Mike Shinoda Tells The Real Story Behind 'Breaking The Habit': "It's not about addiction" 

My son is nonverbal autistic and he listens to this song on repeat for hours at a time. It hits different coming from his perspective and has helped me empathize with him more. With Apraxia, he literally never says what he means, the words just don't come out even though he knows what he wants to say. I could go on about each line of the whole song and how it relates to our experience, but when he rewinds and repeats the "i don't know why i instigate and say what i don't mean" line over and over again it makes me want to cry 😢

I always interpreted the song as something about toxic traits or bad "habits" that we sometimes develop, that causes people to push their friends/family/significant other's away. I like how they pour different ideas into the song and it could be about a variety of things

So many people don't understand this band. They retroactively read all the lyrics as if it was Chester pouring out his specific experiences onto the page. But in reality, he didn't even write most of them.

Mike is a ball of energy. He loved chester like all of us. But he got to know him better than anyone one could. I truly hope him and the band put a book out about them touring together.

mike shinoda was the masterpiece that was hidden in plain sight for the biggest rock band in the world and people literally had no idea.......their own fucking record label tried to get him 86ed, that would have been warners supidest mistake would have ever made if it was allowed to happen

I'd always thought the song was about self-harm. I remember being a preteen and combing through every line to justify my interpretation, and honestly it was pretty easy to do. I think it really speaks to the talent of Mike's lyricism that these songs aren't just vaguely relatable to innumerable situations; you can hold them under a microscope and still have every word resonate with what you're specifically relating them to. It's almost like a bogart.

I read it as a song about suicide. The “habit” is being alive. “Clutching the cure” is the suicide method, contemplating the way out. “I’ll never be alright” is representative of how severe depression creates a core belief in you that there’s no hope and things will never get better. Perhaps I only read it because of how Chester went out, but it makes a lot of sense to me

That's part of why they are so successful, all listeners can relate to the lyrics in one way or another.

I know that feel of your friends "ghosting you" because they've found new friends but they try and come crawling back when you've made something of yourself 😆

Mike Shinoda is a legend 🙌

I love how their songs can mean so many different things and they never publicly said what each song was about in order to allow the fans to connect to them in their own way.

I feel like it’s also important as a listener to take the lyrics and apply them to your own personal experiences more than try to figure out what it means to the artists themselves. You interpret it how you need in that moment. And that’s why music is so powerful.

The thing he said about writing lyrics. Very accurate. People project their own easiest, available, commonly thought about perspective on it. They are not at fault, of course. That's how it is. That's what makes a song successful I think. Making people think of different things.

The evidence of their process is how drastically different their demo lyrics can be from the final versions. Go listen to the Faint demo and you can hear it's night and day.

I'm totally baffled to hear that people thought it was a song about drugs! Even before I knew what habit means, It seemed clear as day to me (despite my then very limited English skills) that this song was about someone trying to stop *instigating* fights with their loved ones because they can't help it not to take out their anger, pain and frustration on the innocent ones who still stick with them. Maybe it just seems obvious to me because that's exactly what I was struggling with as a kid when I first listened to the song, but the lyrics do quite literally say that: - the lyrical I is emotionally hurt ("memories consume, like opening the wound, I'm picking me apart again", "I hurt much more than anytime before") - they start fights with others ("I don't know what's worth fighting for [...] I don't know why I instigate and say what I don't mean") - they can't help it ("[Or why] I have to scream", "I had no options left again") - they know they're in the wrong ("Inside I realize that I'm the one confused", "I don't know how I got this way, I know it's not alright", "['Cause] I'm the one at fault" ) - and (for the sake of completeness) that they want to stop this behavior of theirs ("I'll paint it on the walls [...] I'll never fight again" and of course literally saying "I'm breaking the habit" multiple times)

All linkin park songs are open to interpretation

Regardless of how this song was written or any of their songs were written, any fan of Linkin Park experiences or any fan of any band for that matter experiences different emotions based on the lyrics of a song. Some songs were specifically written to have meaning to have a purpose behind them and some songs were not. With that being said I give credit to the one person below : [SL] who said " All linkin park songs are open to interpretation". That's the truth for all of us. We all enjoyed their songs no matter what they were about, we all gave meaning to them with our own personal experiences as Mike & Chester did when they were writing them.

We can all fill the music to our desire. Breaking the Habit can fit so many situations like addiction, alcoholism, relationship abuse, etc.

