Wastelands Lyrics
This is war with no weapons
Marching with no stepping
Murder with no killing
Illin' every direction, first
No sequel, do the math, no equal
John with no Yoko
More power, less people
And yo, I'm not afraid of that
Print it in your paperback
Every rap is made in fact
To act as a delayed attack
Every phrase a razor blade
That's save until they play it back
To slay and leave 'em laying on the pavement, bang
Fade to black
Where there's nothing left to lose
And there's nothing more to take
But you force yourself to choose
In the wastelands of today
Where tomorrow disappears
While the future slips away
And your hope turns into fear
In the wastelands of today
The show is done
They're talking for just talking
But meaning they got none
None of 'em come proper
They talk like a shotgun
But how many got bred with integrity
Not one
So no, I'm not afraid to see these suckers hold a blade to me
Ain't a way to shake the ground I built before you came to be
Take it how you take it, I'm the opposite of vacancy
And this is not negotiation
Y'all can hate and wait and see
When there's nothing left to lose
And there's nothing more to take
But you force yourself to choose
In the wastelands of today
When tomorrow disappears
When the future slips away
And your hope turns into fear
In the wastelands of today
When there's nothing left to lose
And there's nothing more to take
But you force yourself to choose
In the wastelands of today
When tomorrow disappears
When the future slips away
And your hope turns into fear
And your hope turns into fear
In the wastelands of today
In the wastelands of today
The song is basically saying that the music industry has become a vast cultural wasteland and too many artists are mindlessly choosing to follow the latest trends in the music industry in order to cash in for a quick buck and fame. They decide that it's easier to play it safe by releasing something that's conventional instead of going against the grain because in the end they know that it won't get them as much radio play and recognition as mainstream music.
Mike Shinoda explained to Rolling Stone how he drew songwriting inspiration from an article about Japanese culture when he was working on The Hunting Party. "[The article] was talking about how people [in Japan] were concerned that the new generation of kids were becoming 'herbivores' – they were passive and they weren't going out and getting a job or getting a girlfriend," he said. "They were sitting and playing video games and waiting for stuff to come to them."
Shinoda continued: "They were worried what was going to happen to their culture if there weren't any more 'carnivores.' I thought, 'What's going on in Rock music is really the same thing.' I connected with that on a deep emotional level because I was looking for something that was visceral and aggressive, and I wanted to hear this certain kind of music, and I couldn't find it."