution (the files and the grounds), but the second part sounds like she’s at home (the pantry and the sofa). i saw the movie three years ago and can’t remember if the lines are specific to the film. the beatles reference is kind of lame, but simon and garfunkel are still one of my favorite “oldie” groups.

by radar3141 on 05-23-2002 @ 07:25:46 AM
this is of course about the grad. it was writen for it. but the part with DiMaggio is very clear. this song is all about the bad things people do and when they ask “where have you gone joe dimaggio?” they are not really asking for him, but rather for good values that he represented to america that seem to have been lost.

by midnightclown on 05-27-2002 @ 04:55:42 AM
This song isn’t about the affair in the movie. Well, I guess it is, but it’s more or less about Mrs. Robinson trying to live a life she can’t. She still living as if she’s young and carefree, and it’s contrasted by mentioning what people her age may do, settle down, find religion, etc. Joe DiMaggio is both an example of former American value, but of that of her own generation. Joe DiMaggio and Mrs. Robinson are nearly the same age. He has retired by now, and faded from the spotlight, because he can’t keep doing all the things he did as a youth(baseball), and because he no longer is there to be a role model for America’s youth. But hey, that’s just my opinion… and this is my brother’s nickname. Oops…

by LeChatNoir on 07-02-2002 @ 04:40:49 PM
its about a lady in a mental institution….why else would one sroll the grounds…and its a secret that the robinsons have….she was crazy….MENTAL INSTITUTION!!!

by samanthas137 on 07-12-2002 @ 01:47:24 AM
The song can only be loosley fitted to the movie. This woman is in some kind of rehab center. either mental or alcohol (hide it). She is probably using alcohol to hide from growing old, and changing.

by eldermcguigan on 08-06-2002 @ 10:08:24 PM
Although I’ve never seen the movie, I am almost convinced that Mrs. Robinson is using marijuana or something.
“Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It’s a little secret, just the Robinsons’ affair
Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids”
I think perhaps it is two voices in her head along with what going on in the world. Therefore she’s been commited.

by 5ra on 08-11-2002 @ 07:58:22 PM
and where does Jesus fit in?

by VikingLoki on 08-19-2002 @ 05:21:34 PM
This song is about the state of the nation in the late 60’s. Ms. Robinson is an archetype of the generation that could no longer uphold the “perfectness” of the ’50s no matter how good their intentions. (hence why Jesus loves you, there were lots of wrongs committed with the best of intentions) The entire older generation of the 60’s was in a sort of institution, desperately trying to maintain an unmaintainable false image. Hide it from the kids, they’ll rip off the covers and expose everything. Government is not helping, anyway you lose. Also, an excellent note from the movie: Notice how after they “succeeded” in toppling the establishment’s expectations they sat in the back of the bus looking like they had no clue about what to do next? That was 60’s youth, and that conflict with one side wrong and the other side confused and directionless is what this song is about.

by holtdiggity on 08-24-2002 @ 04:38:19 AM
VikingLoki is absolutly correct on what this song means. It is on the soundtrack for Forest Gump, and a lot of the lyrics relate to the time period and the heppenings in the movie.

by WhiteMagic on 03-15-2003 @ 03:15:29 AM
Great Movie and great song! If you havent seen “The Graduate” Go see it! I just saw it at school! It rocked!!!!

by HostileApostile21 on 03-17-2003 @ 10:14:47 PM
The Graduate is a great movie i must admit…and this song is great too

by MelissaOK on 03-23-2003 @ 04:48:31 AM
I don’t think coo-coo-cachu was meant to be a beatle’s reference- simon is too origional for that - and the whole song is for the graduate - but unlike what spliphstar said - ben (dustin hoffman) first has the affair with mrs robinson and then falls in love with her daughter, elaine. mrs robinson is angry and jealous so she tells elaine that ben raped her. elaine tries to break it off but ben starts stalking her - its really showing how crazy mrs robinson is - about the rape and trying to make her life better by ruining someone else’s.

by Featherfeat on 01-29-1967 @ 10:50:52 AM
Yeah, its not a reference from the beatles, the songs were released pretty close. Google was no use in finding “coo coo ca-choo”.

by StarryEyedTears on 04-17-2003 @ 06:58:45 PM
good call viking - the first logical thing i read there.. but for everyone who tried to relate it to the graduate - uh, the song was written way before the movie but it does apply completely and thats why it was used, they changed the name of the mother to Mrs. Robinson to fit with the song. they’re trying to hide everything - the lost values of the 50’s the new ideas of the 60’s and the affair (this is a Robinsons AFFAIR) can later be applied to the movie.. however you look at it, its still a crazy good song..!

by Karl on 05-10-2003 @ 02:44:08 PM
Great song. Alright so I read it’s from a movie, but still. The rather absurd thought struck me: could Mrs. Robinson be Helen Robinson, Tom Robinson (the wrongfully accused and executed man)’s wife from the book ‘To kill a mockingbird’ by Harper Lee? After all, “heaven holds a place for those who pray.”

by DancesWithSheep5 on 06-21-2003 @ 08:34:17 AM
Actually, I read a bio of Simon and Garfunkel, and they were asked by the producers of The Graduate to make some songs for it.. one of the songs was “Mrs. Robinson,” but an incomplete version.. the complete version you see here was released after The Graduate was out and successful..
“Mrs. Robinson” wasn’t written directly to the movie.. but, if it makes any difference, it was at least meant to refer to the older woman–whose name is Mrs. Robinson–with whom Ben has an affair. It’s a loveless affair.. Ben, a recent college grad who believes he has no future, is trying to search for meaning in the world and he has an affair with Mrs. Robinson because it gives him something to do. Mr. Robinson is Ben’s father’s business partner, and Ben’s father pushes Ben to date the Robinsons’ daughter Elaine, against the wishes of Mrs. Robinson. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and when Ben falls in love with Elaine, Mrs. Robinson unleashes her wrath…
In any case, I’m no expert… but the movie and the song are both brilliant. Scenes and ideas from The Graduate have been copied and remade in countless movies, television shows and other various productions; they say sometimes that all (or at least most) of the best ideas have already been taken

by regan_89 on 06-27-2003 @ 07:38:37 AM
no idea what this song means. dont really care (lol how ignorant) all i know is i love it! im only 16… so ive got no clue about the graduate or that era.. but yeh i still love this song

by talac_121 on 07-01-2003 @ 04:20:17 AM
lol. This song is actually about a woman–Mrs. Robinson–who has a drinking problem. The first lines,
“We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files
We’d like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home”…deal with the meetings Mr.s Robinson has to attend at an rehab center. The other lines, like, “Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It’s a little secret, just the Robinsons’ affair
Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids”…talk about the drinking problem that Mr.s Robinson has and that she was forced into treatment because of her problem. At least, thats my take on it.

by sebastianquilt on 04-16-2004 @ 06:27:22 AM
Talac is right,
LISTEN TO ME PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This song is about a woman with a problem and is in an institution,. IT HAD NOTING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE THE GRADUTE , only that it appeared in it. It was written in 66′ and Paul was asked if it could be used in The Graduate he redid it and said sure. THATS ALL!!! Listen to it!!!
Also, from Pauls MOUTH– “Joe Dimaggio? Well I put that there because since she is a bit crazy I thought why not have her blurt out something COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT to anything.”
K FOLKS!!! And it makes sense because the line after that is
“What’s that ya say Mrs. Robinson, joltin Joe has left and gone away! HEY HEY HEY!! HEY HEY HEY!
ALSo, Paul was not trying to mimic Lennon in I am the Walrus! He is too original for that like someone pointed out!.
THANK YOU! NO MORE COMMENTS HERE PLEASEE!!!!!

by LittleBriddie on 04-17-2004 @ 09:45:06 PM
sebastianguilt, just because you think you have discovered “the truth” about this song does not mean that the rest of us cannot post here. After all, the question is “What does this song mean TO YOU?” The song may not have been written for “The Graduate”, but it was reformulated for it, so there is nothing wrong with trying to draw connections between the two. To me, though, this song is brilliant in its ability to get people happy and singing when the lyrics are quite dark. If the song is about being in an institution, then the first verse (“We’d like to help you learn to help yourself”) is quite mocking of the methods use to help people overcome problems, whether pertaining to alcohol, drug, or mental instability. In the same vein, the references to Jesus and Heaven are also sarcastic, poking fun at the institutions in this country that are supposed to help people, but instead are often corrupt and unhelpful. Finally, the references to “hiding” something is metaphorical, refering to keeping secrets rather than drugs or alcohol in the house. Simon suggests putting “it in your pantry with your cupcakes” as a riff on the people who pretend to be good and holy but who are only hiding behind the facade. It’s about being someone you aren’t and not being honest. I love this song. It’s beautiful and timeless.

by ctxcolormoniter on 05-04-2004 @ 05:25:10 PM
Truth - My grandma is the original ‘Mrs. Robinson’ mentioned in this song, it about her…actually, that is not true, i just said it to hack off sebastianguilt. I have no idea what this song is about.

by terrel on 07-02-2004 @ 08:46:09 PM
you know the lemonheads dont this song aswell?

by WillyWiluhps on 10-03-2004 @ 06:10:38 AM
Aren’t they going to remake the movie? I heard that Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher were going to do it, but I could be wrong.

by yamahasixstring on 10-24-2004 @ 07:36:16 PM
Ok in response to Sebastian whatever, the song is about the movie. Paul Simon actually wrote all the music for the film, and this was the only song specifically written for it. It wasn’t so much about the film as about the culture of the subjects. It was simply meant, as was the film, to reflect the youth culture of the late 60’s. Don’t let the fact that Paul Simon wrote the song for The Graduate take away from it though, its still a great song.

by JeffKaos71 on 11-25-2004 @ 12:30:06 AM
I have heard Paul say in an interview that when he was writing this song he really wanted to use Mickey Mantle in the lyrics not Joe Dimaggio. He said that Mickey Mantle was who he grew up with rooting for and he was a HUGE Mantle fan. but it didn’t fit as well as Joe Dimagio because of the amount of syllables. “where have you gone Mickey Mantle” just doesn;t sound right.

He said this in an interview right after Joe Dimaggio died 5 years ago so he wasn’t kidding around either.

by JeffKaos71 on 11-25-2004 @ 12:33:01 AM
Dimaggio was a little miffed when he heard this, since he was still very much alive even though he retired from baseball in 1951

by RestingPlace on 12-15-2004 @ 11:29:26 PM
If you read the insert of the movie ‘The Graduate’ you will find that Mr. Simon had been writing a song entitled ‘Mrs. Roosevelt’ (pardon any misspellings) a as a social commentary regarding life and times in his era. He was apporached about the movie and adapted ‘Mrs. Roosevelt’ to the picture, renaming it ‘Mrs. Robinson’. Therefore, I think i t is a mixture between the social commentary Mr. Simon was shooting for and ‘The Graduate’.

by leillar on 12-20-2004 @ 06:38:48 AM
The part beginning “We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files” seems out of place… I suspect along the theme of old age/values, they are talking about a nursing home. Thinking it’s some sort of mental asylum or AA meeting, doesn’t seem quite justified in relation to the rest of the song.

by fantomfathom on 12-31-2004 @ 04:22:37 PM
it’s just a good song

by GrungyBeatle on 01-06-2005 @ 05:20:50 AM
Somehow I think this song is about a Nun preaching to “Mrs. Robinson” saying “Jesus loves you more than you will know…” at a convalescent home. Hence the line: “Heaven holds a place for those who pray” and “we’d like to know a little about you for our files” might denote that Mrs. Robinson is in the process of becoming a Nun also. The “Robinsons affair” must mean she’s hiding something that wouldn’t be allowed, I don’t know maybe a drug. Oh my gosh, this sounds alot like the movie Girl Interuppted. How crazy?…

by zippygetshigh on 02-02-2005 @ 05:20:02 PM
wow all your comments are really interesting i never knew it could be about an alcholic woman bla bla bla. i do get the image of a desperate woman when i hear it kinda going through a ‘no one will love me now im 50′ mid life crises. Its really really good i didnt realise how good it was until i listened to it the other day on vinyl and i hadnt heard it for AGES oh and the lemonheads version is really good too well i like it anyway

by A Lack Of Color on 03-15-2005 @ 02:46:26 AM
I think the jesus thing comes with the familiarity of a housewive.
Maybe a cross necklace that she wears.
“Hide it in your pantry”
“it” could be the affair itself. Once again painting the awesome image of a milf

by Final straw on 03-24-2005 @ 05:17:26 PM
This song is sooooo good. Its about a woman who has an affair with a young man and no1 knws. “most of all youv got 2 hde it from the kids”.
From the film the graduate and if u have seen american pie u will hear that some one has covered it and it is played wen stifllers mom gets with finch.

