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__ Hands Held High – Linkin Park __ media type="file" key="Linkin Park - Hands Held High.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="youtube" key="-VE_u74_KDc?fs=1" height="385" width="480"


 * __ Summary: __**


 * Brief introduction about my song + Information about the band
 * Lyrics
 * About the lyrics
 * Most powerful message
 * My task


 * __ Brief introduction: __**

Despite not loving this kind of English rock music I think this song has a really powerful message, although most of the people do not really take notice about what the singer is really trying to tell us. Linkin Park is a six-piece band from California. The current members are: Chester Bennington (vocals) Rob Bourdon (drums, percussion) Brad Delson (lead guitar) David Phoenix Farrell (bass) Joseph Hahn (turntables, programming, samples) Mike Shinoda (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboard)


 * __ The Lyrics: __**

Turn my mic up louder, I got to say something Lightweights steppin' aside when we come in Feel it in your chest, the syllables get pumping People on the street then panic and start running Words on loose leaf sheet, complete coming I jump in my mind, I summon the rhyme I'm dumping Healing the blind, I promise to let the sun in Sick of the dark ways we march to the drumming Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping Fuck that, I wanna see some fists pumping List something, take back what's yours Say something that you know they might attack you for 'Cause I'm sick of being treated like I had before Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for Like this war's really just a different brand of war Like it doesn't cater to rich and abandon poor Like they understand you, in the back of their jet When you can't put gas in your tank, these fuckers Are laughing their way to the bank, and cashing their check Asking you to have the passion and have some respect For a leader so nervous in an obvious way Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day In the living room, laughing like, "What did he say?"

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen

In my living room watching it, I am not laughing 'Cause when it gets tense, I know what might happen The world is cold, the bold men take action Have to react to get blown into fractions At 10 years old, it's something to see Another kid my age drugged under a Jeep Taken and bound and found later under a tree I wonder if he had thought 'the next one could be me' Do you see the soldiers that are out today? They brush the dust from bulletproof vests away It's ironic, at times like this you'd pray But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday There's bombs on the buses, bikes, roads Inside your market, your shops, and your clothes My dad, he's got a lot of fear, I know But enough pride inside not to let that show My brother had a book he would hold with pride A little red cover with a broken spine on the back He hand-wrote a quote inside, "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die" Meanwhile, the leader just talks away Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay The rest of the world watching at the end of the day Both scared and angry, like "What did he say?"

Amen Amen Amen Amen

With hands held high into a sky so blue As the ocean opens up to swallow you.


 * __ About the lyrics: __**

So what do the lyrics really say? We will divide the poem in two parts, from the beginning until the second paragraph and from there until the end. Hands held high performed by Linkin Park criticizes the war and all its consequences. In the first paragraph Bennington is introducing the theme with really powerful messages. We can see how in the first line he has to say something desperately. He cannot wait to tell us his point of view about the war and make us change. We could understand by what Bennington is trying to transmit us that he doesn’t have enough power to do it himself, that he needs us in this. The next couple of lines try to make us feel that as a collective you can really beat everyone. It’s trying to ‘prepare’ us for what is going to come. In the following l ines Bennington explains how the panic has just started. He says how the scared people try to run away, and how he will surely end with all that. He says, ‘ I promise to let the sun in’. Here we can clearly understand how he is referring to the sun as a bright and positive aspect. He contrasts this in the following line by saying, ‘Sick of the dark ways we march to the drumming’. Again we find another really powerful image with the drumming. Bennington tries to make us imagine the two enemies against each other, just before the war starts, and how the drums are being played fiercely. In the following lines Bennington tries to transmit us the idea that they do not have to go to war just because the rich people say so. He says that if they really go to war, they should have their reasons, they should fight for them, not for the rich people. These next five lines really transmit a powerful image, they say the following, Like they understand you, in the back of their jet When you can't put gas in your tank, these fuckers Are laughing their way to the bank, and cashing their check Asking you to have the passion and have some respect For a leader so nervous in an obvious way This part of the song is one of the best ones, in my opinion. We can see how the rich people despite ‘organizing’ the war don’t care at all about what happens out there, at the battlefield. They are just interested in the money. We can clearly see the difference between the different social classes. I really love the contrast between the rich people in the jet and the soldiers trying to put gas in their tanks.

