Numb (Linkin Park song)

For other uses, see Numb (disambiguation).

"Numb"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Meteora
B-side	"From The Inside" (Live at LP Underground Tour 2003) "Easier to Run" (Live at LP Underground Tour 2003)
Released	September 8, 2003
Format	CD
Recorded	2002 in New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre	Nu metal, alternative rock
Length	3:05
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Linkin Park
Producer	Don Gilmore, Linkin Park
Certification	Platinum (RIAA)
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Faint" (2003) "Numb" (2003) "From the Inside" (2004)
Meteora track listing "Session" (12) "Numb" (13) Audio sample file info · help Music video "Numb" on YouTube

"Numb" is a song by rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora and is listed as the final track on the record. One of Linkin Park's most well known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 12 weeks.^[1] The song spent six weeks at the top of the chart in 2003 and six weeks in 2004, making it the only song in history to be the most successful song of the year on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for two years. The song also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was later combined with Jay-Z's song "Encore" to create "Numb/Encore", a massive hit for both artists which was featured on the album Collision Course and earned them the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. "Numb" was ranked #95 on Rhapsody's list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.^[2]

In January 2011, "Numb" was released in a Linkin Park DLC pack for Rock Band 3.

Music video

Directed by Joe Hahn, the indoor scenes of the music video are set in a cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic as are the outdoor scenes. The school interiors, the classroom, the corridor and the outside playground are set in Johannes Kepler's High School in Prague. The bridge scenes were all shot on Prague's famed Charles Bridge.

The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular outcast young female student (portrayed by Briana Barbara-Jane Evigan). The girl apparently spends much of her time drawing pictures (a reference to the song "Drawing," which was a demo for the song "Breaking The Habit," another song on the album), revealing that she probably has dreams of becoming an artist. She is largely shunned and ridiculed at school, considering that when she is told off by the teacher for drawing in class everybody laughs at her and teases her, when she trips on the stairs nobody stops to help her up, and that when she tries to join a group of girls at a lunch table they immediately get up and leave (referencing "Somewhere I Belong," another song on the album). Also, there is a scene where her mother is ridiculing her for not being the daughter she wanted (a reference to the song "Nobody's Listening," another song on the album). There are also self-inflicted cut marks on her arms, which actually say "NUMB" - the title of the song. Near the end of the video, she is shown sitting in her room, as she ties up her hair with a paintbrush, and throws paint at a canvas in anger. At the end, she runs into the church that the band was playing in, almost as if she heard them, only to find the church left behind empty.

MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos ranked it at #40.

The track became one of Linkin Park's most critically acclaimed songs, as well as one of their most commercially successful, peaking at #11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on February 24, 2004, and spending 3 weeks on top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks and 12 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks. "Numb" was the 33rd best performing single on the Hot 100 during 2004. It was also successful in Oceania, peaking at #10 in Australia and #13 in New Zealand. "Numb" is also their longest running single in France, spending 23 weeks on the chart, peaking at #19. However, it was briefly ranked for one week in Italy and Belgium Single Chart; but it topped the Greek Single Chart.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Linkin Park. 

Part 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Numb"	3:05
2.	"From the Inside" (Live at LPU Tour 2003)	2:55
3.	"Numb" (Music Video)

Part 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Numb"	3:06
2.	"Easier to Run" (Live at LPU Tour 2003)	3:22
3.	"Faint" (Music Video)

In entertainment

• The song is used as English UFC fighter Paul Kelly's entrance song.

Chart positions

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
Austrian Singles Chart	2
Belgian Singles Chart	48
Dutch Top 40	2
France Singles Chart	19
German Singles Chart	19
Greek Singles Chart	1
Italian Singles Chart	47
Ireland Singles Chart	16
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	13
Portugal Top 20	5
Sweden Singles Chart	23
Swiss Singles Chart	15
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	11
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	5
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	31
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[1]	1
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[1]	1
U.S. Billboard Year-End	33
UK Singles Chart[3]	14

Chart (2008)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	71
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	24
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs	30
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	99
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	19
Canadian Singles Chart	95
Canadian Hot 100	30

Preceded by "So Far Away" by Staind	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single November 22, 2003 - February 7, 2004	Succeeded by "Hit That" by The Offspring
Preceded by "Away from Me" by Puddle of Mudd	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single January 3–17, 2004	Succeeded by "Figured You Out" by Nickelback

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 372.
2. ^ Top 100 Tracks of the Decade
3. ^ UK Singles Chart info Chartstats.com. Retrieved 2 June 2009.

External links

• Official music video on YouTube