by green_day_FREAK on 04-03-2005 @ 10:55:27 PM
RestinPlace said something right : the song was originally named “Mr. Roosevelt” and was about Theodore Roosevelt…but i don’t know about the rest…

it’s a great song…i have the “Live in Central Park” version (the whole CD…) it’s very good…

by The Hollow Soul on 04-18-2005 @ 10:15:42 AM
The Jesus part infers she doesn’t need to kill herself over what she had done (whatever it is)

by starangel on 05-08-2005 @ 10:12:06 AM
It was originally going to be called Mrs. Roosevelt, but Mike Nichols asked Pul to change it for the movie so he did.
Besides that, it’s easy to draw paralells between the song and movie. In the movie, mrs. Robinson is growing older (Trivia: She’s actually only 5 years older than Hoffman!) and unstable. She wants to be young, so she instigates an affair with a son of her friend’s.
Now the Mrs. Robinson in the movie is obviously questionable mentally and seems to have a problem with drink, and I think if you read the lyrics over with this in mind, you may come to the conclusion that she is in a Mental Institution or a Rehabilitation Centre. I did, and I think I’m pretty close to the truth.
The DiMaggio reference in my mind means Mrs Robinson (possibly while under prescribed drugs) is calling out from a hospital bed, ‘Where have you gone Joe Di Maggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you’ as a symbol of what is good in America, and as a symbol of my generation. THe nurse is trying to comfort her and tells her that Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away, and the hey-hey-hey’s are tying to comfort Mrs. R when she gets upset at this news.
Just a theory of course, anyone got any other thoughts (besides the obnoxious sebastianguilt)?
By the way, regan89, I know you’re only 16 so the Graduate was before your time, but hey, I’m 14 and I loved it! I recommend you give it a try.

by sparticus150 on 05-29-2005 @ 06:19:38 AM
ur all wrong. this song refers to the JFk administartation. JFK could be both our best and wrst president. rumors of his affair with marylin monroe. “most of all u have to hide it from the kids” refers to this. also joe dimaggio was one of marylin monroes husbands. JFK then had marilyn monroe killd, when his reputation was at stake.

by gabirox on 06-13-2005 @ 07:09:36 PM
Whenever I hear this I thought of a lady at a drug rehab center…though, this song comes before the Graduate right? Because the whole: “Put it in the pantry with your cupcakes” doesn’t really fit…unless, “it” is the affair. I think the rehab idea fits better.

by padrino on 07-20-2005 @ 08:43:09 PM
I’ve seen The Graduate and get all the tie-ins, but sparticus150 made an interesting reference. What if Mrs. Robinson is really referring to Marylin Monroe? I doubt that’s the meaning, but it does make for an interesting comparison when you re-read the lyrics with Marylin in mind. She was someone that was adored by many but had her demons.

by Mashleh on 07-21-2005 @ 09:31:45 PM
I think it is social commentary. It is intertextual and it was also added to, to suit the movie the Graduate. It is about journey and how ‘Mrs Robinison” deals with her journey… it could mean marilyn munroe and JFK, Marilyn got her slef into some hot water when she got involved wiht the kennedy’s whether or not they had her assasinated is speculation, but they definately thought she was getting too close for comfort…

by famous_one on 07-22-2005 @ 06:56:53 PM
lol WillyWiluhps, i hope you said that to be funny cuz it was like flippoin hilarious

what i think this song means a bunch of different things at once…like different parts mean different things & everyone has basically posted all i was thinking about so yeah. great but kind of disturbing song.

by findsomepeace on 08-12-2005 @ 10:53:13 PM
i always thought she was an alcoholic or something “Hide it in a hiding place…you’ve got to hide it from the kids.”

by ChildInTime on 08-15-2005 @ 01:39:38 PM
Love the intro of this song; it’s so magical, with the acoustic guitar and when simon & garfunkel go ‘ti ti ti to to to’.
Lovely !
This song makes me calm down.
O yeah, S & G sing this song wonderfully !! Their voices are so sweet !

by SaveFerris on 12-13-2005 @ 02:22:02 AM
i still think it’s about the movie.
i’m watching it right now for the billionth time.

by IDs_Ego on 01-12-2006 @ 10:53:13 PM
I’ve heard that the original title was “Mrs. Roosevelt”, -as in First Lady Elanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D Roosevelt. The lyrics like “Going to the candidates’ debate” make a lot more sense that way. The second stanza could be referring to moving into the White House, and the “it’s a little secret / hide it from the kids” could refer FDR’s long-term affair with his mistress, (in fact, he died with her, not Elanor) which was kept from the general public.

Baseball hero Joe DiMaggio came a full decade later, I don’t see any connection to the Roosevelt part, but maybe Simon was referring to a loss of innocence. Maybe the original lines were different? But this song seems a little more coherent when you lookat it as a song to Elanor Roosevelt.

by Acey_Dearest on 01-23-2006 @ 02:32:29 AM
I remember reading somewhere that Joe DiMaggio was always annoyed by the song, something to the effect of “Why are they mentioning me?” and he never understood it.

Woman has affair, woman tries to hide it, and the singer mocks.

by wennabee on 02-01-2006 @ 01:54:22 PM
Blimey, this one stirred up a few thoughts didn’t it! In the film ‘The Graduate,’ the song doesn’t appear in its entirety. They actually sing ’stand up tall Mrs Robinson, god in heaven smiles on those who pray.’ I think that is a beautiful piece of verse.
The Graduate is definitely in my all time top ten.

by ramonesrokmysox on 02-06-2006 @ 03:16:17 AM
every1 relates this song to the graduate well it was redone 4 tha graduate but its real meaning is about marlyn monroe she has a drinking problem cheks into a rehabilitation center under the name mrs. robinson the part that say she has to hide it from the kids obiously means she has to hide the alchol and y do they mention joe u ask?well apparently marlyn wouldnt talk so duh the media turned to her husband at that time “where have u gone joe demagio our nation turns its lonly eyes 2 u” that would b the real meaning enough crap about the graduate

by ramonesrokmysox on 02-06-2006 @ 03:18:35 AM
o and wen it says…What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, hey)

he left her because of tha drinkin problem

by IDs_Ego on 02-08-2006 @ 10:16:56 PM
I mentioned that “Mrs. Robinson” was originally intended to be titled “Mrs Roosevelt”, as in First Lady Elanor. In this day and age, Joe Di is best known for dating Marylyn Mnoroe and hawking Mr. Coffee in the 70’s. However, he also had a legendary hitting streak in 1941, putting him right smack into the Roosevelt era. But he didn’t exactly “leave and go away” after that, of course.

by hearts2ashes on 03-12-2006 @ 04:20:51 PM
this song is such a sarcastic social commentry. i love it. it’s def abt a time in the past where everyone tried to be clean and perfect, but in reality, they were just as fucked up, they just hid it well.

“Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes” - best line. like i said, i love the sarcasm

by archietdb on 03-22-2006 @ 07:30:40 PM
Damn it people!! Can’t you see? Agreed with others that it is not about the graduate, it is however not about a loon or a drunk. Paul Simon originately wrote it about “Mrs. Roosevelt.” (FACT) He changed it to “Mrs. Robinson” for the movie. He may have written this about Eleanor Roosevelt. Some of the lyrics support this such as “We’d like to help you learn to help yourself. Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes ” and “Going to the candidates debate.” - Roosevelt was a female rights and black rights activist, always helping everyone but herself during the Great Depression.
As with the reference to Dimaggio - he was a reference to the stars gone by - he had finished his baseball carreer.
Amazing song though! Ageless!

by queenofhearts on 03-29-2006 @ 06:59:00 PM
This song was originally called Mrs Roosevelt and was written about Eleanor Roosevelt but they changed it to Mrs Robinson for The Graduate. It really isn’t about the film at all.

by queenofhearts on 03-29-2006 @ 07:13:12 PM
Oh and Joe DiMaggio is a metaphor for better times. It takes place in the 30s and 40s when the depression and world war two hit so they’re saying “where did the good times go”, the good times being the 1920s.

by queenofhearts on 03-29-2006 @ 07:15:07 PM
Both of the about facts are true and not speculation. The Mrs Roosevelt thing is from Jeopardy and Simon and Garfunkel explained the Joe Dimaggio thing on their own because he was confused by it.

by blasphemy on 06-11-2006 @ 08:17:43 AM
I’m not entirely sure about the meaning of this song, but it sounds to me like they are talking about alcoholism or drug use and going to rehab.

by Deladeus on 06-27-2006 @ 06:43:26 PM
I’m not quite sure what I think about the lyrics of this song. I am caught between thinking it’s about some kind of addiction and thinking that its a metaphor for the lost innocence of the ’50’s. It fits both ways. Whichever idea you stand by you have to admit, it’s a great song.

by PEACE maker on 07-04-2006 @ 05:52:23 AM
mrs robinson was and older woman that seduced younger college men in an old movie called the graduate or something like that. i love this song it is deffinatly one of my all time favs. AUG 4th is mrs. robinson day.

by mryjane on 07-29-2006 @ 08:12:01 PM
This is only an opinion, but the meaning that I have extracted from this song is that Mrs. Robinson has a family, she has had an affair with someone a lot younger than her. she gets around in search of her lost youth her want to feel younger. She needs forgiveness (Jesus loves you more than you will know / heaven holds a place for those who pray)
Her husband is aware of what is going on, but realizes that she needs some help (just the robinsons affair /most of all you have to keep it from the kids) Mrs. Robinson is a very confused woman with a lot of secrets(hide it in your pantry with your cupcakes)

Just my opinion……everyone is entitled to theirs

by Prisoner.I.Was on 09-04-2006 @ 03:17:34 PM
This song was actually called ‘Mrs Roosevelt’ but they changed it for the movie, hence why this is about being a mental institution.

by AnInvertedLove on 09-24-2006 @ 01:22:38 PM
I’m going with the social commentary interpretation of the song. It just doesn’t really fit too well with the Graduate or with some addiction problem for me. The Joe DiMaggio thing works much better as a metaphor for the picture perfect facade covering (or predating) the tumultuous reality.

by spicer1629 on 10-03-2006 @ 12:05:31 AM
Prisoner: yes this song was originally called Mrs Roosevelt, but only because it was actually written about Eleanor Roosevelt, but when the final version was recorded, it was changed to Mrs. Robinson to fit with the movie The Graduate. As for Joe DiMaggio: His name was used simply because it fit better than any other name (it had the correct number of syllables). Those lines were used to exemplify how the media alters and misrepresents how we percieve our heroes, especially since at the time presidential scandals appeared in the news quite often (a reference back to Eleanor Roosevelt, who is (in case you didn’t know) the wife of president Franklin D. Roosevelt). This song doesn’t actually have anything to do with the movie, other than the fact that it appeared in it.

by tranquilasadove on 10-18-2006 @ 08:26:12 AM
I’m not really sure what to say about the song being about Mrs. Roosevelt. In it’s own cotext, the song seems to be about the loss of innocence of the post-war traditions to the unstable times of the 1960’s. Joe Di Maggio represents the older, more wholesome times after World War II while Mrs. Robinson is an example of how the traditions have been perverted and ruined. For instance, rather than being a faithful wife and mother, she’s had an affair. Another instance of this is how she seems to not have an interest in Jesus and just what could be called “common decency”.

It’s a great song though. Really sums up the state of things. Quite insightful.

by Aikidog on 10-30-2006 @ 07:45:09 AM
I think even if this song was written about a Mrs. Roosevelt it still works very well.

