| Linkin Park – Keys to the Kingdom Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song is unbelievably deep and shows that LP can make a symbolic masterpiece even with heavy instrumentals. (some of the lyrics above are incorrect and i will fix them in my analysis) My interpretation is as follows: (The entire song is from the perspective of civilians in a democracy) Chorus/Hook "No control- Citizens feel they have no say in their government /No surprise-They arent surprised that... Tossed the keys to the kingdom- ...their power in government ("keys to the kingdom") has been weakened or undermined/completely overlooked because... Down that hole in my eye!- ...their views on how they should be governed (eye) have been destroyed or disregarded (hole) by the government in favor of the government's own views of how they should operate; therefore, it's not surprising that the citizens power is overlooked and they have no say in how they are governed. I'm my own/casualty- The citizens are the reason for their loss of control and power in government because... I fuck up everything I see-...they are the ones that cause the issues that need to be addressed by government in the first place; why would leaders listen to those that cause the problems anyway? Fighting in futility"-Citizens will argue, bicker, debate, etc about which political party is better or which vision for the government is better, but it doesnt matter; they will have no say in the government no matter what,simply because the government thinks they know what is best for their people. Verse 1: "We start the final war- People tend to make a big fuss over elections and such; therefore, the "War" over who should lead the nation is "final", but not final as in the last of something, rather as in something permanent. Whoever is in charge of a government makes changes that have a permanent effect on the nation in the future, which is why the struggle over who should win is final... Tell me whats worth fighting for-...however, why should the citizens argue over who governs them when... When we know there's nothing more-...they have no real say in how they are governed anyway; there's nothing more after the election of the leaders that they can do that will impact how they are governed. We take the hand or fist- Citizens throughout history have had a tendency to try and make an impact on the government peacefully (the hand) through means such as peaceful assemblies/protests or violently (the fist) in ways such as assassination or death threats to leading officials.... Just to sell ourselves for this-..but even though these changes are attempted, the citizens will still go straight back to following the government because... The path we least resist."- following the leader is the easiest way to live. (epic chorus again) Verse 2: Mindset of citizens/Mike's own perspective (slightly ambiguous) Uh, I give ya what ya came for- the citizens have the solutions to the governments' problems; citizens trying to get their say in government. This is not the same though-the citizens have different ways to tackle problems than the government does Got a different method but I still can bring the pain so...- even though the citizens' solutions to problems may seem unconventional, they can still be effective Ya'll all got the same flow/I got that insane flow- every government leader has the same ideas in the eyes of the people, while the people have a vast amount of unique ideas (insane flow) High as ya'll can get you're never really in my range though- the best the government comes up with is never as good as what the citizens do. Yes, I'm half anglo/half fried panko- (Mike's heritage) Every citizen is unique and should not be ignored because they differ from the government leaders. All prime time rhymer/let the bass bang low-(Mike is referring to himself as a successful person and that his ideas are unique and should be considered too) All you fuckin lames go- citizens are telling the government officials that... Aimin at my name know;-have been ridiculing their ideas... Careful what ya shoot for cause you might hit what you aim for.-...to take their hate somewhere else (go) because the citizens are not afraid of them and will retaliate. (chorus) (epic glorious guitar solo and chorus) Such an amazing song by such a talented group of musicians. Linkin Park's songwriting gets better and better with each new album, and I thought Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns, and LIVING THINGS would be hard to beat in the lyrical meaning and symbolism department. |
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