In the End

"In the End"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Hybrid Theory
B-side "Step Up"
"In the End"(Live at BBC Radio One)
"Points Of Authority"(Live at Docklands Arena, London)
"A Place For My Head"(Live at Docklands Arena, London)
Released October 9, 2001
Format CD, DVD
Recorded New Orleans, Louisiana in 2000
Genre Nu metal, rap rock
Length 3:36
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Linkin Park
Producer Don Gilmore
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Papercut"
(2001)
"In the End"
(2001)
"It's Goin' Down"
(2002)
Audio sample
file info · help
Hybrid Theory track listing
"By Myself"
(Track 7)
"In the End"
(Track 8)
"A Place for My Head"
(Track 9)
Music video
"In The End" on YouTube

"In the End" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was released as the fourth single from their debut album Hybrid Theory.

"In the End" is one of Linkin Park's most popular and successful songs, reaching the top ten multiple times and reaching as high as #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached number one on the Z100 Top 100 songs of 2002 countdown. This song also ranked at #121 in Blender magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.[1] The song is Billboard's second most played rock song of the decade. It was also remixed on Reanimation as "Enth E Nd".

Contents

Critical reception

"In the End" was generally very well received by contemporary rock music critics. Canoe.ca's Mike Ross referred to the song by stating: "It's too bad, really. In the vast tar pits of the rap-metal genre, a few good bands emerge - yet still may be branded as 'just another rap metal band'."[2]

Music video

The music video for "In the End" was shot at various stops along the 2001 Ozzfest tour and was directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox and the band's DJ Joe Hahn, who would go on to direct many of Linkin Park's future videos (the two also directed the music video for "Papercut").[3][4] Although the background for the "In the End" video was filmed in a California desert, the band itself performed on a studio stage in Los Angeles, with prominent CGI effects and compositing being used to create the finished version. Performing on a studio stage allowed Hahn and Cox to set off water pipes above the stage near the end and drench the band.[4]

The music video takes place in a fantasy setting and uses massive CGI animation. The band performs atop a giant statue, which has a 'winged soldier' on top of it, which is similar looking to the 'winged soldier' on the cover artwork of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album.

The portions where Mike Shinoda raps first take place in a wasteland with thorny vines sprouting out of the ground, surrounding him and shattering into dust (first verse) and then grass and plants sprouting up around him (second verse). During the time Mike raps his verses, Chester stands atop a platform with gargoyles on the edges. This platform is in front of a door in the shape of a trapezoid. Near the end of the video, the skies turn dark and it begins to rain, and the band performs in the downpour until the end of the song, where the rain stops and the camera pans away from the tower, showing the wasteland where Shinoda had rapped in is now a lush Greenland. During the rain the statues on the tower begin to move.

The video was co-directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox and LP's turntablist Joe Hahn (who have also directed the videos for "Pts.Of.Athrty", "Papercut", "What I've Done", "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", and "Leave Out All the Rest)".[3] The production design was by Patrick Tatopoulos who helped design and oversee the production of the non-CGI set. It won the "Best Rock Video" at the 2002 MTV Awards.[5]

A strange-looking whale can be seen flying around the large statue during most of the video, specifically at the end of the video. The whale in the video was Joe Hahn's idea. He has been quoted as saying, "It's not like I pulled it out of my ass; it made sense to me." The reasoning behind its inclusion is still unknown. The whale could be identified as a "space whale" which takes the concept that life (or time) is too short for one to absorb all its mass surroundings. The whale also makes a brief appearance in the music video for "Shadow of the Day".

Although there is a keyboard loop in this song, the video does not show Mike, who is a pianist in the group, or anyone else playing a keyboard in any scene of the video. However, Joe Hahn is shown using a MIDI pad to emulate the piano loop at the end.

Due to the numerous re-uploads by different users, the video has 49 million views overall in YouTube.

Release

The single CD was released as a "Part 1" single and a "Part 2" single. They differed in tracks and cover color: the "Part 1" cover is yellow and the "Part 2" cover is red. The "Part 1" cover is shown on the right. A DVD version of "In the End" was also released which includes an audio version of "In the End", promo video of "Crawling" and four 30 seconds interviews.

Japanese exclusive mini album was released (March 27, 2002) only in Japan featuring seven tracks, 'In The End', 'Papercut' (live), 'Points of Authority' (live), 'A Place For My Head' (live), 'Step Up' (1999 demo), 'My December' & 'High Voltage'.

Chart performance

"In the End" is Linkin Park's highest charting single in the US, debuting at #78 and peaking at number 2 on the Hot 100 in March 2002 and being kept off the top spot by "Ain't It Funny" by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule. It left the hot 100 after 38 weeks.. It reached number 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for five weeks, starting in December 2001, becoming their first hit on this chart. It has spent 44 Weeks there, becoming their longest running on that chart. It also reached number one on the Top 40 Mainstream. "In The End" was the 7th best performing single on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2002, and was the 2nd best performing rock song and alternative song of the decade on the Modern Rock Track Chart and the Rock Songs chart.

