How can you say it's overrated but also say it gets its bashing because it's not that great of a song? It's one or the other.
Power is a metric you may want to spend more attention on in the future. Linkin Park is rapidly moving away from what we used to know about music. Minutes to Midnight and ATS will be about how the songs make you feel, about your experience, and anyone can take away something different from these songs. That said, I find that Hands Held High is to music what "Big Two Hearted River" is to Hemingway's literature. it's simple, it doesn't tell you everything, and in order to grasp it completely you have to look at it without judgement.
I really like Hands Held High, definately one of my favorites on Minutes To Midnight. The lyrics are very very good, the drum beat matches perfectly with Mike's rapping and the ending is simply amazing. Would love to hear this song live
It's boring because it's just so quiet. I know every song dosen't need an epic loud finish, but it sounds like Mike and Chester are nearly whispering over "amen". I was expecting the song to kick off and be really loud, but still have the calmness to it. It's hard to explain i'm sorry. I think it could've been better. I just think everyone here is overpraising the song.
If you ask me the best song on the album was "The Little Things Give You Away" and that song was not loud or fast. Yet it was flawless. I'll agree that if you're using headbangability (now a word) as a metric HHH is a poor song at best.
Okay maybe some of the points I made haven't been good, but I just don't enjoy the song that much, and wanted to find out what people see in it. I'm not much of a headbanger at all. And TLTGYA was an amazing song (best on the album no question), but it didn't stay quiet the whole time.
So you've started a thread just to blatantly state that a song is "overrated" with the only proof for your argument being subjective nitpicking at best and then go on the defensive as soon as you see that someone disagrees with you, have you? Well, good job. I commend you on your noble endeavor. Er, well let me rephrase that. Why did you start a damn theard asking peoples opinions on a song that you think is overrated and then get defensive when there are those that say they disagree and give solid arguments as to why whereas the only arguments you have are subjective? Hands Held High in my opinion is a great song. I'm not religious in the least, and people know it yet do the "Amens" bother me? no they do not, know why? because it's way more than a "religious" word, so if you think that it's somehow exclusively gospel I highly suggest you brush up a little on the history of your vocabulary. Now, that is all I have to say. Good day, Sir or Ma'am.
Okay, time to get into my whole diatribe. I personally find the song to be one of the most inspiring that LP has ever written. A few people have argued that the song is basically an attack against Bush. I have a different view on things. I'm going to break down the verses and what they mean to me piece by piece. Before I start, I'm going to make this clear. I am Cambodian. Our people were systematically killed off by our own government, under the name Khmer Rouge, for 5 years. In those 5 years, 1.7-2 MILLION of my own people were killed by the politicians who decided they were going to run my country. Now, to the song: This is the representation of the common man rallying against oppression. It's the message of hope that my people never had. We had to be rescued by the Vietnamese army. It wasn't until then that my family and many others could rally to fight back and escape. We NEVER had the chance to break rank, to refuse to jump when they ordered to. The poor universally are misunderstood by the rich. I was raised to feel blessed to have what I have. I have no qualms that I live in a house, that I have a car to drive to work. That I even have a job. Because I know there are countries like my own where the upper class and lower class stratification is so staggering it's sickening. How do rich politicians in corrupt countries live with themselves in their mansions when families live in one room in a hut? Where meat is a delicacy? While the corrupt eat food prepared in a kitchen, I've seen families live off of what their strongest sons can pick off of trees. And while all this is going on, the ignorant masses who don't know how good they have it laugh because they have a bumbling leader. Okay, Bush isn't the most well-spoken person in the world. Tell me, does he kill people because they're smart enough to overthrow him? No? Stop bitching. You have a roof over your head and 3 solid meals a day. Stop your fucking complaining and enjoy what you have. This perfectly describes the atmosphere of war. Of not knowing. Wondering what might happen to anyone you know. I have a grandfather on my dad's side of the family. We don't know where he is. He has been MIA or KIA since before I was born. The honest to god fact is that there's no way to find out if he's