Linkin Park: Easier to Run Meaning
Easier to Run Lyrics
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone
Something has been taken from deep inside of me
A secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see
Wounds so deep...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think this song, as many say, is about a person being disgusted with his past. He thinks the only way out could be to die, leaving behind a lifeless body. He still wants to take his mistakes to the grave because he doesn't want them to continue on Earth. He has tried to change. He has done everything in his power to undo his mistakes, so he thinks it's the only solution. His mistakes have left bruises on him which are so deep that they'll never go away. He is afraid to face all the consequences alone.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Someone in the request section thought it was about rape. I think that's a little too specific. The thing with Linkin Park songs, is that the lyrics can apply to almost any situation of the kind the lyrics are about. This song is a perfect example of that. Now, on the rape subject, if we are to put the lyrics in the context of rape, then the chorus can be interpreted as a rape vic's story, and then the pre-chorus as the perp's story, so I don't think it fits that subject. However, I think that the lyrics basically are about a person (note: any person in any situation) that regrets the past (the verses), and the message is that often the easy way out of problems is to run away from them(choruses). I'm not sure if the singer was trying to tell people to do that when he wrote that, I do think that this is just a story of a person that ran away.
Well, I'm going into all directions here, and the reason is, you can't pin these lyrics down to any one thing.
Just listen to the song, and you'll figure out your own interpretation, I think the vocalists intended for that. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:C'mon guys its obvious! Chester wrote this song about someone who has a lot of problems to deal with. The problems just kept building up and building up and he just didn't have the strength. He said he could try extra hard to fix whatever's wrong, but it's so much easier to run from everything.
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I feel this song deeply. I suffer depression and anxiety every hour of every day. Chester was a genius when writing his music. This song to me is about abuse of drugs and/or alcohol to run from the problems going through your head. Drown out the memories of the past. It's easier to run from it than face it "alone". Nobody truly understands or feels what goes on in another. That's wrong but that's the way we feel within our minds.
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I think it's about abuse and his depression he dealt with.
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I feel the song's overall meaning isn't that specific. But I'll say its mostly about having extremely tragic memories, and wanting to run away from all of this pain. It also kind of covers wanting to overcome this, and debating yourself to either to the easier route, or take the route that actually helps you, and you feeling lost. You regret many of the decisions you made, and told untrustworthy people of one of your secrets, and just want to get rid of the emotional pain. eventually, twords the climax of the song, the man eventually stands up, takes the blame, apologizes to all of the people he ever hurt, and ignore all of the people who said bad stuff about you, and eventually overcome all of the bullshit that has happened, and just honor the fact that the pain is gone.
This song always makes me feel better, the lyrics are kinda depressing, but they also scream themes about hope, and friedship. -
"anonymous Jul 21st, 7:21amreport
Probably about his abuse."
This person is right on the money for me.
Every point this person made about the lyrics and possible meaning of it is what that song is to me. That song is how I knew Chester went through a very similar experience to mine. This was a few years before he said something publicly. I was abused when I was 8 years old and when I first heard that song way back when I bought the record, about 14 years old and on a path of selfdestruction, I freaked the F out.
It was like he was in my head.
Like that Fugees song Killing me softly: "I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud. "
It rememeber listening to it for the first time and my head just turned towards my stereo because I couldn't believe it.
I mean word for word, I can't stress that enough. It was incredible and and pretty creepy all at the same time and suddenly I knew a wasn't alone in the world.
No one can put into words what's like trying to live through something like that unless you've experienced it. That man saved my life with his words. I could have been dead for over 10 years already. Because guess what, I was holding a razorblade and trying to decide whether or not to cut too deep this time (used to cut myself on the wrists quite a bit back then) and then that song came on... That's why my head turned in shock and why it was kindoff creepy.
I fear the person who posted this on 7/21 may have some experience with this as well based on how much you seem to hear the same thing as I do. If you have, I'm so sorry you had to go throught that. Know that you are not alone, even if it feels like it. There are others and don't forget to speak up when you need help.