It’s amazing that in Linkin Park’s songs the core, the emotions are the same but stories can be different

Most of my life I've struggled with anger and stress, although not in a violent way more of a bottle it up and holding grudges. This song always helped me manage that

And this is why many bands dont explain their songs😁😁

It's crazy that he wrote this song about being ghosted. When I was younger I had people in my life that I hung around with, and we weren't good for each other. We would do drugs together, waste all our time together, get in fights together, stop talking, then eventually get back together and repeat the cycle. So in a way, I had to "ghost" them to break the habit and change my life.

That's kind of the beauty of a lot of Linkin Park songs: Lyrically, they tapped into a concept or feeling, but they were just vague enough to be universal to everyone.

The curious case is that we make that mistake because in an interview he said it himself, the same as Chazz who couldn't help start crying when he was recording the song.

I could listen to Mike talk about his craft endlessly. He’s so thoughtful about all of it.

I love how this band had such an impact on so many people. Genuinely incredible, touching music.

Absolutely love that song and I always knew Mike wrote the lyrics and Chester just nailed the vocals.. Mad kudos for this! 🤟

What I love about this is how Mike explains music. Its meant to express feelings. Good feelings, bad feelings, happy feelings, sad feelings. The context is going to hit everyone different and mean different things for different people. But the feeling is what stays in tact universally.

I really loved growing up listening to this music like it was a template. I really appreciated their ability to hit really deep on points while keeping it broad and open.

When different people can relate to a song in different ways, it's good lyrics. There's some sort of magic about those lyrics that can have different meanings and they all make sense.

I like that about theyre songs, the feeling and interpretation of the songs can mean drifferent things to different people.

Mike seems like such a down to earth wholesome chill dude

Breaking the habit for me is about addiction and trying to break away from a toxic relationship. I feel both when I listen

Breaking the habit is one of my favorites by them. Just listen to the instrumental it's amazing

Mike definitely wrote way more songs in Linkin Park than Chester but Chester is also a songwriter and wrote multiple songs for LP like crawling which Mike credited Chester for, One step closer, My December, Valentine's Day, The Messenger and others. He also wrote separate lyrics for points of authority that were combined with Mike's lyrics into one song and outside it too like his Death by Sunrise project and Grey Daze, his OG band. As far as I know he wrote all the songs there.

Hearing it live in 2017 especially the acapella ending really tears you up

And that's why songs can carry layers of meanings.

"I thought I understood what the words meant, thought I knew the meaning behind"

When I was a pre teen and I'm 27 now I thought that breaking the habit was about suicide. It was just the way that song was written that made me think that

Mike has a Solo song called *"What The Words Meant"* This song really puts everything into perspective

"Clutching my cure" "I'll paint it on the wall"

I always connected to the song a lot through my extreme anger issues as a child/teen. Its a song that really connects to a lot of toxic traits in general, whether or not its written to be.

This is an awesome look into the early process of LP

Did Zach dirty at the end with that pause 😂

I always thought the song was about being depressed and angry and not knowing how to cope with those feelings so he is lashing out instead and regretting it later. Need to listen to it again.

I always saw it as a cutting yourself from a toxic relationship. "I don't know what's worth fighting for or why I have to scream but now I have some clarity to show you what I mean" always seemed to me like when someone's just constantly being argued with and belittled and taking it on the chin then finally just saying enough is enough and moving themselves on

Hearing Breaking the Habit slapped me so hard in the face with emotions because I swear this song is so BPD-coded its insane. This is just how I see the song, though! Interpretations are fun and exciting to exchange! Music is so wonderful.

Everyone who watches this, do yourself a favor and pause the video on the very last frame 😂

This is the greatest thing about the music that the music by itself is a language of emotions and feelings. Music doesn't need specific situational meaning, because it has an abstract core meaning which can be related to many things at the same time.

I love mike

I noticed today that from the inside and breaking the habit loop perfectly with their intros/outros

Mike is just an absolute powerhouse!

you need to check out the underground demos.. like what he said I assumed was the normal thing for them. they made a melody and sometimes some lyrics, then they mixed ideas and change some, but it's beautiful to be able to hear the unfinished work, that sometimes feels as good or better depending on your appreciation of their music overall. I love drawing (breaking the habit demo) at times even more than the actual song, because the demo is only instrumental.

The magic about earlier LP songs are that they are very open to interpretation from people with different mindsets

When you listen to the lyrics again under Mike’s original perspective, it does also make sense in a way

What an absolute artist.

Ghosting from a close friend and how much that hurts and confuses and rankles the ghostee is something we don't talk enough about as a culture.

That’s what I love music - everyone can have a different experience & meaning with it. In many ways it’s pointless to try and know the EXACT meaning of a song.