You see if you remember in the movie, the guy and the girl escape on the bus. That was it. Now imagine for instance if they got married. Ol’ Mrs. Robinson would have gone nuts. The kids they mention in the song are not HER kids but her grandkids, who can never be told why Grandma is in mental institution. If you read it like that it makes PERFECT sense. Its sort of like a “what happened later” type of song…………….

by alwaysanole on 11-01-2006 @ 04:04:46 PM
I find it ironic they refer to Joe Dimaggio for his “good values” considering it is well documented that he beat the shit out of Marylin Monroe on a regular basis.

by SnwBorder52 on 02-09-2007 @ 07:55:45 AM
The song is about an elder lady entering into a retirement home, not a mental institution. She isn’t crazy, just old.

Thats the literal meaning of it, if you want metaphorical, go with Vikingloki’s explanation.

by AntBMSU on 02-20-2007 @ 08:18:10 PM
Thats exactly right. Have you guys actually listened to Bookends?

by Shelza on 02-23-2007 @ 02:34:29 PM
This is my theme song….I love it!!! It really has no meaning to it except the pact that it is a great song.

by peaceandcandyfloss on 04-20-2007 @ 05:05:10 PM
hmmm i watched this documentary that the director of the graduate spoke in…
basically he said they asked paul simon to write the lyrics but he only wrote the chorus at that time. the director (Mike Nichols) then told Paul Simon he should write the rest of it for commercial reasons but for some reason he had doubts about it and didn’t. then when the movie came out he saw that it had made a huge hit and wrote the rest of the song, making it a big hit too… and if you don’t believe me go out and find the dvd of the graduate. its on the special features…
and its not about marijuanna! or drugs!
and its not making a reference to the Beatles song!
hmm i think its just generally about Mrs Robinson being trapped in a situation, not being able to connect with anyone and so, on a level, is a bit insane…

by peaceandcandyfloss on 04-20-2007 @ 05:14:42 PM
it was originally a song called mrs roosevelt. paul simon had started working on it and sort of threw it out/put it aside and when he was under pressure to write a song for mike nichols, art garfunkel remebered mrs roosevelt and so they changed it to mrs robinson and only used the chorus. as i said before…

by askhams on 05-14-2007 @ 03:03:38 AM
I think there are two threads running through song. SOme about Mrs. Robinson, and some about MR Hoffmans character. ‘We like to know a little about you for our files’,'going to the candidates debate’, ‘take a strole around the grounds’. Thats all about his first week at university. Graduate, uni, it does exactly what it says on the tin!

by supersonicemt on 10-18-2007 @ 03:49:39 PM
TO me this song is talking about back then, when Prayer was on the verge of being not allowed in schools. Mrs Robinson is secretly praying, and she can’t tell “the kids” (her students) because they might tlel on her - and basically that6 God is going to bless her for going against the flow and praying.

by heartinakiln on 10-29-2007 @ 10:00:15 PM
it is about mrs roosevelt.
“Going to the candidates debate”
what else could that refer to?

“Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home”
the white house grounds maybe?

it may have other meaning though as well. but that’s what it always strikes me as being about. i think someone told paul simon to change the lyric from roosevelt to robinson somewhere before it was made, and he did.

by [music is life] on 11-13-2007 @ 08:17:22 PM
i know i’m about three & a half years too late in saying this, but sebastianguilt, come on…
i agree with Little Briddie - “what does this song mean to -you-”? i’m sure you’re very happy that you’re the first person who’s uncovered the real meaning behind this song, but your self-congratulation is neither wanted nor needed here, thank you. a little less of the “THANK YOU! NO MORE COMMENTS HERE PLEASEE!!!!!” would be appreciated :).
but anyway! Mrs. Robinson. what an interesting song! it’s so chirpy and has such lovely harmonies but i’d only really thought about the more sinister meaning today, anI i’ve been listening to S & G since i was very small! i think it is about not being truthful to yourself and hiding behind a facade rather than drugs or alcohol problems but i think the mental institute idea is interesting. more thoughts please!

by candyluna on 11-30-2007 @ 01:20:12 AM
WELL…what have the artist said about the song?

Labels: 

The song Skateaway by the Dire Straits show a gritty and live studio performance. Besides Mark Knoffler’s unique guitar playing, once again the bearded “Professor” Roy Bittan, who fits in seamlessly like this with Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks and everywhere else apeears in a classic late 20th Century Recorded Live In The Studio pop song.

Roy, who played for Bruce in the 1970s, could have gone one route or another. Let us just say that the only player besides Bruce Springsteen to appear on Bruce’s 8-track home recorded Tunnel Of Love, probably Bruce at his most candid yet available: Roy. Nothing helps you to fit seamlessly into a band like that of a Professor Roy Bittan without an excellence of timing unmatched. Indeed, after outplaying both Billy Joel and Chuck Levell, Roy has stayed in a league of his own - though Bruce Hornsby’s chords and playing, with his huge hands, devotion to practice and playing excellence, knowledge of music theory and a spark of creativity set a new standard. Still, Roy could have gone Jerry Lee Lewis - instead he did Keith Jarrett plays rock and roll.

This song is typical, in a fatalistic manner, of a song of foreboding. The story pattern is: Boy meets girls, Boy falls in love with girl, Boy gets dumped by girl, boy learns how to play the hell out of the guitar, gets a great band and sings about his frustration, in the refrain, “When ya gonna realize, It was just that that the time was wrong? Juliet!”

That’s heavy - Romeo & Juliet. Oh, if only they had met at a different time?! The possibilities fan the flames of frustration and danger - foreboding embodied.

Meanspeed Music Summary
mean speed=116.8 beat per minute
average beat=514 milliseconds
mean emotion according to mean speed music theory=foreboding
most intersting rhyme=’song’ with ‘long’
“She’s making movies, on lacation, she don’t know what it means,
And the music-maker wants to be the story,
and the story was whatever was the song,
Roller girl, don’t worry,
D.J. play your all night long, all night long




Hunter Newman
March 28, 2008

Meanspeed Music Summary
song title=”What I’ve Done”

performer=Linkin Park
Album=’Minutes To Midnight’, track 6
recording source=iTunes by Apple®
File Type=m4p
Intellectual Property Rights=Warner Brothers © 2007 fir the United States and WEA International
Kind=Protected AAC audio file
Size=3.3 MB
Bit Rate=128 kbps
Sample Rate=44.100 kHz
Volume=(-11.4 dB)
Profile=Low Complexity
Channels=Stereo
FairPlay Version=2
total number of beats measured=3,528
Total elapsed time=1,762.9 seconds
mean time per trail=195.88 seconds
mean beat count per trial=392
average beat=0.500 seconds
average tempo /mean speed=120.07 beats per minute
wikipedia assertion=”There is exactly one down per second”
expression category according to meanspeed music theory=victory
most interesting rhyme=”In this farewell
There’s no blood, there’s no alibi
‘Cause I’ve drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies”

Ian Schneider
Sophia St. John Newman
meanspeed music
March 19, 2008

What I’ve Done
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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“What I’ve Done”
“What I’ve Done” cover
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Minutes to Midnight
Released Digital
Flag of the United States April 2, 2007
Flag of the United Kingdom Flag of Australia April 3, 2007
CD Single
Flag of the United States April 30, 2007
Flag of Australia May 5, 2007
Flag of the United Kingdom May 7, 2007
Format CD single
Recorded Los Angeles, California
Genre Alternative rock
Length

* 3:25 (Album Version)

* 3:28 (iTunes Version)

* 3:29 (Radio Edit)

Label Warner Bros. Records
Writer Mike Shinoda, Chester Bennington, Linkin Park
Producer Rick Rubin, Mike Shinoda
Linkin Park singles chronology
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You”
(2005/2006) “What I’ve Done”
(2007) “Bleed It Out”
(2007)

“What I’ve Done” is the lead single from Linkin Park’s third album Minutes to Midnight, and is the band’s highest debut on the US Hot 100. It had its first radio play on April 1, 2007, and was digitally released on April 2, 2007. The CD Single was released on April 30, 2007. It was also featured during and at the end of the movie Transformers.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Background information
* 2 Track listings
* 3 Music video
o 3.1 Alternate music video
o 3.2 Notable clips from the video
* 4 Chart performance
* 5 References
* 6 External links

[edit] Background information

Chester Bennington described the track in a March 2007 interview with MTV:
“ Joe [Hahn] came up to Mike and me and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to how we used to be…The lyrics in the first verse are ‘In this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi,’ and right away, you’ll notice that the band sounds different: The drums are much more raw, the guitars are more raw and the vocals aren’t tripled. It’s just us out there … and that’s how Rick [Rubin] wanted it.[3] ”

The single and video appeared in the iTunes Store shortly after midnight EST on April 2, 2007.[4] It became available the day after on iTunes in the UK and Australia. On April 2nd, the song was featured streaming on the front page of their official website, with the video being added to the site shortly thereafter.

The song starts out with a piano riff reminiscent of the Halloween theme, before going into a raw guitar sound. During live events, Mike Shinoda plays the piano intro and the guitar after that. This song differs from most of Linkin Park’s previously released songs (except Breaking the Habit) in that it features almost no lead vocals from vocalist Mike Shinoda, save for a brief “na na na” refrain at the end and contributing harmonies throughout. “What I’ve Done” was the last song written for Minutes to Midnight.[5] The song also has a downbeat exactly once every second, consistent throughout its entirety.

It is featured during the film Transformers, playing on Bumblebee’s radio as Sam is dropping Mikaela off at home, as well as leading in to the end credits, and included on the official soundtrack and used heavily in the film’s ad campaign. Megan Fox revealed that when the band first heard about the movie, they asked to be on the soundtrack.[6]

A remix is available on the Bleed It Out single & on the Tour Edition of Minutes to Midnight entitled What I’ve Done (Distorted Remix) which was remixed by Mike Shinoda, one of the vocalists in the band.

[edit] Track listings

CD 1

1. “What I’ve Done” (Radio Edit) - 3:29
2. “Faint” (Live) - 2:45

CD 2 (Maxi / AU Single)

1. “What I’ve Done” - 3:28
2. “Faint” (Live) - 2:46
3. “From the Inside” (Live) - 3:31

DVD Version

1. “What I’ve Done” (Video) - 3:29
2. “Faint” (Live) (Video) - 2:45

7″ Picture disk format

1. “What I’ve Done” (Radio Edit) - 3:29
2. “Faint” (Live) - 2:45

All of the live tracks on this CD (And Record) were recorded at the Chiba Marine stadium in Tokyo, Japan on August 13, 2006 at the Summer Sonic Festival.

[edit] Music video
Play video
“What I’ve Done” music video

The Music Video for “What I’ve Done” explores the many ironies of humanity and its ill effects on the earth and the environment. It features clips of a large, well fed man eating fast food, a woman measuring her waist and a man who is so malnourished that his ribcage is visible through his skin, clips of African Americans being hosed down and the Klu-Klux-Klan, clips of nuclear explosions, the World Trade Center towers collapsing, clips of children waving American flags, a Middle Eastern child holding an AK-47, clips of oil tankers torn in half and birds covered in an oil slick.

DJ Joe Hahn of the band directed the video for the single, which was shot in the California desert.[7] The video premiered on April 2, 2007 on MTV and Fuse. It premiered on MTV-Asia, MTV-Germany, TMF Netherlands and Canada’s MuchMusic on April 3, 2007.

It features footage of the band performing in the desert, interspersed with stock footage reflecting on a variety of social and environmental issues including pollution, global warming, racism, Nazism, gay rights, famine, terrorism, wars, deforestation, poverty, drug addiction, obesity, destruction, rising gasoline prices and crimes committed by humanity. The video also features short views of important historical figures, such as Mother Teresa, Buddha, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Mahatma Gandhi. Some cut scenes like the traffic scene and the napalm exploding were also featured on the Rise Against music video for Ready To Fall.