Try and find comfort in some form, for me writing helps sometimes. Music helps almost always. Listening to LP was difficult at first after Chesters death but thankfully I can pour strength from again just like it used to. -
Probably about his abuse. He was sexually abused as a child. "Something has been taken from deep inside of me things that I've kept locked away no one can ever see, things so deep they never show they never go away like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played..." The person who hurts you, who did that do you they've taken something from you. A piece of you that you can never get back that will never be there again. You try to hide that someone did that. Allow yourself to know that they ruined you. You feel like they did and it's something you'll never get back. You have days where it replays in your head ALL DAY LONG. No matter how old you get how far away from that you get there are days where it's over and over and over and everything reminds of it. OF them. So it wouldn't surprise me if that's what this song is about. Because it's very real feeling. " I could change I would take back the pain I would)
(Retrace every wrong move that I made I would)
(If I could stand up and take the blame I would)
(If I could take all the shame to the grave I would"
You don't want to share any of it and you blame yourself for it. You wonder what you did to deserve being seen as less than human by someone. You feel you did something wrong that you made it happen. And yet you don't know what it was and you feel shame that you don't want to share with anyone because if you do it means it happened.
"It's easier to run
Replacing this pain with something numb
It's so much easier to go
Than face all this pain here all alone
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"
A lot of abuse victims turn to drugs because it's easier to feel numb than to feel that pain that guilt. It's easier for people to understand drugs than it is to understand self hate and self destruction. If you're doing one you're appeasing the other. You're literally running from yourself from what happened to you and you wish you didn't remember it, wish you could escape it but it doesn't matter how far or how hard you run because you can't escape yourself. You can't escape your past and what made you who you are.
By far one of the best songs he wrote. R.I.P Chester Bennington -
This song can be about many situations.It could be like some people already told about suicide.("If I could take all the shame to the grave I would") This song is pretty much tragic and can mean a lot.("Something has been taken from deep inside of me,a secret I've kept locked away noone can ever see") -> Maybe it was found out,that the person consumed drugs or that he/she did something terrible,that he/she can't forget it and doesn't want to live anymore or can't be happy.("Wounds so deep they never show,they never go away.Like moving pictures in my head,for years and years they've played") -> Maybe the person,who did something terrible,just can't forget what happened("Wounds so deep...") and that those memories have played in his/her head for years.
("Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past,bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have") -> Maybe a bad childhood,drugs,horrible parents? ("Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back,and NEVER MOVING FORWARD so there'd never be a past") -> Could be about suicide.
("If I could change I would") -> If the person could reverse his/her mistake he/she has done.
("Take back the pain I would") -> Take back the pain the other person had to take 'cause of him/her.
("Retrace every wrong move that I made I would") -> Reverse all mistakes the person has done.
("If I could stand up and take the blame I would") -> Like here,the person would try to reverse what he/she has done - "the blame"
("If I could take all the shame to the grave I would") -> The person can't live with the mistake/mistakes he/she has done.He/she can't forget it,what happened,what he/she did wrong,so he/she wants to die - "I would take all my shame to the GRAVE" -
This song actually covers so much.
The first verse describes something being taken from inside of him. Innocence, maybe? And what replaces it is the hurt, the memories, that haunt him and never leave him alone. The rap verse says if he could change and be happy, he would. If he could take away the shame and the memories, he would. "I would take all the shame to the grave" infers suicide. If he could kill himself, he would. He's pondered on it, maybe attempted, but is too scared to. "It's easier to run, replacing this pain with something numb" infers drug use, or self harm. He does something that numbs the pain he gets from the memories and the way they affect him today. "It's easier to go, then face all this pain here all alone" infers suicide.
The second verse talks a little more about the memories. "Letting go and never looking back, and never moving forward so there'd never be a past" again is inferring suicide. To let go, of his life, and also never face any more pain.
