Why “Robot Boy” is the most human Linkin Park song.

Kalpesh Mange
songoftheweek
Published in
3 min readFeb 22, 2018

A four minute song of apathy & hope.

Credits: Deviantart

Linkin Park’s Robot Boy from A Thousand Suns starts with this amazing melodic piano. Adding to the magic are the beautiful harmonies; continuing until a whole minute of no words. No lyrics.

The stage, now set. And it begins with a lyrical genious!

You say you’re not gonna fight
’Cause no one will fight for you.
And you think there’s not enough love
And no one to give it to.
And you’re sure you’ve hurt for so long
You’ve got nothing left to lose.
So, you say you’re not gonna fight
’Cause no one will fight for you.

For the sake of discussion, “I” will be the person in context of the song.

I don’t feel like anything is worth fighting for in my life. I’ve no one beside me to come to the battlefield for me. With me.

Loneliness, in times of despair, can be gripping.

And now I’ve gotten incapable of love. I have no love to feel, no one to give it to or receive from.

I’ve been suffering for so long, I’ve gotten numb inside. It’s like I’ve lost everything to sadness, and now there is nothing more to lose.

I’m a void of post-sadness.

You say the weight of the world
Has kept you from letting go.
And you think compassion’s a flaw
And you’ll never let it show.
And you’re sure you’ve hurt in a way
That no one will ever know.

I’ve been buried under this burden of my misery. This binds my mind to an undue stubbornness. I just can’t let go. I just can’t.

Benevolence and clemency are just weaknesses. All they do, is make you flawed. But, I’ll just not yet declare this axiom I’ve formed in my mind.

I’ve been marred with such force, the crevices of my entire body rise up to an agonising shrill. But maybe no one will ever know how impairing is this wound.

But someday the weight of the world
Will give you the strength to go.

Hold on, the weight of the world
Will give you the strength to go.
So hold on, the weight of the world
Will give you the strength to go
So hold on, the weight of the world
Will give you the strength to go

Maybe, some day when the world will stop being evil, discriminating and abusing, I’ll have the strength to live life again.
Maybe, some day when the world releases me from it’s perilous clutches, I’ll be free to love, myself and others.
Maybe, some day when the world is a brint sunny place, the Sun in my heart will glow with lightness too, and I’ll finally bring in some salvation.

So, I am the Robot Boy.
I feel nothing. I can’t feel.
I’m here, at the edge of my mind.
At the edge of this cliff.
And the only hope I have,
Is this world.

Ironically, I’ll be saved by what would have killed me in the first place.

I’m the Robot Boy.

Here’s an extended version of the song. An interesting alternative.

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Kalpesh Mange
songoftheweek

Solving problems. Writer. Of Curriculum, Code & Poems. Wanderer of the mind. Write letters. Meditate and love life.