A lot of details in Linkin Park's songs have become uncomfortable in the wake of Chester Bennington's suicide:
- Chester jumps to his death in the video for "Breaking The Habit" and his ghost then wanders the city and observes the tragedies in various people's lives.
- "Breaking The Habit" in general, while not written by or about Chester (Mike wrote it about another friend struggling with drug addiction long before meeting Chester and Chester teared up upon reading Mike's lyrics) still remains incredibly heartbreaking to think about in hindsight, especially when rewatching concert footage and watching Chester's movements and actions during the performance; emphasizing verses like "I'll never be alright."
- Chester was close friends with Chris Cornell, who had also died of suicide by hanging mere weeks earlier. Chester's suicide happened on what would have been Cornell's 53rd birthday.
- Not only that, but Chester performed "Hallelujah" at Chris' funeral. Two weeks later, it could ironically be counted as a song dedicated to Chester himself.
- In 2010, Chester sang with Santana on their cover of "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors. Carlos Santana was also born on July 20th.
- Chester's violent outbursts at the negative response to One More Light now seem less like him just being a prima donna and an early sign of the pent-up anger that would eventually consume him.
- In "Pushing Me Away", Mike raps "Even the people who never frown eventually break down". When Chester died by suicide, his wife Talinda was quick to point out that he had been laughing and having a good time merely hours before, showing no signs that he was planning to kill himself. The band felt similarly as he appeared to have put his demons behind him due to years of positive attention.
- "Walking Dead" by Z-Trip featuring Chester Bennington begins with this spoken line, which becomes harsher because Chester never left a suicide note.Suppose you were to die tonight. What would you say?
- The chorus to "In the End".I tried so hard and got so far
In the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter- These lyrics from "Shadow of the Day":In cards and flowers on your window
Your friends all plead for you to stay
Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple
Sometimes goodbye's the only way - The chorus of "Somewhere I Belong," which is about letting go of the pain he felt so long.I want to heal
I want to feel
What I thought was never real
I want to let go of the pain I felt so long (Erase all the pain 'til it's gone)
I want to heal
I want to feel
Like I'm close to something real
I want to find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong
- These lyrics from "Shadow of the Day":
- "Easier to Run," especially the second verse:Sometimes I remember
The darkness of my past,
Bringing back these memories
I wish I didn't have.
Sometimes I think of letting go
And never looking back
And never moving forward so
There'd never be a past. - "Forgotten":In the memory you'll find me
Eyes burning up
The darkness holding me tightly
Until the sun rises up - "Bleed It Out" contains references to suicide by hanging. Even though the part is sung by Shinoda, it doesn't make it less uncomfortable:Filthy mouth, no excuse
Find a new place to hang this noose
String me up from atop these roofs
Knot it tight so I won't get loose - The chorus of "Nobody's Listening." It sounds like he's telling you point blank that something is wrong and he needs help.Tried to give you warning but everyone ignores me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But nobody's listening
Called to you so clearly but you don't want to hear me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But nobody's listening - The chorus and bridge of "Numb":I've become so numb
I can't feel you there
Become so tired
So much more aware
I'm becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you
And I know
I may end up failing too
But I know
You were just like me with someone disappointed in you - "Waiting For The End" is a similar case to "Leave Out All The Rest", as the singer is begging forgiveness for some wrongs he said in the past and declares a sincere desire to move on.What was left when that fire was gone?
I thought it felt right but that right was wrong
All caught up in the eye of the storm
And trying to figure out what it's like moving on
And I don't even know what kind of things I said
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead
So I'm picking up the pieces, now where to begin
The hardest part of ending is starting again - "Leave Out All The Rest" becomes even more chilling if you think that the lines "Forget the wrong that I've done" and "Don't resent me" seem to foreshadow his angry outbursts months before his death in regards to the backlash One More Light received.
- Related to all of the above lyrical quotes, Chester didn't leave a suicide note, but looking back on the band's whole discography (especially One More Light), it's easy to read Chester's entire body of work as one long suicide note, like all of the evidence was there in plain sight and nobody noticed.
- Chester had another band as a side project called Dead by Sunrise. He was pronounced dead at 9 AM the day he died of suicide.
- Just before his death, he had been gushing on Twitter about his love for Twenty One Pilots, a band known for their lyrics about depression and especially suicidal thoughts. It's a stretch to think that their music caused his suicide, but the fact that he was listening to them so much at the time showed that it was heavy on his mind.
- In the behind-the-scenes video for "Heavy," Chester says that when his double, Rory, makes it as an actor, then Chester will repay Rory by becoming his stunt double. That will never happen.
- Lyrically, One More Light sounds like one of Chester's most personal albums. Musically, it was widely criticized as the one Linkin Park album that sounded nothing like Linkin Park. Even up until the end, nobody wanted to hear what he had to say.
- "Given Up" is a particularly harsh example, with Chester asking "What the fuck is wrong with me" and screaming to put him out of misery. It feels like Chester was screaming for help, and seemingly no one (at least amongst his fans) took notice until it was too late.
- The Xero demo "Reading My Eyes" features Mike rapping that he is "the microphone molester". A couple of years later, Chester Bennington would join the band, and had been tormented by people at school calling him "Chester the molester" (not helped by the fact he actually was molested for six years as a child). One can imagine him wincing when hearing those lyrics (Chester tried to roll with it a while, wearing a "Chester the Molester" T-shirt in the band's early days). Not surprisingly, it wasn't performed live until 2006 as a fan request.
- After Chester's suicide, a lot of the band's more angsty songs ("Numb", "Breaking the Habit", "Given Up", "What I've Done", "Heavy") went from narmtastic "angry white boy" music to an unambiguous cry for help from a seriously depressed person. Jokes about "Crawling" in particular being "music to cut your wrists to" seem particularly cringeworthy now.
