Linkin Park: New Divide Meaning
Song Released: 2009
New Divide Lyrics
The lightning all around me
I remembered each flash
As time began to blur
Like a startling sign
That fate had finally found me
And your voice was all I heard
That I get what I deserved
[Chorus]
So give me...
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its about a guy thats torn apart because his love interests parents hate him so they cant communicate in any way. this happened to my brother and its kinda happened to me and it sux
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It may pretain to the theme of a thousand suns about war and deceit andhuman fear seeing as though michael bay contacted LP for a song for T2 while they were producing a thousand suns. It may have been a song intended to be in the a thousand suns album but was not included because LP had only the idea of the song so they mde an album just for it so it could be inT2
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I think that this song is about how a couple is fighting and how they think that it is the other and one of them is asking for the other to give them an excuse to kill themselves.
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this song the first part 'i remember black skies the lightning all around me.' talks about life, hope, love faith. the lightning and voice talk about the man or woman listening to what the man upstairs, the lord is saying. take a breather. relax it'll all be okay in time.
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I guess, we can also hear this song in another way:
"And your voice was all I heard, [pause] that I get what I deserve
So give me reason, [pause] to prove me wrong, [pause] to wash this memory clean"
This way, you can interpret that the singer hears the subject of this song telling themselves that they've gotten what they've deserved, means they regret whatever they've done. Although, this won't cooperate with the rest of the song ("Like a startling sign that fate has finally found ME"), but it will cooperate with the "In every loss, in every lie / In every truth that you'd deny / And each regret, and each goodbye / Was all mistakes too great to hide"...
Also, the part about the flood refers to the subject regretting (and possibly trying to repent) their mistakes.
So, there are a lot of ways to interpret this song. One that I favor is the political one, relating it with the government and their mistakes and the lies they tell people, but how in the end, everyone will see the truth they hide and they (the politicians) will be regretting everything, while it's already too late.
It also can be interpreted as two people breaking up, or rather, the singer breaking free from the relationship ("And the ground caved in…"). In their anger, the partner curses and says that the singer will be punished for the pain (heartbreak) he has caused ("…That I get what I deserve"). But the singer points out all the lies and mistakes the other have made ("In every loss…") and asks them to give him a reason as to why breaking up is a wrong move, or give him a reason to forget all those bad memories in favor of being together again ("So give me reason…").
There's also a religious way to it. One can picture that the song is sang on part of Satan/Lucifer and the atmosphere is that of the creation of Adam and Eve (which leads to the eventual fall of Lucifer). The divide happens (meaning Lucifer, once an angel and god's subject/whatever, draws a line between himself and god and the rest of Heaven). Satan firmly believes that creating the humans is a mistake and god will come to regret it. All the while, god tells him that Satan will be the one to regret his mistakes. This one is an unlikely interpretation though. We can also choose the other way around, in which the song is sang in god's POV and again, the rest.
It also can be at the end of Armageddon (which will make more sense) in Satan's POV, when he is finally defeated ("Like a startling sign…") and god tells him how separating himself from god and his manipulation of humans which led to the eventual death and pain of many were mistakes ("In every loss..."). Satan will come to regret it and asks for forgiveness but it's all too late. God tells him there is nothing that can make up for that mistake ("So give me reason …") and he has to be punished for them, most likely by being left alone to regret his actions ("Let the floods cross…").
Anyhow, don't forget what makes Linkin Park one of the greatest bands and lyricists: Their songs can be interpreted in any way, which leads to almost anyone being capable of relating to their songs. -
If you look at it from a transformers point of veiw, it's basically a young autobot, who was probably young for a transformer(say like 19 but who is mature), remembering(or telling and showing some human friends he might have made, who are telling him to forget the past and he's telling them why should(and how could) he forget the past, in a way that made it seem like they were there witnessing the deaf of the planet) the deaf of cybertron, the destruction, and the pain he felt when he saw the planet die. Also, the voice he hears was the command to shoot the allspark into space which he strongly disagreed with(but was over ruled).
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I don't know what all of you guys are thinking, but this song is obviously about nuclear weapons and Armageddon.
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And he said unto them, I beheld satan as lighting fall from heaven. (Jesus speaking)
Luke 10:18
Who is really singing here? Lucifer (satan) was cast down from heaven after his pride caused him to exalt himself above God. He is now divided from God and wants to keep us all from God as well. He cant keep you from God though. All you have to do is put your trust in Jesus, and your soul is sealed. Safe for eternity. Satan is behind much of todays music, all you have to do is pay attention. You can hear his voice in this song. Read the book of John in the King James Bible if you want to know more about salvation through Jesus. You won't regret it. Before you read ask Jesus to open your heart and mind to His words. He will reveal Himself to you. I suggest you do this before it is too late...... -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Why do people think this means that the song writer is innocent? The song writer feels guilty of what he's done that's why he says "Your voice was all i head, that I get what I deserve"// meaning the girl is looking at him saying you deserve this And now there relationship is severed. When he says "Fate had finally found me" meaning what was going to come at him all along, came (Karma) (he lost his relationship for the wrong he'd done) "And the ground caved in between where we were standing" Means that was the ultimate fall, and divide of the two, literally. "Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes" to me, means flood stands for his tears metaphorically, so let them be sufficient to make her change her mind (the distance that grows in her eyes).