even alive. Getting blown into fractions? There are still land mines in Cambodia. It is so bad that people still die today, even though there has not been a war in that country in decades. Being drug under a Jeep describes some of the lesser ways people in my country died. The Khmer Rouge killed anyone of intelligence that they believed would rise up against them. Intellectuals. Outsider politicians. PEOPLE WEARING GLASSES. Women and children were killed. Men were nailed to trees, covered and honey, and had ants eat them alive. Babies were slammed against trees. Death is a natural part of life. The world is cold like that. My dad fought in a war while he was still in school. He and his fellow students barricaded themselves inside a school and fought off the Khmer Rouge. Death at any age is disheartening and horrible, and Mike has perfectly described such with this part of the verse. This is him showing that yes, he understands what's going on. While others laugh at a bumbling good-natured idiot, he's worried about what is happening in the rest of the world. I think this explains itself. In war, all you have is hope. When you lose sight of hope, there's nothing left in the world. The father in this verse is holding his family together by showing a false sense of hope. As the man of the house, it is his responsibility to get his family through the war. It gets hard when hope fades. My great grandmother, my grandmother, her 5 daughters, and 1 son had to get out of the country alive. Imagine how hard that was. Do you think they let their fear show? And if you don't believe the quote, "When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die" you are very naive. The world SHOULD be up in anger as has been stated in the last part of this verse. The first person to be put on trial by the UN for being in the Khmer Rouge was sentenced to 19 years. This man is responsible for the deaths of 16,000 of my people. Men, women, children. 16,000 of them equal 19 years. That's being sentenced less than half a day for each person you killed. How would you feel if someone murdered 10 people and was sentenced to 5 days in prison? What would you say? Overall, it isn't the details that matter as much as the message. This song is about political oppression. It's about hope, it's about fear, death, third world countries who don't have the liberties that we have in the United States, Canada, and Europe. And seeing the song as that, as an ode to people like my mother, father, grandmother, my whole extended family who survived what basically amounted to Genocide, I see HHH being an amazing song. A very heartfelt song that touches me to my core and reminds me of who I am and why I can be blessed enough to be here today. I hope I made my message clear.
Actually, I think the song is overrated because nobody made a point like you did. But that's just your personal opinion. It's not like I live the same way you do. I just know that I didn't find the song enjoyable after a while. I think that many people from what I read back then, never gave me a valid reason why it is good. 3 people here did. So the discussion couldn't continue. Points were proven. What I wanted is what I got. That should be it.
A lot of people posted while I was typing mine. You can understand when I say it took a while to put together. However, I will in summary also agree with Jesse's post. And further, I'll note that this should really be in the Minutes to Midnight forum, not LP Chat.
You did - I have to say, you're post touched me. I created an account just to respond to your post, just to tell you that I will view this song in a different way from now on - keeping experiences such as yours in mind. And HHH is a good song anyway :]
It's not as though you've given more of a valid reason for why it isn't that good, but okay. It's probably a good idea to draw a line under that particular part of the discussion now.
Thank you. That means a lot. Also, as a post note to my original post: another reason why the presentation of politicians is relevant and just for the song is: the Khmer Rouge did all these things to my people, and they were recognized by the UN. That's right. They had a seat at the UN while this was going on. Even worse, when the Vietnamese came to topple the Khmer Rouge government, they were condemned. The Vietnamese were condemned for attempting to save us. What kind of world is that?
When you think it's not good, it's not good TO you. Everybody have different opinions, just don't convince when they don't want. I have to admit HHH is a good song.
It's in the top 5 for M2M. I think it's a beautiful song! It's not the most amazing song ever but I like it a lot still!
Over the past three+ years I've seen very mixed views on HHH, it has middling appreciation, ergo it's not overrated. Simple as that.
Yeah, you seem to get views ranging across the board on it. They all sort of cancel each other out. Then again I guess there could be individuals who overrate it, as opposed to fans in general overrating it.