The video clip was featured and won on MTV’s Battle of the Videos against videos by Evanescence (“Sweet Sacrifice”) and Lil’ Mama (“Lip Gloss”).[8] The video also marks the first appearance of a Linkin Park video in the #1 spot on MTV’s TRL, hitting #1 six times so far. The video is among the all-time top 10 most viewed on YouTube with over 30 million views. AOL currently has a live performance of “What I’ve Done” on their website.[9]
The two different faces of the drum set used in the music video. The picture on the right is from the beginning of the video (with incorrect logo).
The two different faces of the drum set used in the music video. The picture on the right is from the beginning of the video (with incorrect logo).

When the band’s logo is shown for the first time in the video (on the front of Rob’s bass drum), it features a complete circle with the stylized letters “LP” within it. However, every time the logo is shown after this, the circle is not complete, being “separated” by two blank spaces above the “L” and below the “P”.. This is explained in “Making of What I’ve Done”, where the band shows the original drums that were wrongly made, and that they had to use black tape to make the breaks in the circle.

So far, this is the only video in which Joe Hahn’s face is not focused at although some parts shown his hands on the turntables.

[edit] Alternate music video

A second video, made exclusively for Australia, features a completely different scenario from the first; instead of clips of human sin, the video tells the story of a woman working at a government-run pharmaceutical company learning of a plan to develop a new virus for “social control”, and - with the help of several people dressed in black hooded sweatshirts with Linkin Park’s logo on them - smuggles out several blood samples of a human test subject of the virus to expose the conspiracy. The video can be seen on YouTube and Linkin Park’s Australian website.[10]

[edit] Notable clips from the video

The following is a non-exhaustive list of historical and/or stock footage in the music video:

* a Scorpion
* Clockwork
* a Bald Eagle
* Desertification
* The Second Gulf War
* A 1960s civil rights demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama
* Government-controlled societies (Fascist-Nazi-Militarist)
* The Vietnam War
* Global Warming
* Urbanization
* Pollution
* Poaching (Ivory)
* Deforestation
* a Polar Bear
* Citizens of the world’s least developed countries
* Obesity
* An Anorexic woman
* Starvation
* Effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
* Stonehenge
* Hagia Sophia

* Great Pyramid of Giza
* Parthenon
* Vitruvian Man
* Mother Teresa
* Robert F. Kennedy
* Mahatma Gandhi
* Buddha
* Mao Zedong
* Abraham Lincoln Memorial
* Fidel Castro
* Ku Klux Klan
* Adolf Hitler
* Saddam Hussein
* September 11 terror attacks
* Cellular mitosis
* Genetic engineering
* Drug abuse
* a Penguin
* Oil spill
* The Trinity Test mushroom cloud
* Ethnically diverse children with American Flags (Brad Delson)

* Palestinian child (holding an AK-47)
* Auschwitz concentration camp
* other Atomic weapons testings
* Joseph Stalin
* Nationalism (particularly Americanism)
* Acropolis of Athens
* Sultan Ahmed Mosque
* Robert Mugabe
* Benito Mussolini
* Martin Luther King Jr.
* Oklahoma City Bombing
* Homosexuality[citation needed]

[edit] Chart performance

The song made big debuts on the US charts during the chart week of April 21, 2007. The song debuted in the top 10 of the US Hot 100, at #7. It is by far the band’s highest debut to date on the chart (this title was previously held by “Somewhere I Belong” which opened at #47), earning “Hot Shot” debut of the week, and subsequently becoming the second highest position for a Linkin Park single to date on the Hot 100. At the time of its debut it was only the eleventh song since 2000 to debut at #7 or higher on the Hot 100, and only the third song to do so by an artist not from American Idol.[11] The song was partly fueled by digital sales, debuting at #4 on the digital chart.

In addition the song became only the third song ever to open at #1 on the Modern Rock chart, also becoming the band’s seventh number one on the chart. It held the #1 spot on Modern Rock Tracks for 15 consecutive weeks, at the time tying it with “Sex and Candy” as the second longest running #1 in that charts history (it is now tied as the third longest running). It was the most successful song on the Modern Rock Tracks chart of 2007 until Foo Fighters released “The Pretender” which has so far been at number 1 for 18 weeks, the longest stay in history. The song also reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, where it stayed for more than a month. In the iTunes music store the song had reached number two. It was kept out of the top spot by “Give It To Me” by Timbaland. The music video is the first to reach the number 1 spot on TRL for Linkin Park video history. It has also become a moderate hit on the Adult Top 40, and Pop 100 Airplay charts, so far peaking at number 22 and 24 respectively on those charts.

In the rest of the world the song has been their most successful overall, reaching the top ten in over twenty countries including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, and New Zealand to name a few. In the UK the song hit #6 once the physical format was released, making it Linkin Park’s highest-charting UK single. The song was highly successful in China as well, where it became their first number one there. It is their best charting single on the United World Chart, where it peaked at #4. Statistically speaking, this is Linkin Park’s biggest song to date.
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Argentina Top 100 6
Austrian Singles Chart[12] 8
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[12] 13
Billboard Hot 100[12] 7
Billboard Pop 100 8
Billboard Hot Digital Songs 4
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
Brazil 4
Canada MuchMusic Countdown 1
Channel [V] Top 200 of 2007 19
Chile Top 100 Singles 70
Czech Republic 2
Dutch Top 40[12] 26
Dutch Top 100 Singles 9
French Download Chart 20
German Singles Chart[12] 4
German Download Chart 1
India 1
Israel 3
Ireland[12] 15
Italy 3
Latvian Airplay Top 5
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[12] 9
Norwegian Singles Chart[12] 12
Polish Singles Chart Top 50 3
Europa Plus Top 40 Chart (Russia) 12
Swedish Singles Chart[12] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[12] 6
UK Singles Chart[12] 6
United World Chart[12] 4

[edit] References

1. ^ French Download Chart (2007-04-11).
2. ^ De top40 van week 21 - 2007. Radio 538. Retrieved on 13 July 2007.
3. ^ Linkin Park Finish Apocalyptic Album, Revive Projekt Revolution Tour. MTV (2007-03-06).
4. ^ What I’ve Done on iTunes
5. ^ LP Times reports on “What I’ve Done”.
6. ^ Megan Fox Interview.
7. ^ Clock Strikes ‘Midnight’ For New Linkin Park Album. Billboard (2007-03-06).
8. ^ “What I’ve Done” wins MTV Battle Of the Videos.
9. ^ “What I’ve Done” live on AOL.
10. ^ http://minutestomidnight.com.au/
11. ^ http://billboard.com/bbcom/chart_beat/bonus.jsp Billboard.com Retrieved on 05-27-07
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l “Linkin Park - What I’ve Done global chart positions and trajectories”. aCharts.us. Retrieved June 30, 2007.

[edit]

many peopel have many opinions as to what rhe song actually “means.” Thanks to Songmeanings.net, an excellent company that escews intellectual property law and therefore by act of law makes all its “copyrighted” material public - thanks!

y vegetablelasagne on 04-03-2007 @ 10:33:18 AM
woo. first to comment.
This song is great. Or good at least, can’t wait to hear linkin parks new upcoming album… it should be good. Although i’m hoping to hear mike in their songs as much as chester.

by acodemaster on 04-03-2007 @ 02:28:54 PM
This song is truly awsome. I can definetly hear how LP has changed. I think it means “What ive done” really is more like what mankind has done that is destroying this world, hence the music video. and this song is about forgiving the evil people have done and starting over in a clean slate.

by devildo?l+LD on 04-03-2007 @ 02:37:27 PM
ya!i’ve heard and
seen the video and its awesome!i definetly cant wait for minutes to midnight,i’m sure it will be awesome!ah!i cant wait!hehe:-)..ya i agree wif u there,to me its about how mankind is destroying the nature and this song is like saying forgiving what has been done wrong..dats wat i think base on the video and reading the lyrics..yeah!lp’s bak!they rocks!

by LickMySpatula00 on 04-03-2007 @ 03:27:21 PM
such a great song, they really outdid themselves with this one. Great new sound, and great lyrics as always

by Kuntry Azz Niggah on 04-03-2007 @ 05:12:43 PM
Damn This Song Rocks! This Song Means A Lot To Me It Reminds Me Of When I Was Strung Out On Xanax And All The Awful Things That I Did To The People I Loved Most More Than Myself & Also Hurt.., Till I Heard This Song I Felt Like I Could Never Forgive Myself For What I’ve Done I Really Needed This One They Choose The Right Time To Release This One Also Saw The Video And Love It.

by nmcmahon on 04-03-2007 @ 05:31:41 PM
I’m glad to hear some of the new LP songs, and this is definately different, but in a good way. It’s nice to hear Linkin Park trying something new, even if they are dropping the nu-metal sound altogether. This song is great with meaning behind the lyrics, as other people have said. I think it is obvious from the music video (found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADpRcrGZ4LU) that the song is about the variety of problems we face such as terrorism, poverty, using natural resources, taking drugs, etc. and forgiving others and yourself for “what I’ve done”. Keep it up, LP!

by Metallica123 on 04-03-2007 @ 07:36:54 PM
This song is awsome!!!! I think it means to start anew. I cant wait for the new Cd Minutes to Midnight

by wynn19 on 04-03-2007 @ 09:15:07 PM
its about how the band has changed
” a March 2007 interview with MTV.com, Chester Bennington had this to say about the song: “Joe Hahn came up to Mike and I and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to how we used to be” which came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_I’ve_Done

by gusmetora on 04-03-2007 @ 10:07:08 PM
I think this song has to do with changing. Whether it be the band itself going through a change, or you or I. Maybe changing for the better, especially with the verse.

What I’ve
Done, I’ll face myself
To cross out what I’ve
Become, erase myself
And let go of what I’ve
Done

You are moving on from what you did before, and starting anew.

by hd676 on 04-04-2007 @ 12:03:21 AM
Have to agree with most other comments, good to finaly hear some new LP. The sound is solid and the lyrics are almost as good as they have ever been. am hoping to hear Mike as much a chester. Im liking it

by XNirvanaFreakX on 04-04-2007 @ 03:53:07 AM
Ahhh I love it. I think it’s about changing =]

by psykes on 04-04-2007 @ 06:50:00 AM
The song isn’t about his experience with the 12 steps program? I heard him (old chester) talking about his drug problems, and the program on a radio show a while back. When I heard this, I assumed he was singing about that.

by neongreen44 on 04-04-2007 @ 11:11:42 PM
I didn’t know they were going to release a new song..but it’s a lot more I guess positive than their older stuff. It talks about facing your mistakes and forgiving, rather than just dwelling on them.

by GA bass master on 04-05-2007 @ 02:09:54 AM
wow, LP has changed alot since thier first album, great song about changing from what youve already done. awesome song, just wish mike was in it

by ken0777 on 04-05-2007 @ 02:29:19 AM
Heard the song on the premiere day itself and was so proud that chester decided to drop by at my country (Malaysia-for those who don’t know where is that? It’s in Asia and we’re hosting the Formula1 race this weekend) yesterday to promote the presale of “Minutes to Midnight” album… Linkin Park rules!!!

by ken0777 on 04-05-2007 @ 02:33:46 AM
The song is about moving on…changing one self…and to put the past behind… because by doing that…you don’t need any blood shed…you don’t need an alibi because the change in you will be the testimonial itself…to strive to be a better human being living in a cruel world…

by Closure11 on 04-05-2007 @ 04:11:08 AM
Ok anyone who Says this song is about how the band has changed needs to understand wikipedia isnt always right lol, if you look at the artical theres alot of “…” so its obviously edited, and i’m thinking one person on wiki put that there and ppl belive him now.

anyway, this song seems to be more about wanting to start over, be forgiven, and forvive others.

The video may be about something even deeper, the bands new CD is called minutes to midnight (the doomsday clock, probalitlity of a nuclear holecost). The video shows much poverty, nationalism, war, hunger. The state of this world. It also contrasts the fat, rich, greedy of this world.

by shadowy on 04-05-2007 @ 07:57:45 AM
the song’s awesome…clearly about erasing ur past and strting a new life..reforming…startin all over again…!!!
jus cant wait to listen to the other songs on this album..!!!

by Xtr1k on 04-05-2007 @ 08:17:17 AM
I think this song is about saying goodbye to the old you. The part of you you can’t forgive because of the lies and horrible things you’ve done to hurt yourself and others. It’s about having hope, forgiving that part of you and wanting to change for the better. It’s an awesome song.

by Closure11 on 04-05-2007 @ 02:22:04 PM
Yah since I’ve Listend to the song/ video like 50 times in the past day

(http://www.virb.com/linkinpark/videos/6151#comments)

I’m thinking parts of this song are about forgiving yourself.

