IN MY REMAINS “Like an army falling, one by one by one” In My Remains is the second track featured on LIVING THINGS. Although the song was never released as a single, it reached #10 on the UK Rock charts and #83 in Germany, which tells a lot about the accessibility of this alternative/electro rock anthem. The song was originally titled “One Forty” as a demo. We have no official seeds or snippets from the demo, however early lyrics and deliveries can be heard on the Linkin Park’s official documentary Inside Living Things. Even Shinoda takes a stab at the track. It’s certainly an interesting peek into the world of Linkin Park’s writing. Watch the documentary below starting at 4:03 for the In My Remains section. Diving into the song itself, In My Remains seems to stem from several sources of inspiration. From the organic instrumentation found in Minutes To Midnight, to the intimate lyrics found in Bennington’s side project, Dead By Sunrise. The track even follows the quiet verse and “wall of noise” chorus formula that made the band such a nu-metal staple to begin with. All while delving into the electronics toyed with on A Thousand Suns. A concoction of piercing synths serve as a jarring introduction to In My Remains before a drowning wall of guitars flood into the scene for a quick main riff, alongside a hammering beat by Rob Bourdon. The crushing noise subsides for a brief verse by Bennington who passionately sings among booming drums and a weaving synth. The chorus is iconic Linkin Park featuring the head vocalist soaring in the skies with his range while the sea of guitars rage on creating a very powerful sound. Where In My Remains bounds for uncharted territory is in the solemn bridge where all falls silent, save for a lone piano and a thumping military drum roll. Shinoda rejoins the fray for a chilling refrain where he beckons the now classic “like an army falling, one by one by one”. Bennington returns to harmonize in the background as a synth rises until the anthem breaks loose again with Bennington taking the spotlight again over a wall of guitars. The song concludes humbly with the bridge’s atmosphere rekindling once again for Shinoda to sing one last haunting reminder. Examining the lyrics, the song could once again take on a bunch of interpretations. One interesting one would be a man who has passed on (hence the song title) with several regrets (promises never made). Perhaps his soul wishes to be laid to rest without the guilt so that the worst parts of him can be washed away. Taking the bridge lyrics into consideration, the victim could be a soldier who has lost his humanity to war, and would rather forget the traumatizing memories. In My Remains sadly had only about 15 minutes of fame live on stage. The song debuted on August 10, 2012 on the first stop of the Honda Civic Tour. It was clear that the band struggled with early performances of the song before finally hitting their stride, particularly Bennington when reaching for those soaring notes, and Shinoda during the solemn bridge. However, like with several songs in the band’s history, In My Remains soon became a solid anthem for the show, delivering a wall of energy. As hinted at above, the song didn’t last very long on the stage, vanishing completely by the end of 2012. Seeds of the song have however reemerged in Shinoda’s new rap medley in 2014. An interesting and controversial thing to note about the live version of In My Remains is the mixing. The main synth is nearly entirely drowned out in the album, however it is perhaps the most captivating piece of the chorus when performed live. Below is a stellar performance from the MTV World Stage in Monterrey: In My Remains was also performed acoustically for an LPU Summit audience in Camden, NJ on August 17, 2012. Below is the performance, backed only by a piano and the duo vocalists. The video is particularly chilling during the bridge when Mike asks the crowd to help sing. -------------------------------------------------------------- In my opinion I feel as though In My Remains blend of Alternative/Electronic rock and the vocal performances are superb. However the track in general is brought down by the generic wall of guitars that drown out the beautiful synths. The cookie-cutter structure also does the song no favours. The bridge deserved more time to grow and flourish with emotion to really bring an impact to that final chorus. It's a solid track, but only the tip of the iceberg in Linkin Park's repertoire.
In my Remains is maybe my favorite track on Living Things, its not the longest track but i think thats cool with the song. Beginning with the high energy intro (which is really fantastic) and a more silent verse from Chester into a heavy electronic-rocky chorus this song is just damn amazing. "Sinking down and waiting for a chance to feel alive" are defintly one of my favorite sentences on Living Things. And the bridge with the drums and Mike singing From the end of the bridge (love the part where the "Like an Army" step up) to the last chorus to the "Like an Army, falling , One by One by One" at the end of the song, it got me everytime i am listening to the song. Chesters singing here is really nice. THe synths are also really nice like all the other things of the song. As i said, my favorite one from LT. Good Job Again
Great post again! IMO, In My Remains is a really fun, catchy song. The mixing drowns out the best part of the song though. I love Chester's singing on the song. The mixing live makes the song way better as you pointed out. The synths and the piano during Chester's parts are louder live and it suits the song. Definitely my favourite song off Living Things. It's sad that they can't perform it live anymore. Also, at the end of the song(?) you can hear a faint "one by one by one" right? Is that still Mike? Or is it Dave?