To me this song will be always about breaking the habit of living, and their musical video for this song goes along with that concept too.

crazy that this song was in development for 6 years

My favorite band does some similar things. They’ll write a song that’s a consistent story, but tell it from different perspectives of the people involved.

The beauty of music

Meteora is my favorite album with hybrid theory. Gave me life when i was suffering. Tbh i really felt/predicted chest would d when he entered 40s and when i almost finished med school.

GOAT

Our own experiences will color how we interpret something. I always interpreted Breaking The Habit as being about a toxic relationship that someone couldn't get out of.

I always thought the lyrics meant "breaking the habit" of living '-' The "bridge" section helps to develop that idea. "I'll never fight again And this is how it ends"

We still don't know what BTH meant for Mike though. Should have followed up on that with a question.

A good friend loves you in both rags and riches. A true friend will never ask about your attire.

No matter how many times they deny it this song is about the S-word for sure. It’s always been obvious but understandably they could never officially confirm this.

Good clip, wish the title wasn’t such clickbait, but here we are lol

Each Linkin Park song’s meaning changes based on your own experiences at that time. Breaking the Habit was always about addiction to me growing up and Chester dealing with it, now that I’m older it reminds me of my divorce. I’m “breaking the habit” of our love

This was a rumor that started flying around circa Chester's death. ODs were approaching an all-time high, Recovery was in Renaissance mode with celebrities endorsing 12-Step Programs and every song about anything was suddenly about addiction. To me the song was always more broadly about overcoming a vulnerability.

The dude in the beginning has a similar attire to Mike’s from the Breaking The Habit video 😵‍💫 Anyway, the way I’ve always interpreted this song was self-sabotaging: -You’re convinced you have nothing to live/fight for. -There’s this never ending cycle of instigation and not thinking before you speak. -You consistently find yourself talking/yelling over others without hearing them out. -You know there’s something wrong inside, but can’t seem to find a solution. -Self-Loathing. You’ve given up. It’s all your fault. It’s over. End of discussion.

Mike is interesting because he just enjoys words like even without meaning. That’s how i like rap

I always thought that Breaking the Habit was about self harm.

Personally speaking I don't know any linkin park fan who thought it was about drug addiction

we all interpret these songs differently. sometimes they find new meaning after we have had new experiences. for better or worse

its about breaking the habit of living by ending it.

Take for example the song "Carnival of Rust" by Poets of the Fall, I've heard at least 10 different meanings of the same song depending who you ask

I'd say most generally, it would be described as a song about indulging in self-destructive coping behaviour

I think that it’s amazing that this comment section proves is that songs like this have a different and personal connection to everyone in a different way. I take this song in the way of that no matter what I do I have to check myself. My habit being depressed or negative for no reason, so I have to “Break The Habit”. Such a amazing song.

🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐

Along with the animated music video that was made for this, even as a young kid, I always presumed it was about suicide and depression. I don't know what's worth fighting for I don't know why I instigate and say what I don't mean I don't know how I got this way, I'll never be alright. Breaking the habit is the character saying "I'm not helping our relationship and I keep messing things up habitually, so I'm going to fix it permanently". "the habit" being his perceived faults and worthlessness. Though I love the song, it's pretty dark, especially now.

I thought it was about substance addiction, I was a crackhead and the song and video made all that sense to me

Interesting. I always interpreted this song as a story about self harm and suicide. Not sure what that says about me. A bit scary. Something to think about.

thats interesting that he would say his friend stopped talking to him because that happened to me like 2 months ago.. i literally bought my friend some gifts, i asked him his address (to send them to his house) and he didn't answer me, but he still talked to me about other things.. i let about a week pass and i asked him for his address 2 more times and he still didn't answer me.. but now he's getting quieter and eventually he's not talking to me at all about anything.. then maybe 2 weeks after that i realized he even unfriended me on playstation network.. the stuff i bought him is just sitting in my house

I never think of this song as about drug addiction.

I always understood it as about suicide

But the music video also clearly depicts such a story about depression

I always just assumed it was about fighting depression. Never thought about it being about an addiction

ohmyGod my brain has just exploded whattt!!!!!!

Y'all not ready for this truth but people only love shinoda so much now cuz chester passed.

breaking the habit is about the "fight" trauma response.

that happened to me in middle school..i statred smoking alot of bud and stopped talking to me friends. It wasnt cause i didnt like them i just had really bad social anxiety and i just would always think they wanted nothing to do with me anymore

Mike is the writer, chester is mostly the voice. Sadly people don't get that.

Good art will have different interpretations to different people

This is pretty fucking cool.

❤❤❤❤❤

I'm surprised anyone thought this was about addiction actually.

Breaking the habit = changing the station