PS: whoever posted these lyrics please change them, the way that it goes into new lines are annoying like:

In this
Farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no
Alibi, ’cause I’ve drawn

make it

In this Farewell,
there’s no blood,
there’s no Alibi,
’cause I’ve drawn

when put like that it makes what the song is about easier to see

by ken0777 on 04-05-2007 @ 03:28:17 PM
i think the whole idea behind the title of the new album “minutes to midnight” can be interpreted as the awaiting the dawn of a new day due to once the clock hits midnight, it’s a whole new day…so it may symbolize as turning a new leaf and to evolve and to start a fresh once more…

by septimusphoenix on 04-06-2007 @ 09:45:11 AM
i’m going to be the first to say this, but i didn’t fall in love with this song. dont get me wrong, Lp are a fucking awesome band. they were my first favourite band adn will always hold a special place in my heart. my honest first impression when i heard this was that it is very flat adn empty. it doesnt have the ummppff that their old stuff did. after a 4 year gap they needed something that jumped in your face, like ‘we’re not dead here we are screams!’. maybe i got that impression from snippets i heard of some of their new material on trailers for their video diary, but they should have come back with an explosion, not this. it’s kinda mellow…sits in the background kinda thing. adn i dont like the video. sorry but im sick of bands making videos with stock footage. (i didnt like it wen tool adn apc did it either). all that said i still await the album adn hipe for some better material.

by SmackedByGodsmack on 04-06-2007 @ 03:24:33 PM
Wow, that’s all I can say about this song. Phoenix how can you say this song is empty, I think it is much more deeper than their older stuff. Personally I’m kinda glad they ditched the rap-rock. It’s a nice change, not that I’m in any way saying I ddn’t like them before. I think people will start taking LP a little more seriously now that they’ve dropped the rapping more. Appearantly they will still be some on MTM but yea. And the video of this song is amazing too. it pretty much shows everything that’s wrong with the world and how we should just start over on as other people said, a clean slate. All in all, in my opinion this song is a fucking orgasm.

by PCS153 on 04-06-2007 @ 06:16:09 PM
I was really excited about their new album until this happend. I mean it does’nt even seem original or at least the video didn’t. Don’t get me wrong I really like the whole Idea of forgiveness is essential to our survival without grace we are doomed. It’s such a powerful concept I just don’t see this song reflecting it. My problem comes with the new image, what happened, it just seems so cookie cuter, like all the faux political music that is being put out. By the way the Minutes to midnight thing I think is in refrence to the doomsday clock, midnight being the end of the world.I could be wrong though.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_clock)
At any rate knowing this I was interested in hearing what they had to say and feeling like it would be at the best some powerfull music, but any one could do this out there, this is not, linkin park, at least not in my mind. I won’t make my final judgment until the full album comes out, but for now no cookie for you LP I will give it to some one else who is working on a more creative end of the world kinda album, Trent Reznor. Please prove me wrong, let Mike sing/rap a little more, and don’t what ever you do, ever follow the crowd, they will steal your soul!!!!!!!

by enjoythesilence on 04-07-2007 @ 05:53:38 AM
The video for “What I’ve Done” shows the song in a hole different light.

In the video, there are clips of wars, scandals, global warming, etc. and I think that the song is trying to say that we can fix all of this by starting over. For so long, we have denied global warming, let conflicts between countries continue and haven’t really learned from the past. If we just face the music, and try to work on all of these issues, the future may not look quite so bleak.

I was expecting a bit more from the single, but of course this is the only song out at the moment, so I hope that the album is as eclectic as the band says it is. And Mike, what’s with the “na na na”’s at the end? Siiiiing!

by The Interloper on 04-07-2007 @ 02:26:59 PM
First off, I like this song. But out of all LP songs, its my least favourite.
I agree with Septimuspheonix, though. Makes some good points. Agree totally.
I like the lyrics, but the sound, to me…is a bit flat.
That’s just my opinion. So, I’m not saying I am right or wrong if the song is crap or not.
So yea…

Also, the song, as many people have said, is about the band changing there music.

by Closure11 on 04-07-2007 @ 06:54:45 PM
The concept of a band like linkin park making a song about changing their music is just so stupid to me. OK if you follow that reasoning i guess the video would show that they are interested in those ypes of thigs now, and changing them. But why would a group of musicians who are so deep make a song about them changing? I’m thinking the interview part meant that this song is A WAY of breaking out of ,or changing, their old sound, , the song isnt ABOUT changing their song.

The video deffinatly shows a “new begining”.

In the beggining the grass disapearing, the wars, the thriving of some as others die in poverty, and the hate crimes.

Then the people who have made a differecne in the middle.

At the end the band members are jumping, then falling in slow mo, like a new begining. Then the babies being born, and the grass green again.

by Rori the Rocker on 04-07-2007 @ 08:51:42 PM
This is what I posted as a MySpace bulletin about this song…
Anyways, I heard LP’s new song on the radio yesterday and was… a little dissappointed. If you go hear it, it’s not like the LP you expect. I know that they were going for a different style, such as quieting down their numetal/rapcore/alternative sound and looking at classic ’80’s music. That’s fine with me, but I heard their song, “What I’ve Done” and… it’s a little weak.

The entire reason they dropped the numetal sound was because numetal is commonly discriminated as being stupid, the idea of combining rap and rock sounding completely absurd. What’s odd is that even if people made fun of it, so many were fans. Numetal bands include Korn, Deftones, Mudvayne, and even Disturbed. But now, because people make fun of it, most bands want to drop that name and sound.

When it first came on the radio, I was like, “Who is this?” because it sounded so different. At first I thought it was Fall Out Boy or Panic! at the Disco, but sadly, it was Linkin Park. Now, they sound just like every other band out there, and for that I’m depressed. Fall Out Boy and Panic! are great, but as for LP I expected something else. I liked their sound, and I wanted them to stick with it, but nooooooooo. They just had to go find something else. It makes me mad.

When their song, “Breaking the Habit” was released off of Meteora, LP had said specifically for that song that, “This is what Linkin Park will probably sound like in the future. It’s different, and we like it…”

So, I’m frankly just hoping that Minutes to Midnight album has more to offer than “What I’ve Done” does.

Rori the Rocker

by Nikkii_sixx on 04-08-2007 @ 02:15:14 PM
This song is soo different then their earlier work but it’s still soo amazing. I’m in love with this song. Tour Australia LP, pleaseeeeeee!!! =).

by Nikkii_sixx on 04-08-2007 @ 02:16:21 PM
Yet the lack of Mike singing and the awesome screaming sorta sucks =(.

by chubigans on 04-08-2007 @ 02:33:40 PM
I would assume the song is about the end of days.

so let mercy
Come and wash away What i’ve done

Come, today, this ends
I’m forgiving What I’ve done

These seem to be asking ‘God’ to wash away their sins and maybe start over again, for they know the human race has failed. I’m thinking this is kind of like asking for the extinction of mankind before it destroys more, upsetting the balance of the universe.

I would have thought it were about his meth usage, if not for the video, actually.

by nameless_undertaker on 04-08-2007 @ 11:25:30 PM
ok, this is a good song but it doesnt feel like LP. Its not like One Step Closer or Faint, Somewhere I Belong, Runaway…You know? …This is the type of songs that you get bored of after a while.Anyways i hope Minute to Midnight will be ‘more’ LP…needless to say anything about the meaning as a lot has been said already.

by nameless_undertaker on 04-08-2007 @ 11:31:10 PM
I missed Rori the Rocker’s comment…100000% agree with you.

by kangaroobixcube on 04-09-2007 @ 05:44:30 AM
At first I agree with a lot of the people on here about how it just does not sound like LP. That this song was just bad and not what I was looking for from them. But then I went back and thought about that statement and how was Reanimation seen at first?? And even Meteora??? People were like this sucks compared to Hybrid Theory WTF were they thinking?? If you really look at it Linkin Park’s sound between CD’s is probably the most incocistent dynamic sound I personally have ever heard. But thats what really makes them good at the end of it all. I don’t know about you but I am not ready to point my finger or judge.

by david_lpfan on 04-10-2007 @ 05:20:53 AM
It’s a fairly good song, but it seems like LP are suffering from something of an identity crisis.

While the lyrics are still fairly consistent with their old stuff, the music comes dangerously close to pop-rock.

Then again, I wasn’t a big fan of the Jay-Z thing, and Fort Minor wasn’t too great, and this sort of thing seems to have gone in a completely different direction to all that.

I guess I’ll probably buy the album, but by changing their rather distinctive sound Linkin Park risk losing their identity.

by piccolomair on 04-10-2007 @ 06:24:39 AM
Alright, maybe its to obvious to be correct. Is this single basically the bands statement??? As in, minute to midnights will be the bands newest greatest most different album? That thier style will be different and not categorized into that nu-metal shtuff they always get thrown with?

Lets examine the chorus, am i the only one who sees the “pen to pad” references? Erase and cross out, like when writing lyrics. alright let me try to break it down completely…here i go…

In this farewell
There’s no blood, there’s no alibi
‘Cause I’ve drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away
(saying goodbye to what everyoone thought about them. They draw regret from what critics say about thier nu metal music, and its all true, except the fact that they are nu metal which is a lie, truth from a thousand lies anyone?)

Put to rest what you thought
Of me while I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away
(hoping to put to rest that nu metal genre they keep getting hit with, and they are uncertain of whether it will work, oh by the way, that last line; “so let mercy come and wash away” i think they mean mercy from critics and fans, to aid them and way away the mark they have thus left on music society.)

For what I’ve done, I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends, I’m forgiving

What I’ve done, I’ll face myself
To cross out what I’ve become, erase myself
And let go of what I’ve done

(So for everything they have created, music wise, here they go again, starting with a brand new look, sound, and feel, and maybe it will work out, or maybe we will hate them for the change, but its done and they are forgiving themselves for what theyve done, which is get clumped into a nu-metal genre rather than prove they are something brand new.)

thats my take on this song, its also why i believe its the first single, because it was meant to relay that message. I do wish it sounded a lot more different than this, because this still sounds nu-metalish. I also get that the video probably shows a second meaning which alot of people here are agreeing on about mankind and what theyve done, but i think the images in the video are actually symbolistic of the music world, and they are actually not discussing world politics but the politics of music. feel free to take apart my comment.

by blackmyeyes on 04-10-2007 @ 10:27:30 PM
its one of those whatever songs. I love LP’s other stuff but this sounds like they hopped on the bandwagon. Kinda scares me to think what the rest of the album is gonna be like. oh.dear.god!

by minuteman on 04-11-2007 @ 05:05:01 AM
the song, i believe, was written about the concept of “minutes to midnight” - to depict how the band had changed. hence, “in this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi”.

if the some of the lyrics don’t fit that theme, it’s just to keep things nice and broad … and cryptic and whatever … that’s how LP are.

this song is sort of supposed to be LP’s re-introduction. it covers the new sound on the album so it was chosen as a single. LP starting anew.

otherwise, re-interpreted with the video, yeah, it’s about mankind destroying the environment and anything else too.

by TheBigMattowski on 04-11-2007 @ 12:50:08 PM
A call to humankind to forgive itself and destroy the cycles of destruction in which it has snared itself. This song is both hopeful and desperate, but its message is clear: humankind cannot forgive itself until the individual–you and me–forgives himself for the wrongs he has done.