What i wanted to add, i hate that they dont have this song into there set anymore. I had love this on my show
Definitely one of my favorite songs from LIVING THINGS. Though I kinda wish they would have kept the line "stepping on the backs of all the underdogs." That's a pretty cool and original line in my opinion. The only place where I feel that this song suffers is in the mixing. That high pitched synth should have really been brought out in the studio version. And it's not like it's a case of "Oh, maybe the band just wanted it to sound like that," cause they wouldn't have made it the lead synth in live performances. [video=youtube;EpckceJMpiM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpckceJMpiM[/video] This performance, in my opinion, is better than the one you have posted, even if it's not a pro-shot. Chester sounds a lot better (even with his lyric screw-up), the high pitched synth sounds louder, and Brad's guitar part sounds better and has more style to it. Weird how in live performances they also including this "wub" sound in the bridge and an ambient synth at parts (mainly heard in the second verse). https://soundcloud.com/dcnstrkt/linkin-park-in-my-remains Definitely my favorite remix of this song. Recommend everyone check it out.
It's hard to write a reply about a Linkin Park song when I'm listening to Evanescence. But I'll try. In My Remains is definitely not a disappointment after Lost In The Echo, as it shows the harmony of Chester and Mike together in the second chorus. It's not my favourite song off the album, but I don't dislike it in any way really. Actually, I don't dislike any Living Things songs in any way, which is why I love the album so much; nothing disappoints me. Anyway, In My Remains is a great song overall. Even my Mum likes it.
In My Remains is in my top 10 LP songs of all time. I've been told that the intro sounds are scratches by many people, can anyone confirm this? It sounds like it could be, but there's no definite proof. It's probably one of my favorite parts of the song. The song is just very well put together. The synths all fit well together, and the guitar compliments the lower synths to make an even thicker sound, while there's that really high-pitched synth going on at the same time. The outro has to be my favorite part, with the chanting "One by one, one by one, one by one by one". Sucks that this song got no remixes, while freaking I'll Be Gone got two and they've never even played it live.
I definitely like In My Remains, the intro is always exciting and the verses are some of my favorite verses ever. The chorus is nice and the bridge is cool. I didn't see it live in person but it sure didn't look great in any recorded performances, but the acoustic one is really cool. Although I like the song it definitely feels like the weakest on LT. It feels like Figure 09 does to Meteora/HT. That is, it's good but it's very similar to other songs that are better than it. The intro to IMR feels a lot like Burn it Down. The slow "like an army" part is the only part that feels unique, but it's so short it doesn't make me want to listen to the song just to hear it. Overall it's one of my least listened to songs.
Dave, Brad, and possibly Joe are singing the background "one by one." Mike still has the lead though.
In My Remains is by far my favorite song on Living Things. There's not one thing I would change about it, and I'm totally fine with mixing. Lyrically, it finds the balance between MTM's personal themes and ATS's more abstract lyricism. My favorite parts are the last chorus and outro where Mike's "one by one" matches gang vocals. just beautiful Too bad it wasn't released as a single.
In My Remains was THE song that got me into Linkin Park. For me, there's nothing to change in this song, even the length which is not too short nor too long. One thing that I love to listen to is the acapella which is superb, the backing vocals are very cool ! I would love to hear the "One Forty" demo of the song one day !
Uh... Skin to Bone is stronger than In My Remains? I don't even want to start on this yet. Must save it for the STB post.
IN MY REMAINS is the What I've Done - shit on LIVING THINGS. The mixing is poor though it's a good track but this is the track that I always skipped when listening to LT (same thing with I'LL BE GONE) because I can't stand to the poor mixing quality, maybe because my ear got used to their polished sound from MTM & ATS. I wish LIVING THINGS may get a new mix or remastered version someday.
Isn't that why they released the acapellas and instrumentals? I have studio headphones, and this song sounds pretty damn good through there.
Yeah, but it didn't help (for me). Hey, It doesn't mean I dislike the track. The track is good but the only issue is the mixing even I listened it through my Sennheiser headphones. Acapella is a "plus" for me since it displays a great harmony between Mike & Chester that somehow buried in the mix (I guess). Just my 2 cents.
Hmm..maybe the weakest of the "singleish" songs, aka the first half of LT plus Powerless. Tied with IBG.
"In My Remains" is one of my least-favourite LP songs. The only thing that saves it for me is the bridge, that combination of marching snare, piano and Shinoda's singing.