Breaking the Habit
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| “Breaking the Habit” | |||||
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| Single by Linkin Park from the album Meteora |
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| Released | June 22, 2004 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 2003 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative Rock Electronica Post Rock |
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| Length | 3 min 16 s | ||||
| Label | Warner Bros. Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Linkin Park | ||||
| Producer | Don Gilmore | ||||
| Linkin Park singles chronology | |||||
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| Meteora track listing | |||||
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"Breaking the Habit" is an electronica influenced song by the nu metal band Linkin Park, from their 2003 album Meteora. It was released as the sixth and final single from the album in 2004. It became the fifth consecutive single from Meteora to reach #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, a feat unmatched by any other artist in the history of that chart. It was also a minor pop hit, peaking at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Breaking the Habit features many electronics, piano and guitar. There are no distorted guitar riffs, and it is the first single released by Linkin Park to include no vocals from Mike Shinoda.
A common misconception about this song is that it was written by lead singer Chester Bennington, when in fact, band member Mike Shinoda was the original writer. The song was based on a close friend's drug addiction. It is a common idea that it was written about Bennington due to his extended drug abuse issues, although Shinoda began writing the song before he met Bennington. The rumour has its roots in Bennington's reluctance to play the song at early live shows, because he was able to relate to it so closely.
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[edit] Music video
Its music video, co-directed by Joe Hahn and Kazuto Nakazawa, uses an anime-style animation, and was created by superflat influenced anime studio Studio 4°C.
The video was shot of the band performing the song and was later rotoscoped. The animation style is tied closely to the animated segment from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003). This video has also been a favorite among MTV viewers going so far as to winning the 2004 MTV VMA Viewers Choice Award.
At the beginning of the video, a man is shown lying on a car's roof. The car has been surrounded by police tape, and a crowd is beginning to gather. Police are shown investigating the reason for the fall. The video then cuts to other characters, many shown to be depressed or frustrated with their lives. The first noteworthy character is a girl who breaks a mirror, then writes "I'm nothing" onto a sheet of paper. She then picks up a shard of broken glass, clenches it in her hand, and smears her blood on the paper. Throughout the whole video, a wisp of smoke twists around the characters as their stories are played out, and Chester Bennington's face flashes around various scenes. Suddenly, the smoke flows into the mouth of the dead body, and the video rewinds itself, revealing more about the characters and their stories. The dead body rockets upwards and lands on the roof of a tall building, where it is revealed that it was Chester who died. Once Chester lands on the roof, the entire band is shown playing, and finishes the song on the roof.
There is also a second music video, entitled "Breaking the Habit (5.28.04 3:37 PM)", showing the band in their studio performing the song. The video was directed by Kimo Proudfoot and is available on their Breaking the Habit DVD.
[edit] Track listing
- "Breaking the Habit"
- "Crawling" (Live)
- "Breaking the Habit" 3:15 (CD-ROM Music Video)
[edit] Chart positions
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
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| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 23 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 43 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 19 |
| France Singles Chart | 27 |
| German Singles Chart | 25 |
| Ireland Singles Chart | 46 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 27 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 56 |
| U.K. Singles Chart | 15 |
| United World Chart | 39 |
| U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100 | 20 |
| Preceded by "Just Like You" by Three Days Grace |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single August 28, 2004 |
Succeeded by "American Idiot" by Green Day |
[edit] External links
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