What do you think Breaking the Habit means?

Linkin Park: Breaking the Habit Meaning

Album cover for Breaking the Habit album cover

Song Released: 2004


Breaking the Habit Lyrics

Memories consume
Like opening the wound
I'm picking me apart again
You all assume
I'm safe here in my room
Unless I try to start again

[Bridge:]
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the...

  1. anonymous
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    May 27th 2008 !⃝

    I have 12 years and I will tell you what I think. It's about having a specific reason. Usually has to do whit drugs, but starting from the beginning.

    Memories consume
    Like opening the wound
    I'm picking me apart again
    You all assume
    I'm safe here in my room
    Unless I try to start again

    All he think of is of that thing that is killing him inside He tries to put himself together but mean while he has to get out of his room because there is the problem but everybody thinks hi is safer in the room.

    I don't want to be the one
    The battles always choose
    'Cause inside I realize
    That I'm the one confused

    He doesn't what to be a person with those thoughts but his life is already written but he think everyone is wrong but once he look inside himself he realize he is the one confused and wrong.

    I don't know what's worth fighting for
    Or why I have to scream
    I don't know why I instigate
    And say what I don't mean
    I don't know how I got this way
    I know it's not alright
    So I'm breaking the habit
    I'm breaking the habit
    Tonight

    Of all the problems he had he thinks there is no reason to live he dosent know why he is still screaming when he is
    get hurt.He dosent know why he push peaople to things but in the anger in his own heart and of himself he ens up hurting other people.He dosent know how he got this way but he has an idea and he knoes is not alright and so of hating himself he is gonna stop that habbit.

    Clutching my cure
    I tightly lock the door
    I try to catch my breath again
    I hurt much more
    Than anytime before
    I had no options left again

    He tries to get a cure so he locks the door to try and think strate he is hurt than anytime before but he had no option but to take the pain.

    I'll paint it on the walls
    'Cause I'm the one at fault
    I'll never fight again
    And this is how it ends

    He will write to everyone everywhere how he felt he knows he has the fault if he dosent fight anymore tru life he will end like he is(in misary thinking he has no purpose)

    So he is breaking that habbit tonight!

  2. anonymous
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    Apr 7th 2008 !⃝

    This song is one of their greatest ever and personally I think it's saying many different things all with the same general idea however that someone is addicted to something whether it be drugs, love, etc... And they know it's wrong so they're breaking the habit of always doing the same thing over and over again that is bringing them down to their breaking point. Personally for me, it;s about love but that's just me it could be anything because LP's lyrics are general and could be related with just about anything that pops into the audience's mind

  3. anonymous
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    Mar 23rd 2008 !⃝

    I was watching some episodes of LPTV and in one of them there was an explaination about this song. As far as I know, Mike denied the fact that the song was written about Chester but Chester knew it was. They perfomed it live a little while ago (you'll find it on YouTube), which surprised me a bit because I had previously known that the song was difficult for Chester to perform. So I am going to stick with the theory that the song was written about Chester's drug addiction (someone said that he wasn't addicted to coke. You are wrong. He was addicted to coke and meth). That is just my opinion, other people might think of it differently. I think that the song could have an individual meaning to everyone, so everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 22nd 2008 !⃝

    I think breaking the habit is some what like an individual having drug addiction. He wanted to change this behavior, but he is experiencing what you called "withdrawal symptoms" where in it is very difficult to adjust because his body is already dependent with the drugs. That person is experiencing pains in the bones and muscles, and it is associated with muscle spasm and kicking movements. and I think the title " breaking the habit" is derived from the phrase "kicking the habit"(kicking movements).

  5. blu3prinz3
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    Jan 22nd 2008 !⃝

    Chester was a hardcore drug addict. He was addicted to meth I suppose because of the song crawling. I was a hardcore meth addict and I've experience that crawling sensation underneath my veins.

  6. anonymous
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    Jan 4th 2008 !⃝

    Actually, the song was really about breaking a habit.In the general fact, not only about Chester's case.

