RIP Chester Bennington
On July 20, 2017, Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park, passed away. Linkin Park was and continues to be the most important band to me. They not only shaped my musical identity, but they’re one of the things that underlie my relationship with my older brother.
My brother and I first discovered Linkin Park through our obsession with Dragon Ball Z. Wanting more content after each episode, we would watch anime music videos online. We would have to download each video through dial-up speed just to see it, because streaming didn’t exist yet. It seemed almost every video was set to "One Step Closer” or “In the End”. Even now, when I hear those songs, I visualize Goku and Majin Vegeta fighting.
The first album we ever bought was Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. The second album we ever bought was Reanimation by Linkin Park. The third album we ever bought was Meteora by Linkin Park. I’m guessing you’re seeing a trend here. We would listen to these albums relentlessly, swapping the discs in our CD players whenever we had a long road trip or in any other situation. I remember endless games of Halo 2 soundtracked by Chester and Mike’s vocals. I never grew out of listening to them, even as I got older and they stopped being “cool.” I don’t think there’s been a month in my life in the past 15 years where I haven’t listened to a Linkin Park album at least once.
Now, as I look back to how Linkin Park influenced me, I think about how I was first introduced to my favorite genre (hip hop) by Reanimation, the band’s remix album. I think about how I always loved the cover art for Linkin Park and how the band members were always the ones to design it. I think about how my reaction to almost every negative emotion was to listen to my favorite band, and how music has never failed to comfort me since.
And as I mourn the death of a foundational piece of who I am, the lyrics of “The Messenger” stand out:
“When you feel you're alone
Cut off from this cruel world
Your instinct's telling you to run
Listen to your heart
Those angel voices
They'll sing to you
They'll be your guide
Back home.”
As corny and atypical as they may seem for a Linkin Park song, listening to Chester’s voice brim with emotion makes it so believable. I hate that Chester couldn’t take his own advice and I hate that he had to undergo so much trauma throughout his life and that mental illness overtook him, just like it has to so many.
RIP Chester Bennington 1976-2017. Thank you so much, for everything.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
A City in a Site
Powered by Tokyo - super interesting website, highlighting people who live in and are inspired by the city of Tokyo. There’s a variety of content on this site, which has an unusual interface, but it’s fun to poke around and learn more about creatives.
Story about Unusual Creativity
“Brick by Brick” by Alice Driver - There’s something so Romantic about pursuing creativity when it’s unnecessary or impractical, such as when someone spends the last of their money to build a kiln. Intriguing piece about a strange subject.
Playlist of the Week
LP - playlist of my favorite Linkin Park songs. This was really hard to make since I had to restrain myself from putting all of Hybrid Theory and Meteora on here.
Thanks so much for reading! And thanks to my brother Neil for helping me out with edits (check out his music here). If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below).
Love,
Nikhil