Man is something that must be overcome.

by samanthastfu on 04-11-2007 @ 03:26:55 PM
amazing.

that is all.

by septimusphoenix on 04-11-2007 @ 11:02:12 PM
glad to see im not the only one who was somewhat dissapointed by this song. i, and others, or not flaming this song or the band, nor saying it’s a bad song. but it doesn’t reach their usual standard. i’m actually missing the rap/hip hop influence in that it can bring a heavier beat (and i detest hip hop *shudders*) LP are a good band, one of the best, but i’m hoping for some heavier adn more interesting songs from the album. what i’ve learnt from their previous albums is that their music not only gets ur attention - IT DEMANDS IT. the rhythms kidnap you and chester screams in your face. this song was very mellowed out.

by ~bre~ on 04-12-2007 @ 09:36:30 AM
I love Linkin Park and have since i was like 11 i love this new song heaps too spesh the piano thingo at the start but i dnt like the clip for it at all it doesnt really match with linkin park even if they are changling.. i dunno LP have had some great original clips in the past and this seems to be like everyone elses clips… Wolfmother meets U2 anyone??

Dont get me wrongtho i love linkin park and i cant wait for their new album, im counting down the days already lol

by NoNotTheBees on 04-12-2007 @ 11:08:43 AM
To me, this song is kind of an intriguing direction for the band. It definitely sounds like they stripped down all the heavy electronic stuff and made it sound a lot more clean, but in a lot of ways, that ways, the old stuff with all the DJ work was what gave them the distinctive style I’ve come to like. I’m guessing they figured their old music had this certain “ZOMG hardcore!” teen angsty feel and wanted to move past that, but in the process, they kind of got rid of their distinctive edge in favor of something more generic. As much as I’d like them to ditch their old “SHUT UP WHEN I’M TALKING TO U!!!!” material, I’m hoping that with the rest of the album, they’ll do that while *also* retaining their unique sound.

Lyrically, the song is more or less the same as their old stuff, although for some reason, it seemed kind of refreshing in an odd way. Maybe it’s because it actually contains a tinge of positivity? I don’t know, I usually never listen to Linkin Park for their lyrics anyway. >_>

Also, Fort Minor > Linkin Park, to whoever said “Fort Minor wasn’t that great.”

by gigglepie951 on 04-14-2007 @ 03:45:27 AM
pretty much, it means forgive and forget to me.
luv it.
luv linkin park.
glad to hear that got a new record cumin.
id preorder it, but i dont think itunes runs out of downloads.
im markin my calender for may 15th.

by hate2luv on 04-14-2007 @ 11:55:47 AM
When I first heard this song, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke or sumthin…is this LP for real?? I am not impressed by it…in fact, I was so depressed when I heard this song…i didn’t expect this from them. It seems shallow..the lyrics don’t hold an air of inspiration as they used to before…and honestly..the music itself seems unbearably common. Sorry…

by Slitwrist on 04-14-2007 @ 11:55:53 AM
hmm new look badass __ video gross __ … nice song __ simple __ less complex and less effort than previous songs __ .. mr Hahn does less work __ .. and so does shinoda _ all he does is nah nah nah __ .hopefully , i hope the vid convinced me he was playing guitar… ___ nice =) __ .. eont wanna be dissapoitned by new album __ i fyou listen closely, the song almost sounds like lp’s reason __ .. the change in style is almost emo=popish __… interesting nonetheless… LP started off badass__ Hybrid Thoery __ then technologically basass reanimation __then transcended to divinity __ Meteora__ collaborated for popmaket __ Collision Course __ .. and now its XXXXXX — hmm __ interesting __ …

by Slitwrist on 04-14-2007 @ 12:41:37 PM
Joe (Hahn) came up to Mike and me and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to how we used to be…The lyrics in the first verse are ‘In this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi,’ and right away, you’ll notice that the band sounds different: The drums are much more raw, the guitars are more raw and the vocals aren’t tripled. It’s just us out there … and that’s how Rick wanted it.
—Chester Bennington, March 2007[2]

by Slitwrist on 04-14-2007 @ 12:44:24 PM
Joe (Hahn) came up to Mike and me and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to how we used to be…The lyrics in the first verse are ‘In this farewell, there’s no blood, there’s no alibi,’ and right away, you’ll notice that the band sounds different: The drums are much more raw, the guitars are more raw and the vocals aren’t tripled. It’s just us out there … and that’s how Rick wanted it.
—Chester Bennington, March 2007[2]___on WIkipedia

by Slitwrist on 04-14-2007 @ 12:50:13 PM
ooops anyways ++ as for the meaning i think the band is sayin sorry for changin our style __ to the fans and stuff __-…forgive us for what we did when we changed the trippled voice, screams and hardcore nu metal sound

by muse82 on 04-14-2007 @ 02:19:11 PM
I think the main problem with people not liking this song is that they are expecting to hear Linkin Park continue to write and record the same style of music from their first two albums (essentially, nu-metal with screaming and rapping). Unfortunately for those fans, bands and artists don’t always do that. Quite honestly, Linkin Park are very wise to adopt a more grown-up sound. First of all, the group members are now into their late 20’s and early 30’s and would look ridiculous trying to duplicate the nuances on Hybrid Theory. Moreover, their fans are aging along with them; many of the same people that were rocking out to “One Step Closer” at 18-21 are now 25-28, and I’m guessing they wouldn’t enjoy the LP of 2000 so much. Secondly, nu-metal was pretty much on its way to the grave by the time Meteora was released.

If this song is really about global issues - and I think the video reflects that - then it’s laudable that they are addressing something bigger than themselves instead of wallowing in “whats-wrong-with-me” lyrical content.

Kudos to LP for this song.

by J95SE on 04-14-2007 @ 11:26:36 PM
Whoo! first post for my profile
anyway the song and video both are good and my b-day is the same day the album comes out! sweet

by Bubblegum on 04-15-2007 @ 05:58:06 AM
there are so many artists making songs about what we’ve done in/to this world. it teaches us a lesson though.

by Cavenaghi on 04-15-2007 @ 12:49:03 PM
gr8 & awsome can’t wait for the new album to hit the stores

by EricsOzone on 04-15-2007 @ 09:19:55 PM
Just from a first impression this is my idea of the video and song: Shows how American commercialism isn’t benefiting the rest of the world. Some would like to think we contribute, such as “Helping” other places that are starving while we are leading two different paths of starving ourselves for glamour and fame or destroying ourselves through over eating and ruining everything we touch for the ‘better’ of society - to keep costs low and not change anything we do. This is achieved not only through the blood of other humans, but through our own blood.

However, there’s always the next generation to start everything over again, metaphorically. We can change our laws, the way we go about helping other people. We can try to fix our mistakes of the past, by learning from the past. Not deciding to choose blood over talking.

by MrHahnKitty on 04-16-2007 @ 05:01:24 PM
My friend thinks it’s about Chester’s addiction when he was younger… it makes some sense, but I think it’s more about changing and hoping to make things better.

by GhostEyes on 04-18-2007 @ 01:32:12 AM
Does anyone else think of Abe Lincoln when they hear Linkin Park, or is it just me?

I love this song. I’ve always loved songs with a redemption tone to them. Sweet.

by nukey on 04-18-2007 @ 03:54:22 PM
this is about the same person from faint but now he’s asking for forgiveness from his old friends.
“In this farewell There’s no blood, there’s no alibi”-if there’s no blood it’s not terorism, war or something else it’s about a person who left his friends for othe gang or some other people [more information on faint lyrics] and now he’s asking for forgiveness from his old friends and he wants to be back with them.
faint s about his story and this song what ive done is “the forgiveness asking speech” of the same person from faint

really good song and another thing i didnt see mike on the video he left the band or something

by nameless_undertaker on 04-18-2007 @ 09:24:14 PM
Mike IS in the video.He is just playing guitar tho….:(

by +Bloody_Angel+ on 04-18-2007 @ 11:30:16 PM
I really like this song, the opening vocals remind me of My December, which is their best song in my opinion. I don’t mind that Mike isn’t showing up all that much. I mean, it’s LP without him, but I really like this song.

by IndelibleEntity on 04-20-2007 @ 02:37:14 AM
This song is lyrically shallow and musically boring.

Na-Na-Na? Linkin Park? Singing na-na-na? Huh? Really? Gross.

by mulcite on 04-20-2007 @ 03:20:47 AM
Has no one seen the connection?
This song is so obviously the exact message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before you rebuke me, just look at it! -Forgivness- comes by God’s -mercy- through Christ and -washes away- sin, -cleaning a person’s slate- and -cross-ing out what they’ve become; this is exactly what the song is saying! I’m not saying LP meant this, but the parallel is entirely there whether you wish to admit it or not.
And so I must ask, if you agree with the lyrical message of this song, then that means you agree with the message of Christ, so what’s keeping you from asking forgiveness?

by phlp314 on 04-20-2007 @ 03:54:55 AM
yea, this is pretty blatantly a cry to God…i wonder what the backstory is to this song? This would be a #1 hit on the Christian Rock charts if done by any other band. Good stuff.

by NoNotTheBees on 04-23-2007 @ 07:47:48 AM
I like Linkin Park’s old style of music, but it’s stupid for people to go “WTF man it shooda bin louda wit mo’ hardcore SCREAMIN’ and shiz!” because face it, that stuff is the sort of image you would market towards angsty 12-year-olds. Linkin Park’s long been needing to grow up past their “AN’IMMABOUTA BREAK!” phase, and you can tell they’re trying to do that with this song. But the thing is, they may have tried so hard to do so that they basically undid a lot of what made their old music unique. The potential problem isn’t that “itz not hardcore enuff” but the fact that they might have severely toned down the DJ work to the point that they’re no different from any other band.

And I can’t believe people are actually criticizing *this* song for being lyrically shallow. Not because this song isn’t, but because ALL Linkin Park songs are lyrically shallow. 95% of their songs are variations of the same themes of “OMG teh pain inside!” or “WTF SHUDDAP WHEN IM TALKING 2 U!!!!11″ and this song is lyrically EXACTLY their old stuff. Linkin Park’s strong suit is their unique style of music, not their lyrics. The people who actually listen to them for “moving” lyrics are probably angsty teens in middle school or something.

Another thing I never understand is whenever I read people commenting on this song or the music video or whatever, I always see all these people who call themselves fans and yet don’t even seem to know some basic facts about the band. Like the fact that the band has ONE regular guitarist, and if you see two people on guitar, then the second one is Mike Shinoda. I always see folks watch the video and somehow think that Mike Shinoda is missing from it or something, as if they don’t even know what he looks like. And then there are the people who just assume he’s absent when they don’t hear rapping, completely oblivious to the fact that he can actually play instruments. I mean they’ve been performing songs like Faint and Breaking the Habit for years now, yet I still see people all surprised when they see Mike doing something other than rap.

by Leblanc on 04-23-2007 @ 11:38:14 PM
Okay who doesn’t know that Mike plays guitar? I mean come on, if your a fucking LP fan you should know that he plays guitar!

I hate when people say that they are a bands biggest fan when they don’t know shit about them! FUCK OFF!

by Fallen Leaves on 04-24-2007 @ 02:37:18 AM
I like the LP songs that i have heard. And i like this one. im sure its a political song. and people, i agree with Leblanc, don’t say you are the “biggest fan” bc there are probably people out there who stalk the LP members…

by xtrubeastxcs on 04-24-2007 @ 02:57:03 AM
This song, to me, relates to one of my best friends ever that was a girl. A little less than a year ago, when summer hit, my best friend who was a girl and I were separated, unnoticed by either of us. When school came back around, things just weren’t the same, she wouldn’t come to me with problems and I just had less of them, or I’d goto someone else. But the point was, she feels I’m a complete different person, a bad person. But I’m really not, sure I’m a little more popular than before, but this is how it was last year for me too, my personality blossomed and therefor I made more friends. But the thing is she believes that I ‘m “Too popular to talk to her anymore” and thats not true at all and I didn’t want it to be like this. And I want to be her best friend again but at the same time I don’t see why she thinks I’m all that bad..