    But the meaning of the song and the feeling it's talking about is the same that Chester felt when he was addicted to drugs and sexually abused.
    That's why he always cried when he tried to sing the song during almost all 2003.Search for "breaking the habit toronto 2004" on youtube,you'll see that chester hardly sings it,because of the emotion.

  7. anonymous
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    Dec 28th 2007 !⃝

    Actually, the song was about one of Mike Shindoda's friends because he started writing the song before he ever met Chester Bennington, but most people think it's about Chester cause he used to do meth and coke.

  8. tavvolp
    click a star to vote
    Dec 12th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is about drugs.
    "I hurt much more
    Than anytime before
    I had no options left again"
    Means that he tried to stop, but then he started suffering without drugs and could only start again to feel beter;
    "I'll paint it on the walls
    'Cause I'm the one at fault
    I'll never fight again
    And this is how it ends"
    Means that he know it is his fault, so he will end and stop with drugs
    P.s sorry sor my english :P

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 4th 2007 !⃝

    If you watch the special edition DVD of the making of Meteora, you will see in an interview with the band members that the song was written before hybrid theory and before chester was even in the band. when it was put to chester to sing, he felt a connection with it which brought back bad memories etc. Hence they did not roll with it at the time and it was left until Meteora for them to use once chaz had dealt with his feeling of the song.

    there....end of confusion

  10. anonymous
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    Oct 23rd 2007 !⃝

    Look, regardless of whether or not it's about Chester it obviously had an impact and a deeper meaning for him. like someone else said no one will know unless you ask the guys from linkin park. and even if it was written before Chester was there the meaning could have changed once/if it fit so well with his troubled past.

  11. anonymous
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    Sep 25th 2007 !⃝

    This song isn't about Chester's addiction to cocaine or about him getting sexually molested as a child. It was written back when Mark Wakefield was the lead singer, back when that bands name was "Xero". This song was originally intended to be put onto "Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory". The song just connected with chester's past so well, it would make him cry when he would sing it. I think many have agreed that this song is better suited for "Meteora" anyways.

  12. anonymous
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    May 25th 2007 !⃝

    Guys, you may know whether or not it's about Chester, but if I learned anything in my English class, it doesn't matter what the author thinks. If you feel a way about the song, it shouldn't change what you feel about the song if they think differently.

    Now, in my opinion, I think it has to do with violence or anger. mostly cause of the lines:

    "I don't want to be the one
    the battles always choose."

    When I hear this I keep thinking about anger or domestic violence cause it fits well into it more than the others. He doesn't want to be part of any fights or fits and he's using personification to make the battle itself to make it seem like he's constantly being searched by people for fights, probably leading to the whole "trapped in his room, nowhere to go" feeling.

  13. anonymous
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    May 12th 2007 !⃝

    Drum and bass influenced song by the nu metal band Linkin Park, from their 2003 album Meteora. It was released as a single in 2004. It became the fifth consecutive single from Meteora to reach #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a feat unmatched by any other artist in the history of that chart.

    "Breaking The Habit" is one of the few Linkin Park songs which features neither Mike Shinoda's rapping nor Brad Delson's heavy guitar riffs.

    A common misconception about this song is that it was written about lead singer Chester Bennington, when in fact, band member Mike Shinoda had been working on the song since 1997, when Mark Wakefield was still the band's lead vocalist. The reason for this misconception is largely due to Bennington's history of sexual abuse and drug use. However, the song is mostly ambiguous and not based on any specific "habit", but it mentions instigating and "saying what I don't mean" possibly referring to an aggressive demeanor.

  14. Crittic47274
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    May 5th 2007 !⃝

    A common mistake about this song is that it was written about lead singer Chester Bennington, when actually, Mike Shinoda had been working on the song since 1997 when Mark Wakefield was still the band's lead vocalist. The reason for this huge mistake is largely due to Bennington's history of sexual abuse and drug use. However, the song can mostly apply to any difficult decision, and is not based on any one specific "habit".

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 29th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song describes depression and self harming. Picking me apart again means that manic depressives tend to over analyze themselves and look for the bad parts they don't like. I don't know what worth fighting for means that I don't see why I should live and carry on. Or why I have to scream means that I don't know why I'm mentally ill. Its a deep song I love it xxxx




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