The second paragraph is not really different from the first one. It pretty much tells the same idea. We can see a phrase that makes you think about many aspects of life, it makes you see how lucky we are. It says, ‘Another kid my age drugged under a Jeep’. It also makes you think about the people that have no other chance. Bennington also tries to express the uncertainty at moments of war. He basically says that there could be a bomb at the most unexpected place. After this, we find the following phrase, ‘My dad, he’s got a lot of fear, I know, but enough pride inside not to let that show’. This is probably the phrase I like the most of the poem. (I will comment it on the Most powerful message part). Finally we find another important message. Bennington says, ‘He hand-wrote a quote inside, "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die". Here we see again how the power comes from the high-class. They basically dominate the world. Bennington tries to make us think that the rich ones treat the rest of the people as their soldiers, and he says that this should end. This quote really expresses well the suffering a poor has to go through the war. We find it even more powerful when it is a kid who says this.

As a conclusion I think the lyrics from Hands held high really express what the war is about. It explains the poor conditions they have to survive to. We could also argue that the song rhythm makes you understand the whole story better. By listening the song we appreciate how the rhythm is kind of slow and negative so that makes us believe even more the extreme conditions a soldier has to survive to, although we really don’t have a clue about what it’s like being there.


 * __ Most powerful message: __**

As I said before my most powerful message is the one that says, ‘My dad, he’s got a lot of fear, I know, but enough pride inside not to let that show’. I think that not everyone has the same opinion about the most powerful message in the song, but here I will say my arguments about why this is the most powerful one in all the song. I think this phrase expresses perfectly the idea and the role of the father inside a family. Although things are changing constantly and there is every time more equality between men and women here we can see how the father was the one that kind of supported the family. He really does not want to show his inside fear to not worry them. He does not want their children to worry about, so that they do not think it is the end. This phrase really shows the courage, honour and pride of this man, it really seems powerful to me.

Another understanding of the meaning would be that despite the fact that they are full o fear they have to go. It was his obligation to leave all behind and go to the war. Without being able to decide anything at all.

Here we can see how a kid is forced to go to war. He really seems bewildered, lost and scared. He probably doesn't even know how the weapon works. This image suggested me about this poor people who are forced (in this case at a really young age) to go to the war.


 * __ My Task: __**


 * __ FILL THE GAPS, (THEN LISTEN) __**

Turn my mic up _ _ _ _ _ _, I got to say something Lightweights steppin' aside when we _ _ _ _ in Feel it in your chest, the syllables get pumping People on the street then _ _ _ _ _ and start running Words on loose leaf sheet, complete coming I jump in my mind, I summon the _ _ _ _ _ I'm dumping Healing the blind, I promise to let the _ _ _ in Sick of the dark ways we march to the drumming Jump when they tell us that they wanna see _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Fuck that, I wanna see some fists pumping List something, take _ _ _ _ what's yours Say something that you know they might _ _ _ _ _ _ you for


 * __ MATCH __**


 * 1) 'Cause I'm sick of being
 * 2) Like it's stupid standing
 * 3) Like this war's really just
 * 4) Like it doesn't cater to
 * 5) Like they understand you
 * 6) When you can't put gas in your tank
 * 7) Are laughing their way to the bank
 * 8) Asking you
 * 9) For a leader so nervous
 * 10) Stuttering and mumbling for
 * 11) And the rest of the
 * 12) In the living room, laughing like,

a) in an obvious way b) treated like I had before c) watching at the end of the day d) for what I'm standing for e) for nightly news to replay f) "What did he say?" g) just a different brand of war h) rich and abandon poor i) in the back of their jet j) these fuckers k) and cashing their check l) to have the passion and have some respect