zerograv – jul 2019 – linked hero I ~ Linkin Park

July 19, 2019 / zero /
Within my regular monthly blog posts, I am starting a mini-series of ‘linked heroes’.  Not to be confused with LinkedIn, nor Microsoft’s Lync (unpopular messaging platform, now merged into renown Skype?, haha), nor videogame developer Blizzard’s monthly Heroes of the Storm spotlight, I would like to highlight influential characters who have had a strong impact on my life.  On a more existential level, I do think that somehow, someway, heroes are linked to one another through time.

I will start with the question what is a hero?  To me, it is someone who steps outside the boundary of what is considered ‘normal’, someone who has such a strong fire burning within that it is impossible to keep a secret, and they shine their unique individuality and strength upon the world.  And more importantly someone who has had a positive impact upon others.

My first selection for a linked hero is… Linkin Park!  And not just because their name fits nicely with this post.  Realistically it is because of Chester Bennington, better known as the lead singer for Linkin.  For anyone who grew up in the 90’s/00’s, you know these guys brought the real deal.  And at the forefront was Chester, whose voice was raw emotion, echoed with deep yet simple, relatable lyrics and a hard alternative metal backdrop that was way ahead of it’s time.  Not to mention the rap overlays combined with the metal, it was like nothing else in the music scene.  For anyone in high school / etc at the time who was experiencing stress and emotions and all that stuff at that age, Linkin’s tracks and riffs were immediately relatable.

Chester was open about the fact that he had a terrible childhood, which led him to a dark and angry place.  This can be heard in any number of Linkin’s top songs, which convey pain, frustration, and anger.  However I think what was really unique was the strength and defiance to stand up and fight and keep pushing forward, to put all that feeling into the music, something which found a special place with the millions of fans.  Take some time to recall these riffs:

  • Numb
  • In the End
  • What I’ve Done
  • Breaking the Habit
  • Faint
  • New Divide
  • Crawling
  • One Step Closer
  • Papercut
  • Somewhere I Belong

These songs echo throughout infinity.  Listen to them, it’s real, it’s power, it’s pain.  Nothing else like it at the time, and even today is unmatched.

Sadly, Chester met a tragic end two years ago.  I remember I was walking around Cambridge on lunch break when I heard the news from a friend, and I just couldn’t believe it.  Linkin was untouchable, this didn’t make sense. When I got back to my desk I immediately tuned into their music on streaming radio.  It is unfortunate that drug and alcohol addiction often seems to go along with superstardom and fame, and then stories like this happen.  That being said however, this is a questionable case, as just two months prior Chris Cornell of Soundgarden (another truly epic band and a close friend of Chester’s), met the same fate.  The whole thing just does not seem right.

In response to this and in support of mental health and treating addictions, Chester’s wife started up an amazing campaign which has brought much light to the issue:  https://www.changedirection.org/320-changes-direction/

Chester left his mark with some of the most influential music of the century, and this is something we are all fortunate to be able to draw strength from.

‘All I know
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away
It’s so unreal
You didn’t look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Tryin’ to hold on, didn’t even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory
Of a time when I tried so hard’

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