Put to rest what you thought
Of me while I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away

by angel of sloth on 04-24-2007 @ 08:06:57 AM
this song is good, but i like their older style. i like it better when they were a Nu Metal band, but this is ok.

by byakuya93 on 04-24-2007 @ 11:15:00 AM
LP has surely changed a lot. i’m quite amazed that they can change like that. when i first heard it i was really disappointed but then after listening to it again and again i noticed that they did well. but i miss all they’re rapping and screaming. i cant wait to get a hold of their album. they say that they changed theyre style.

i think that this whole song talks about global warming. theyre saying that what we have done to the world is changing everything and that we can change it.

i like the song but i want MIKE to do something more than that backup…

by MrHahnKitty on 04-25-2007 @ 04:50:44 PM
personally, i think the na-na-na thing is ok. it kinda fits in.

i hope the rest of the songs are better though.

can’t wait.

by mike16 on 04-29-2007 @ 01:23:10 AM
i love this song,i hope mike shinoda doesent rap in the new albumn it gets really annoying with him rapping.they sound alot better without the rapping

by Manicville on 05-02-2007 @ 08:37:43 PM
Linkin Park is slapping us in the face by releasing this as the first single from Minutes to Midnight. They’re slapping us to make us realize that this is a very different style of music, and to keep us on our toes for when the rest of the album comes out. I’m sure they have one or two songs on MtM that sound like Meteora (Probably not Hybrid Theory) and if they’d released one of those we’d dismiss the entire new album as the same old stuff.

This builds further anticipation and would have been completely unexpected if they hadn’t been blabbing about how different their sound was going to be.

Btw, the Minutes to Midnight is in fact a reference to the Doomsday Clock that measures proximity to nuclear war. I think it was a Kerrang interview or something where they said that.

I

by phoenix_phyre on 05-03-2007 @ 04:06:28 PM
I first heard this song going home one night. Without watching the video, I got the impression that they’re talking about letting of your past and rising anew, like a phoenix from the ashes. Like a lot of their other songs, they leave the interpretation(sp?) up to the listener, which is one of many things that I love about Linkin Park. The song rocks, and I can’t wait to get the album when it releases.

by djnick on 05-03-2007 @ 11:00:47 PM
Very disappointed in this track! LP says they are coming with a new sound and it sound exactly like their old stuff. And the sound and chord progression of this song is almost like Numb. I am not impressed and hope the rest of the album can makeup for this

by Richard Enahobo on 05-05-2007 @ 02:45:14 AM
Well they’re trying to not be nu-metal anymore now that nu-metal isn’t popular anymore.

by tears_of_the_night on 05-05-2007 @ 07:21:05 PM
This song means a lot to me, I have been through a lot and It is easy to relate to this song….

by tiamat85 on 05-06-2007 @ 12:21:24 AM
just heard the new album and hv to say tht i’m disappointed…i knw that they r coming up with new sounds for minutes…..but their old albums were def better… a lot more passion

by bleedthecoloursopen on 05-07-2007 @ 11:34:38 AM
woooo linkin park!

nice to see them back and at it.
at it?
alright, whatever.

nice one boys, i like this song.

by BlinkBullet71 on 05-07-2007 @ 09:26:37 PM
To me those “na-na-na’s” sound like “Don’t know why”. Might be just me, but listen closely. I know I’m not going insane.

by maggalo95713 on 05-07-2007 @ 11:39:34 PM
OMG!!! i love this song so much!! and the vid is great. ya know LP has been my fav band since they started. i cant wait until the album releases in 8 days!

by Fallen Leaves on 05-08-2007 @ 12:14:10 AM
This is a really good song. The piano really adds to it at the beginning. And it’s just a GOOD song. Meaningful-he wants to start over, and he’s realizing his mistakes, and he wants “So let mercy come and wash away what I’ve done”. I like linkin park.

This video is so sad. The poor, straving black guy, and there’s that fat guy horking out on the HUGE burger.
Go LP.

by chendo on 05-08-2007 @ 05:45:56 AM
i love it its great

by mikeua69 on 05-11-2007 @ 02:11:08 AM
Lol at all the people that think this song is about the typical” America is at fault for everything” BS. Anyone that can’t see that this song is about a call to god is just plain retarded.

by Fallen Leaves on 05-12-2007 @ 01:09:27 AM
Yeah I’d thought it was about asking God for forgiveness for “what i’ve done.” or he’d done, i guess. the video is mainly about america at fault though. it shows people like Mother Theresa tho.

by spacegirl92 on 05-13-2007 @ 02:33:59 AM
To me this song represents my coming to terms with who I use to be and who I now am. Learning how not to focus on the mistakes I made and how to accept the fact that I’m not that person anymore.

by Skippy the Pirate on 05-13-2007 @ 10:37:21 AM
All you linkin park fans are assraping monkey fuckers. This song blows donkey dick just like chester an mike.

by saleemx on 05-14-2007 @ 11:44:11 PM
can anyone give me a valid link between the lyrics of the song and the themes in the video- global warming, pollution, racism etc…

by pinkgummibears on 05-16-2007 @ 01:55:05 AM
I love this song and the video. I’m so glad to see them sending messages to the world about global warming and the so many other conflicts through this video. The song is amazing and I just love it!

by KingALRock on 05-17-2007 @ 02:16:12 AM
I’m pretty sure the video didnt have anything to do with the songs meaning…but their songs really leave a lot open for inerpretation. Was probably a way for them to get their views out to the world while releasing a hit song.

When I hear this song I think of someone making a mistake so big that their life will never be the same. Something so big that it changes your life and someone elses for the rest of you lives and no matter what you do, nothing can change what happened. To not be able to look yourself in the eye in the mirror to me means you fucked up, and no matter what you do things will never be the same.

by DeepSouthern on 05-17-2007 @ 05:10:04 PM
I’m glad that Linkin Park is trying some new and better. I wish them the best. This song is pretty rocking.

by septimusphoenix on 05-17-2007 @ 11:42:00 PM
okay now i’ve heard most of the album i can say i like this song more. one thing that really dissapointed me about the album was too many damn slow songs!!!!

by septimusphoenix on 05-17-2007 @ 11:47:05 PM
can anyone pick up what horror film the opening piano is from. i swear it’s so familiar

by pinkgummibears on 05-18-2007 @ 12:26:58 AM
septimusphoenix–i’m thinking it was from Halloween, but i could be wrong.

by lostcause08 on 05-19-2007 @ 08:03:28 PM
Its showing the destruction that everyone has caused in the world. “What I’ve done”. The holocaust, war in Iraq, people starving, ect. Maybe if we try hard enough we can stop it. Become one. Help one another, finally stop this world tradgety.

by rocker1190 on 05-21-2007 @ 01:34:53 PM
They put a whole new spin on their music and I like it. It’s like putting “One Step Closer” and “Faint” together. It’s different but at the same time, what more do you expect from LP?
Great song. Can’t wait to finally get the new CD and see them live again!

by famous_last_words on 05-21-2007 @ 11:55:43 PM
In this farewell
There’s no blood, there’s no alibi

[[ in saying good bye, theres no fight only the ne that exists within him self to change, and theres no reason.

'Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away

[[ hes regret from telling so many lies and no prolly no one belives him when he despretly needs it.]]

What I’ve done, I’ll face myself
To cross out what I’ve become
Erase myself and let go of what I’ve done

[[ he ready to face him self and change to become a better person]]

Put to rest what you thought
Of me while I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away

[[ hes saying to forget what you originally thought of him. he wants to start over again and bring forth a rebirth in himself. hes clensing himslef but isnt sure tht thi is what he wants.]]

For what I’ve done, I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends, I’m forgiving

[[ hes ready to face head on wat ever comes his way, hes willing to fall in order to change himself. he decides to change himself today hes sick nd tired of procrastinating.]]

mwahaa. i love thi song to death and rite now i need to change a bit my self o this sis how you say, is the theme song of my life as of now. i needd to change in order o make sumone see how i can change …o.o

by KirbyRocks on 05-24-2007 @ 03:37:43 AM
In this farewell,
There’s no blood,
There’s no alibi,
‘Cause I’ve drawn regret,
From the truth of a thousand lies.
So let mercy come, and wash away…

What I’ve done,
I’ll face myself,
To cross out what I’ve become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I’ve done.

Put to rest what you thought of me,
While I clean this slate,
With the hands of uncertainty.
So let mercy come, and wash away…

What I’ve done,
I’ll face myself,
To cross out what I’ve become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I’ve done.

For what I’ve done,
I start again,
And whatever pain may come,
Today this ends,
I’m forgiving what I’ve done.

I’ll face myself,
To cross out what I’ve become.
Erase myself,
And let go of what I’ve done.

What I’ve done.
Forgiving what I’ve done.

by Judy123 on 05-25-2007 @ 03:49:39 AM
i think this song is great and I like the meaning but i also think it has a link to the movie REQUEIM FOR A DREAM the beginning beat that is also throughout the entire song is used in the movie. the movie is also about society and their effects on people and i just love the connection

by Rx_Queen76 on 05-27-2007 @ 07:51:40 PM
Help me out and click this link
http://www.lpstreetteam.com/CDA5240F87574D8387EBDE8FEC733210/tracklink.asp?guid=B0B1D1812F114E74AB7F534F3757C79A

by Rx_Queen76 on 05-27-2007 @ 07:52:58 PM
Help me out and click this link
http://www.lpstreetteam.com/CDA5240F87574D8387EBDE8FEC733210/tracklink.asp?guid=B0B1D1812F114E74AB7F534F3757C79A

by unclerico007 on 05-31-2007 @ 08:57:11 AM
Liberal and Anti-American BS

 

Meanspeed Music Summary
Song Title=REHAB
composer=Amy Winehouse
performer=Amy Winehouse
File Type=m4p

Recording Source=Purchase from iTunes® by Apple®
Album=’Grammy Nominees 2008′
Trials calibrated=9
beats per trial=250
mean time per trial=Three minutes, 6.3 seconds
time elapsed=1,855.64
average beat=0.825 seconds
average tempo=72.7 beats per minute

emotive category in meanspeed music=grace

Ian Schneider
meanspeed music
March 2, 2008

This is a Meanspeed Review of “Jessica” - a song that was recorded by The Allman Brothers Band in the 1970s.

Meanspeed summary
song=”Jessica”

performer=The Allman Brothers Band
total time elapsed=3,340.96 seconds
average time per trial=417.62 seconds
beats measured=5,840
beats per trial=730

mean speed=104.9 beats per minute
mean emotion according to meanspeed music theory=natural
average beat=572 milliseconds
mean slow phase=1.748 cycles per second
corresponding pitch=447.6 Hertz

recording source=iTunes Music Compilation: 20th Century Masters - The Millenium Collection - The Best of The Allman Brothers Band

recording type=m4p
Kind=Protected AAC audio file
Size=7.1 MB
Bit Rate=128 kbps
Sample Rate=44.100 kHz
Profile=Low Complexity
Channels=Stereo
FairPlay Version=2
Intellectual rights=© 2000 Polydor Records, a Division of Universal Records, Inc.

James Manning
Ian Schneider
November 22, 007

I first heard the song by Five for Fighting called “100 Years” in a Disney commercial. I do not remember whether the advertisement was for a Disney cruise or Walt Disney World or whatever - but I thought - that is a *great* song.

<object width=”425″ height=”355″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/2ULBA8pvnnE&rel=1″></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/2ULBA8pvnnE&rel=1″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” wmode=”transparent” width=”425″ height=”355″></embed></object>

I heard the “I’m 33 for a moment…” as the ad showed a young family packing up from what looked liked a Disney hotel room. It is common for me, like anyone else, to get a memory flood when I hear an old song I know. “100 Years” was, and still is, a great song to me because upon the first listening, it sounded like the proverbial well-worn jeans.

The speed range of the song is vital to its effectiveness. What does that really *mean*? (and I hate rhetorical questions!)

What is means is this: John Ondrasik lays down a simple, new, joyous melody on the piano with *just enough* left handed syncopation to make it fun without being intentionally showy - as if Bruce Hornsby was limited to playing as Neil Young. Which ain’t bad! Anyway, John and the band discuss the most horrible thing about being a human being: knowing that the aging process leads to death. Yet, at 126.2 beats per minute, where songs are predictably showing a victory emotion. That is not to say a joyous emotion, as even the winners of a great game are pretty scraped up at the end. Peyton Manning did it *all* last year, but how hard were the shots he took all year? And no dirt in Indiana with which to rub out the pain!

