Linkin Park: Breaking the Habit Meaning

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. linkinpark4eva

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   Mar 31st 2006 !⃝

   They have performed BTH, it appears on the Linkin Park Underground CD version 4. Or you can ask me for it in the forums. There may be others.
2. darthjesus

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   Mar 28th 2006 !⃝

   So far it seems that everyone has gotten this half right.
   
   The full meaning of this song traces back to Chester's early childhood sexual abuse, and the resulting cocaine/meth addiction that he kicked later in life. The song took Chester and Mike 6 years to write, and, when it was time to record, Chester repeatedly broke down crying on the studio floor. To this day, the song is either never performed live or at least rarely ever. Definitely the band's best song so far.
   
   Really, all you have to do to find this song's full interpretation is look on Wikepedia.org
3. linkinpark4eva

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   Jan 29th 2006 !⃝

   It was Wikipedia! Now I remember:
   
   "...His co-writer and fellow band member Mike Shinoda wrote a song, which until recently could not be performed live. The song, called "Breaking the Habit," brought back memories from the past which in many cases reduced Bennington to tears...
4. linkinpark4eva

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   Jan 6th 2006 !⃝

   I can't find the source of BTH, but I hope it's a credible source, or I'm going to look like an idiot. The coke addiction is on an audio-biography, the other info was on a website, but I can't find the name.
5. anonymous

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   Jan 4th 2006 !⃝

   Ok whoever said the stuff about the drug addiction:
   yes, this song was written by mike before hybrid theory and the instrumental was combined with the lyrics
   but idk about the whole chester cried so they couldnt do it til later... lp has many songs written about drug abuse, for insance carousel on their first album hybrid theory ep. crawling is too. So y could chester sing those but not breaking the habit? well mike sang carousel but w/e...
   im not sure if this is about cutting or drugs, it could go either way.
   wut was your source for the drug abuse thing, I wanna read it because I've never heard it before, thanks
6. linkinpark4eva

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   Nov 13th 2005 !⃝

   Videos are not the best way of interpreting a song. Take 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' for example:
   
   The actual song is about Billie Joe's father dying of throat/lung cancer (can't remember which). The video is either about 9/11 or going to war. It's how the director interprets the song.
   
   'Pain' by Jimmy Eat World is the same. The song is about drug addiction, but the video is about a guy making an ass of himself.
   
   Breaking The Habit was actually a song Mike was trying to write, but the lyrics were either too cheesy or too dark and melancholy. He finished it, and it became about a drug addiction. Unfortunately, Chester had only just come out of rehab for his coke addiction and broke down crying whenever he sang it. This was at the time of Hybrid Theory. The band put it to one side.
   When they came to making Meteora, they made an instrumental track, which was 10 minutes long and in 6/8, but they didn't like it. They convinced Mike to turn it into a full song, with verses and choruses. Mike found the lyrics for the song they had put aside, and they fit almost perfect. Chester had grown more out of his addiction, and could perform it without crying.
   And so you have the history of 'Breaking The Habit'.
7. anonymous

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   Nov 3rd 2005 !⃝

   Dude your totally missing the pount the song IS about SELF HARM, not an addiction to coke....If you have seen the video to this songyou would know, its a bout a girl you can stand herself anymore and she thinks shes wourthless so she decide to slit her wrist with a peice of glass and herfather see this and she throws...tomatoes at him??? (i never understood that). But yea this song is aboyut self harm not a coke addiction, chester was never addicted to coke you idiot, that was curt cobane from nirvana. P.s he killed himself.
8. StarFish

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   Oct 26th 2005 !⃝

   Oh, ok, I didn't know that, but I must point out that a general theme of giving in to dangerous self-destructive behavior is presented. Drug use could be seen as a form of self harm too. But anyway, I didn't know that, so thanks.
   
   *Star~Fish*
9. linkinpark4eva

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   Oct 18th 2005 !⃝

   Sorry, Starfish, you have it wrong. It's about Chester's addiction to coke. Mike wrote it at the time of the making of Hybrid Theory, but Chester always ended up crying when he performed. So they saved it for a few years later, which is why it's on Meterora. I think's it's better on Meteora, personally. It fits in better with the theme than HT.
10. StarFish

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    Oct 17th 2005 !⃝

    Personally, I've always thought this song was about self harm. The title is a big part of that, he's trying to break a habit, and he's trying to resist, but he feels like he can't, or that it's really difficult. This verse convinced me the most:
    
    "Clutching my cure
    I tightly lock the door
    I try to catch my breath again
    I hurt much more
    Than any time before
    I had no options left again"
    
    You can almost picture it: he's got whatever he uses (razros? matches? pills?) with him, and he's just gotten to his room, where he can be alone, and he's decided that there aren't any other ways of dealing with his pain. Damn this song is depressing! Speaking of that, whether or not it's is a trigger or a help, is up to the listener.

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