"In the End" reached the top five on the Canadian BDS Airplay chart and remained in the top five for another month. "In the End" debuted higher on the Canadian Singles Chart than it did in the U.S. and topped the chart three weeks later for two weeks, from October 13, 2005. It peaked higher in Canada than "Papercut".

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand on December 22, 2001. "One Step Closer", "Papercut" and "Crawling" reached the UK top twenty, while "In the End" reached the top ten. "In the End" continued the trend of higher-charting singles when it debuted and peaked at number eight.

"In the End" debuted at number forty four on December 2, 2001 on the Australian Charts. It steadily rose to peak at number four on February 10, 2002. It is currently the 2nd most successful song for the band in Australia, tied with "One Step Closer" and behind "New Divide".

"In the End" reached the top thirty in Switzerland and the top twenty in the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and New Zealand. It is also their first single to chart in France, peaking at only #40 and remaining in the chart for 17 weeks.

Chart (2001-02) Peak
position
Ref
Australian ARIA Singles Chart 4 [6]
Austrian Singles Chart 6 [7]
Belgian Single Chart 12 [8]
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart 2 [9]
Danish Singles Chart 3 [10]
Dutch Top 40 Singles 11 [11]
French Singles Chart 40 [12]
German Singles Chart 13 [13]
Irish Singles Chart 16 [14]
Italian Singles Chart 5 [15]
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 10 [16]
Swedish Singles Chart 3 [17]
Swiss Singles Chart 23 [18]
UK Singles Chart 8 [19]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2 [20]
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1 [20]
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 15 [20]
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1 [20]
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 3 [20]
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks 2 [20]
U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Recurrents 1 [20]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay 1 [20]

Year-End charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Billboard Hot 100 7

Certifications

Country Certification Sales
United States Gold[21] 500,000+
Preceded by
"How You Remind Me" by Nickelback
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
December 22, 2001 - January 19, 2002
Succeeded by
"Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd

Track listing

Part 1
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "In the End"   Linkin Park 3:38
2. "In the End" (Live BBC Radio One) Linkin Park 3:28
3. "Points of Authority" (Live at Docklands Arena, London) Linkin Park 3:31
4. "In the End" (Video) Linkin Park 3:36
Part 2
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "In the End"   Linkin Park 3:38
2. "A Place for My Head" (Live at Docklands Arena, London) Linkin Park, Wakefield, Farrell 3:12
3. "Step Up" (1999 Demo) Shinoda, Hahn, Delson 3:54
DVD
No. Title Length
1. "In the End" (Audio) 3:37
2. "Crawling" (Music Video) 3:38
3. "The Linkin Park Sound"   0:35
4. "The Album/Live Sound"   0:32
5. "The Band/The Album"   0:30
6. "Goals/The Band"   0:37
Japanese exclusive mini album
No. Title Length
1. "In the End"   3:36
2. "Papercut" (Live Ver.) 3:11
3. "Points of Authority" (Live Ver.) 3:26
4. "Place For My Head" (Live Ver.) 3:10
5. "Step Up"   3:55
6. "My December"   4:21
7. "High Voltage"   3:45

Personnel

Linkin Park
Production

References

  1. ^ #121 in Blender's The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born
  2. ^ "Canoe.ca - Hybrid Theory". Canoe.ca. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/L/Linkin_Park/AlbumReviews/2001/01/27/771280.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  3. ^ a b "An interview with bassist Phoenix". Rough Edge. http://www.roughedge.com/features/linkinpark0901.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  4. ^ a b "In the End facts". Song Facts. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1448. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  5. ^ "MTV Video Music Awards History". Rock on the Net. http://www.rockonthenet.com/mtvvma/rock.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
  6. ^ "Australian Chart". australian-charts.com. http://www.australian-charts.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  7. ^ "Austrian Chart". charts.orf.at. http://charts.orf.at/oe3/single/2001/woche43/main. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  8. ^ "Belgian Chart". ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/en/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  9. ^ "World Chart History - Linkin Park". Chart Data - Linkin PARK. http://www.mariah-charts.com/chartdata/PLinkinPark.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  10. ^ "Danish Chart". danishcharts.com. http://danishcharts.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  11. ^ "Dutch Chart". dutchcharts.com. http://dutchcharts.nl/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  12. ^ "CHARTS FRANCAIS: ALBUMS - 21/06/2008". lescharts.com. http://lescharts.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  13. ^ "German Chart". Charts-Surfer. http://www.charts-surfer.de/musiksearch.php. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  14. ^ "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  15. ^ "Italian Singles Chart". italiancharts.com. http://italiancharts.com/search.asp?search=Linkin+Park&cat=s. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  16. ^ "New Zealand Chart". charts.org.nz. http://charts.org.nz/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  17. ^ "Swedish Chart". swedishcharts.com. http://swedishcharts.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  18. ^ "Swiss Chart". Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade. http://hitparade.ch/. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  19. ^ "British Chart". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=172. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h "Artist Chart History - Linkin Park". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?keyword=Linkin+Park&x=0&y=0&exposeNavigation=true&applicationName=bbcom&matchType=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&rangePropertyName=FORMATTED_DATE&rangeFilterType=BTWN. Retrieved 2008-06-24. 
  21. ^ http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Linkin+Park%20&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50