Before I end this discussion tomorrow night - let us just imagine: the exact same song played at the speed range I call “lonely.” Now think of the victory John show in the embedded video - the difference between wallowing in self-pity, which, as I explained as a Master of the Obvious, is *explainable* - we know we get old, get ugly, die. Either you celebrate what ya got or you drown in knowing from dust thou art, to dust thou shall return.

In calibrating this three way comparison, I listened to the song at least 40 times - never got sick of it - if there is such thing as a “genius pop song,” One Hundred Years is one. Ninety-nine cents??? Anyone “downloading” this instead of paying the 99¢ - write me and I’ll send the money to the band!






Meanspeed Music Summary - ACOUSTIC EP VERSION
song=”100 Years”
performer=Five For Fighting
trials calibrated=9
beats measured=3,996
time elapsed=1,909.37 seconds
means time per trial=211.15 seconds
beats per trial=444
composer=John Ondrasik
rhythm=4/4, commonly known as common time
average beat=0.475 seconds
mean speed=126.2 beats per minute
mean emotion according to meanspeed music theory=victory
recording source=iTunes download
album=Acoustic EP Two Songs
Recording Rights=© 2004, Aware Records, L.L.C.
Kind=Protected AAC audio file
Size=3.9 MB
Bit Rate=128 kbps
Sample rate=44.100 kHz
Profile=Low Complexity
Channels=Stereo
Fair Play Version=2
File=m4p

video courtesy YouTube.com. graphs, screen shots and calibrations were created by Meanspeed Music. All photos used in Meanspeed’s graphs are of public domain - either album *promotional* photos or those photos from wikipedia-something, marked, described and offered as public. Thanks!

Sarah Jane Bristol
Hunter Newman
James Manning
Mike “The Spike” Forrester
Sophie St. John Newman
November 22, 2007

Justin Timberlake has made a push to become the modern Chairman of The Board, Mr. Frank Sinatra. He has claimed to the messenger of “Sexy” - he tells us he realize that the “other boys” don’t know how to act. At the same time he tells us this message at the strict drum machine pattern set to 117.0 beats per minute. Timberlake and Timbaland stick to an ultra-strict tempo track.

This is why the speeds I represent are not groups of “tempos” or “tempi”, Italian words that have tautological definitions. Look up the word “tempo” or “beat” and you come around to the beginning.

What you see is the speed of the song itself. I call it a “mean” speed as any introductions or fade outs that are not part of the song are cut out. Judgment call. How do I determine where a beat is located, where four machines already read 117.ooo beats per minute? My answer is twofold:
1) I follow the simple but rigorous methodology as described on this site;
2) I follow my ear, as the average reasonable listener and musician - every measure has one space where the main ‘beat’ is felt (ask any professional dancer!) - whether such beat is silent or the highest dynamic in the measure.

QuickList” border=”0″>	sexyback - Justin Timberlake (Victoria’s Secret) old Paris Hilton, but it’s HOTT! That’s right! TWO T’s!…sexyback Sexy Back Victoria’ssecret Victoria’s Secret justintimberkake Justin Timberlake fashionshow	From: clpdaddyo717 Views: 68,820 Added: 10 months ago
	Tags: SexyBack Sexy Back Victoria’sSecret Victoria’s Secret JustinTimberkake Justin Timberlake FashionShow Time: 04:45	More in Music

	Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake ~Good Quality~ Sexy Back - Justin Timberlake…sexy back justin timberlake	From: bronxwizard Views: 67,462 Added: 11 months ago
	Tags: sexy back justin timberlake Time: 04:26	More in Entertainment

“SexyBack” is a song written and performed by the American singer Justin Timberlake for his second solo album FutureSex/LoveSounds.

 

It features Timbaland on backing vocals, and earned Timberlake and Timbaland the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. It was produced by Timbaland, Timberlake and Nate “Danja” Hills and released as the album’s lead single on July 7, 2006. “SexyBack” is Timberlake’s most successful single in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States, reaching the number one spot in all of these countries.

“SexyBack” was the longest-running number one single of 2006 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying seven weeks at the top, and the second-longest chart-topping single released that year, behind only Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable“, which spent ten weeks at number one — 3 weeks in 2006 and 7 weeks in 2007.

Contents [hide] 1 Music video 2 Credits 3 Cover versions 4 iTunes 5 Achievements 6 Versions 7 Tributes 8 Charts 9 References

[edit] Music video

The music video for “SexyBack” was shot in a luxury building in Barcelona, and features the Spanish actress Elena Anaya (Sex and Lucía,Van Helsing).

Originally, director Michael Haussman wanted to feature French actress Eva Green, the Bond girl from Casino Royale, but she declined twice.^{[citation needed]}

The music video for the song is said to be inspired by the video for Madonna’s “Take a Bow“, also directed by Michael Haussman. The video was first shown on MTV’s Making the Video on July 25. The video was placed at #4 of 2006 on the VH1 Top 40 Music Videos of the Year.

It starts off with a cable car looking over a large city and then switches to a luxurious-looking hotel with Elena Anaya taking off her sweater. Then it cuts to Timberlake seemingly in a different room then to a club scene and Timberlake in front of a white background. The video alternates between those four viewpoints, with Timberlake and Anaya seeming to be spies in the hotel room and strangers in the club. At a certain point, Justin Timberlake goes over to Anaya’s room by jumping over to her balcony. Then when Anaya goes to check it out, Justin traps her and they willingly have sex, proving that they might have had a sexual interest in each other. In the club, it ends with Justin cornering Elena in a bathroom stall. A sexual motion is shown. In the hotel room scene, Timberlake leaves by the same way that he entered and moments later jumps back to the balcony before an explosion ensues. It ends with the figure of Anaya sitting in a chair beside a small TV in which a kiss is frozen on the screen.

[edit] Credits

• Written By: J. Timberlake, T. Mosley, and N. Hills
• Producers: Timbaland, Danja, Justin Timberlake
• Keyboards: Timbaland and Danja
• Drums: Timbaland and Danja

[edit] Cover versions

• Canadian Industrial band Panik Attack covered Sexyback during the recording sessions for their debut record, no indication if the band intends to include the cover on the record.
• Canadian R&B songstress Tamia covered Sexyback during her Between Friends album promotion tour in Atlanta 16th of February 2007.
• Clay Aiken covers SexyBack in a medley of hits on his 2007 summer tour.
• British singers Lil’ Chris and Corinne Bailey Rae each covered the song on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge. In Lil’ Chris’s version he bridges the verse and chorus with the words, “Take it to the Walrus” instead of the original which is “Take it to the chorus”.
• Nelly Furtado covered the song on her Get Loose Tour and is now in the set list for her tour
• Rock Plaza Central, an indie rock band favored by Pitchfork Media, gained attention for their radically different cover of the song, with brass-and-banjo roots-rock stylings.^[1]
• Floridian band The Monsters In The Morning parodied the song with the title Russy Back, which is a song about a detailed description of Monsters founder Russ “RRR/Bulldog” Rollins.
• Sexyback released as a bonus track, on the Walmart version of the album Poison’d! by American glam metal band Poison
• Weebl and Bob did a version of the song called ‘Pastryback’
• American Idol 6 contestants Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson have performed covers of the song at many shows during the American Idols Live 2007 tour.
• Dublin radio station FM104s The Strawberry Alarm Clock also did a parody cover of sexyback, entitled ‘Shave Me Back’
• South Korean pop singer Lee Minwoo samples the song in his single ‘The M Style’ on his 2007 album ‘Explore M’.

[edit] iTunes

When the album was first released on iTunes, the clean version of “SexyBack” contained the word “motherfuckers“. iTunes recognized the problem and re-released the track with the word edited out. They offered one free music download for anyone who purchased the “clean” version of the song.

[edit] Achievements

According to Billboard, “SexyBack” is currently the second-highest selling single in a week during 2006, behind only “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean, which set the record in June. “Hips Don’t Lie” sold 267,000 digital downloads, while “SexyBack” sold 250,000 digital downloads. “SexyBack” stayed at number one in the United States for seven weeks and has sold in excess of 2,000,000 digital downloads since its release.

This song made the seventh-biggest jump to number one in Billboard Hot 100 history. Climbing 30 spots from #31 landing it at the summit of the chart on September 9, 2006.

“SexyBack” ended 2006 as the 10 best selling single of the year in the UK.

“SexyBack” ended 2006 as the 19 most played single of the year in Latin America, where it peaked at #4, giving Timberlake his most successful single there, and placing him at #28 on the Artist Chart of the Year.

[edit] Versions

• Original – 4:02
• Clean – 4:02
• Instrumental – 4:02
• Pokerface Club Mix - 6:34
• Armand’s Mix - 7:12
• Armand’s Dub - 6:12
• Linus Loves Remix - 6:18
• Tom Novy’s Ibiza Dub - 7:47
• DJ Sneak’s Sexy Main Rub - 6:55
• Dean Coleman Silent Sound Beatdown - 6:23
• Drastik’s Mix - 3:47
• Put Your Sexy Hands Back Up For Detroit Fedde Le Grand mashup
• SexyBack/Yeah Yeah [Mashup] - Bodyrox and Justin Timberlake

[edit] Tributes

• The German number-one-hit Hot Summer by Monrose sounds like a mix between Maneater‘ and SexyBack. Both of these songs are produced by Timbaland. Another song on Monrose’ album, called Strictly Physical, is also a tribute to a song, sang by Nelly Furtado and produced by Timbaland.

[edit] Charts

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (tagged since June 2007)

Chart	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs	11
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Airplay	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales	4
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	18
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	9
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	1
Billboard European Hot 100 Singles	1
Billboard Euro Digital Tracks	2
Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles[2]	1
Brazilian Hot 100 Singles Chart	1
Brazilian Top 40 Dance Traxx	1
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart	3
German Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	8
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles	1
UK Singles Chart	1
UK Top 40 RnB Singles Chart	1
United World Chart	1
Belgium Top 30 Dance	2
Swiss Singles Chart	2
Italian Singles Chart	3
Dutch Singles Chart	5
Mexican Top 100 Airplay	24
Russian Airplay Chart[3]	11

[edit] References

Preceded by “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean	ARIA (Australia) number one single August 20, 2006 - August 27, 2006 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 9, 2006 - October 21, 2006 UK Singles Chart number one single September 03, 2006 - September 10, 2006 RIANZ New Zealand number-one single August 28, 2006- October 2, 2006 Irish Singles Chart (Ireland) number one single August 31 - September 21, 2006 RIANZ New Zealand number one single October 16 - October 31, 2006 United World Chart number one single September 16, 2006 - November 18	Succeeded by “I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair)” by Sandi Thom
Preceded by “London Bridge” by Fergie		Succeeded by “Money Maker” by Ludacris featuring Pharrell
Preceded by “Deja Vu“ by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z		Succeeded by “I Don’t Feel like Dancin’“ by Scissor Sisters
Preceded by “Promiscuous“ by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland		Succeeded by “London Bridge“ by Fergie
Preceded by “Everytime We Touch“ by Cascada		Succeeded by “Everytime We Touch“ by Cascada
Preceded by “You Really Got Me” by Boyband		Succeeded by “You Give Me Something” by James Morrison
Preceded by “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean

Meanspeed Music Summary, calibration by Artful John, supervised by James C.C. Manning -
song=”SexyBack”
performer=Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland
beats measured=4,212
total time elapsed=2,160.04 seconds
mean beat count per trial=468
average time per trial=240.0 seconds
mean speed=117.0 beats per minute
average beat=0.5128 seconds
mean emotion according to mean speed music theory=foreboding
mean slow phase=1.95 cycles per second
corresponding pitch=499.20 hertz
speed graphs=mean speed music proof. © 2007. free use by request.
Kind=Protected AAC audio file
size=4 MB
Bit rate=128 kbps
Profile=Low Complexity
Channels=Stereo
FairPlay Version=2
intellectual property=Zomba Recording, L..L..C. ©2006
factual information=WIKIPEDIA.ORG, THE PEOPLE’S FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexyback.

Hunter Newman
November 14, 2007