"Just washing it aside, all of the helplessness inside. Pretending I don't feel misplaced, it's so much simpler than change." It's easier for him to walk through life like this, numb to everything, then to change. He feels too weak to be happy again. This song is really tragic but many people can relate. -
I may not he right, but here's my interpretation. He has made some huge mistakes that have caused him a great deal of pain. He has to fake happiness so others won't see. His emotional wounds run so deep that he can't deal with them. He's tried to fix himself and correct his mistakes but they haunt him constantly. He feels regret to the most a person can. He's tried so long to correct all of this pain and he keeps making it worse, no matter what he does this pain just won't go away. So he says his final atenps at making all this pain go away is to run from if all. Which that means he is probably contemplating suicide. He says he should be taking his pain to the grave because he doesn't want to hurt himself or any one else any longer. That's what this song means to me. Sounds alot like me....
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I think it's about someone losing a family member or a very close friend and was blamed for it. He/she is trying to run from the past and for get all about it. He/she just wants to start over and change what happened.
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Linkin Park music can be about anything you want that the lyrics can apply to. This song, for me, tells of how a person's secret is revealed unintentionally. It could have happened to a real person before.
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This really can be applied to many situations, as per all Linkin Park songs. So I'll be suggesting a few different situations and you choose which one you like better.
This can be from the POV of someone who has done a great mistake/horrible act in past, hence the chorus. They are now regretting what they've done and at the same time, they don't want to face the results. So they'll run away in hopes to find a place where no one will know about their past.
Another situation is that of someone who is suffering emotionally, whether it's by an abusive partner/parent/etc or it's a self-harm sort of feeling, in which a person tortures themselves by lingering on past mistakes and painful memories. In this case, the person is trying everything to end this feeling: trying to run away, trying to cease their everyday life so they won't be harmed anymore or (possibly) committing suicide.
A sub for this is a depressed person. They constantly feel hollow like there's something "missing" ("Something has been taken…") and they reflect on all the bad memories ("Like moving pictures…"). They sometimes feel "misfit"("… pretending I don't feel misplaced…") and often they are emotionally unable to pull themselves together (take to consideration: "It's easier to go / Than face all this pain here all ALONE". The person might have been able to change if there was someone there for them), even though they want it very badly. This person will constantly express their inability to change ("If I could change I would…"), and they honestly need someone to support them and encourage them to attend sessions with doctors/counselors, else wise they usually don't have a motivation to do so themselves, so they'll just put a false front ("Pretending I don't feel misplaced / It's so much simpler than change" and "The secret I kept locked away, no one can ever see").
Another sub is, for example a child who is constantly being abused (emotionally or physically) by their parent(s), or someone who was abused as a child ("Wounds so deep they never show…" and "Sometimes I remember…"). The abusive parent will constantly blame the kid for everything that happens to them, to a point that the victim will accept and believe that they are the reason ("If I could… take the blame… retrace every wrong move…"). So they whether will run away from home, or they'll start using drugs or commit suicide ("… Replacing this pain with something numb"). Even though they might succeed to get away, the memories and the emotional scars often will continue to haunt them (again: "Sometimes I remember…").
There are a lot more situations than these, but most can be categorized under this two. -
Suicide, running from problems, and regret..
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I think it might be about forgetting about past events to seek forgiveness. In "If I could stand up and take the blame I would
I would take all my shame to the grave"They are saying whats done is done but there are some things you need to leave behind. -
I think this song is about him loosing his confidence or self image this the link "something has taken from deep inside of me" and the part "a secret that's been locked away noone can ever see" means that he was once at the top of the world and remembers those times but can't get back up because there are images in his head that never go away meaning something uccured to him that put him down probably something that he tried to change but couldn't, that's when Mike Shinoda comes in and sings the chorus and him saying that if he could change he would and replace every wrong move that he made he would, just a possible interpretaion sorry if it's kind of vague.
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i agree with the first comment on here but i also think that a lot of songs and poems are interpreted by your experiences.
i think this song is about some sort of abuse, not necessarily rape, and the victim is running away from the past(the memories of it all) because its easier to pretend its not real and repress the memories than it is to face them everyday and make peace.
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