I think the guy did something wrong, and he's ultimately sorry and wants her to give him a reason to make it up "give me reason, to prove me wrong", to wash the memory clean"
And then he's saying "let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide" He's hoping he can make it up and it be sufficient to fix up things..
It's actually really deep and sad when you think about it.. -
In short summary, as a compliment to the larger explanation, this song is in essence about moving on and forgetting the past. To interpret this song as asking for forgiveness or a chance to go back is a complete misunderstanding of what this song is about. In order to move on, one has to put the past behind them. The key word is closure. Closure is the first step to completing the transformation and being a TRANSFORMER.
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This song is open to many interpretations. Since the song is sung by a male, we will refer to the person who is saying these words as ‘He’ for ease of reference and understanding. I will try to break it down verse by verse:
‘I remembered black skies, the lightning all around me
I remembered each flash as time began to blur
Like a startling sign that fate had finally found me
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve’
The person saying these words is reminiscing about an event where he experienced emotional turmoil and sadness as represented by the implication of darkness. The lightning flashes signify being emotionally charged in this genre of sadness, which to this person has represented a turning point in his life. He has gone further to qualify this by suggesting that the one who he is directing the song to (who either means, or has meant a lot to him) is responsible for this and that this feeling of sadness on his part has been earned. Why this has been earned is up for speculation. It could be that he recognizes that he has done something to this person, for which they feel he should feel some sadness in return. It could also be that he recognizes that this person, as a result of an indifference that has occurred between them, may have resulted in him feeling that they are equipped to wish sadness upon him because of the indifference. It could also be that he recognizes this person as a source of his sadness because things haven’t worked out with them, but this person doesn’t wish any sadness upon him at all.
‘So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes
Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide’
Having suggested that the one who they are directing this song to is responsible for this turning point, he now makes a statement which can be interpreted literally as a request or subliminally as a challenge. Literally, it is a request which could be interpretated in two ways. One way is to assume that the request is being directed toward the person who contributed to this turning point. The second is to assume that the request is being made of ‘God’ or ‘mother nature’. Either way, the request that is being made requires that things should be orchestrated in such a way that by the end of this intervention, he should have enough cause to believe that whatever conclusions he has arrived at concerning this turning point brought on by sadness and intense emotions can be somehow reversed, such that this experience can be erased from his mind altogether.
Subliminally, he makes a challenge which can once again be interpreted as either being directed to the person who contributed to this turning point or to ‘God’ or ‘mother nature’. The challenge is for this person, intervention or fate to show him that whatever conclusions he has arrived at are completely wrong, which would be powerful enough to make him forget what has happened altogether. In reality, however, he believes what he knows to be true and he is being sarcastic by making the challenge, because really he isn’t able to erase this memory of what has happened, although he wishes he could by having the challenge accepted and be disproved.
The memory he wishes to have cleansed or erased from his thoughts is also up for speculation. It could refer to the memory of a small event which has led to this turning point. This scenario could imply that by having this memory erased, that reconciliation may be possible. This would certainly fit with the literal interpretation mentioned earlier.
The person then goes further by stipulating that the only way this reversal of memory can be achieved is through sincerity as signified by the notion that the person who caused this must cry with eyes full of tears. The person saying all of this is deeply moved by what they know, so much so that it has created a void in their own life which needs to be mended. The only way this can be achieved is if the one who they are directing this song to, can at least provide their version of events (as they occurred, as being sincere is the condition) to the point that it can refute the allegations and possible misunderstanding. This would once again fit with the literal interpretation and the idea of a small event taking place which if reversed could lead to reconciliation.
However, it is unlikely though that such a memory of a small event would warrant someone to go as far as saying they want to ‘wash it clean’. It is more likely that this memory is of a larger event, perhaps a whole relationship which has gone so bad that it has made him feel that his time has come to move to the next step (ie. a life changing event) which is consistent with the implication of this turning point in his life.
Following on from this subliminal interpretation, where he wishes he could forget what has happened and presents the challenge in the first line, his reference to the tears in this case is likely to be him projecting the way he feels or felt on to the person he is directing this to. The rest of the verse can be interpreted in the same way as the literal interpretation in that he is deeply moved by what has happened to the extent that it has created a void which needs to be filled. However, since he knows that realistically he is unable to forget what has happened, we have to assume that the first and third line is being directed toward ‘God’ or ‘mother nature’ to help him to cope with what has happened. He makes a request to have this void filled and hopes that whatever it is that will help him will represent the truth that exists between him and this person whom he now remains separated from, having once been united.
‘There was nothing in sight but memories left abandoned
There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow
And the ground caved in between where we were standing
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve’
He goes on to reminisce about the break up process. ‘Memories left abandoned’ represents a change whereby the past shared moments have been left behind, emphasized by the fact that there was nothing else to see, thereby directing the prime focus to these memories. He was unable to escape from focusing on these abandoned memories. Ashes represent the byproduct of a highly energized process which could be representative of the feelings which he felt as a result of the energy that once existed between him and this person. He describes this as falling down like snow which could mean that it has taken time for these highly charged emotions to settle much like the nature of how long it takes for snow to finally reach the ground. Once the dust settles (or emotions calm down) and collide with the ground, he describes the ground caving in which could signify the beginning of the break up process and eventual divide that occurred between him and this person. He summarizes again with the notion of sadness being wished upon him as described earlier.
‘So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes across this new divide’
See above
‘In every loss, in every lie, in every truth that you'd deny
And each regret and each goodbye was a mistake too great to hide
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve’
Now, he elaborates on some of the problems with this relationship he has with this person, by highlighting some of the issues. The loss, maybe of arguments between the two of them and the lies, which may have been told to one another are clear. It isn’t clear as to who lost what or who lied to whom, so there appears to be ambiguity in these two issues. We can only assume that there may have been loss and lies on both sides. What is clear though is that there are some truths which he is aware and convinced of and appears to have challenged this person about, to the point that there can be no ambiguity, but they have denied that.
He goes on to state that the negativity that occurred between them was too great to cover up and therefore justifies the break up. He summarizes with the notion of sadness being wished upon him as described earlier. It stands to reason that if someone refuses to accept certain truths presented before them and demonstrates negativities in a relationship which ends in a divide, that this could be linked with the need to wish sadness on the person presenting these truths, especially if this was the person who the relationship was with.
‘So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes
Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide
Across this new divide, across this new divide’
What is clear from all of this is that these are the words of a man who wants closure in a relationship that was thwart with negativity. He is saddened by the loss because of the memories that he was left to remember and couldn’t escape from remembering, but he wishes to move on and wants to wash this memory of what has happened out of his mind. Since we learn later that from his point of view, he recognizes that this person has denied certain truths in light of the fact that he recognizes that this person holds him in contempt by his repetition of hearing their voice saying he deserves what he gets, it would seem that if we take the whole song as a whole that he hopes that this person will cry with sincerity over what has happened and somehow find peace within themselves for what they have done.
This song is timely after the first transformers song where the same person, if we are to assume based on the sequel of the movie that it is the same person telling the story, is empathizing with the person who has obviously wronged them by denying truths and holding contempt for him. The reason for this is because in the first transformers song, it appears that he is accepting his own mistakes and has chosen to start afresh. In this song, he is hoping that the person who clearly has made mistakes will also makes a start and accept their own mistakes in light of the new division that has occurred between them. The notion that he wants to reconcile would be a false one since the song has demonstrated that too much has happened to ever allow reconciliation and he obviously wants closure. -
A man having flashback of his love having a divorce or death of his girlfriend.
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I remembered black skies, the lightning all around me
I remembered each flash as time began to blur
Like a startling sign that fate had finally found me
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve
(My guess is his mind after the "divide" of him and his friend/girlfriend etc. and he KNOWS he deserved everything but he wants to try and fix it.)
So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes
Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide
(He wants to be "cleaned" and be forgiven and she has helped make a "divide" and he wants to get his emotions as a "flood" to her to say sorry.)
There was nothing in sight but memories left abandoned
There was nowhere to hide, the ashes fell like snow
And the ground caved in between where we were standing
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve
(Again his mind in total chaos and wanting to repent and be forgiven.)
So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes across this new divide
(See previous chorus)
In every loss, in every lie, in every truth that you'd deny
And each regret and each goodbye was a mistake too great to hide
And your voice was all I heard that I get what I deserve
(She didn't listen to the truth about it NOT being his fault and that every time she pushed him away "subtly" she couldn't hide it.)
So give me reason to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean
Let the floods cross the distance in your eyes
Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide
Across this new divide, across this new divide
(He just wants to be back with her or at least be friends.)
PS This is just MY opinion everyone has a say. Please Make this a five star Deal. -
As I listened to this song, I couldn't help but relate it to 9/11. The lyrics are so striking to me I made a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBwGOOA7eXk
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