Somewhere I Belong

"Somewhere I Belong"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Meteora
B-side	"Step Up" (Live) "My December" (Live)
Released	March 17, 2003
Format	CD 7"
Recorded	2002
Genre	Nu metal rap metal[1]
Length	3:33
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Linkin Park
Producer(s)	Don Gilmore Linkin Park
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Pts.OF.Athrty" (2002) "Somewhere I Belong" (2003) "Faint" (2003)
Audio sample
file help
Music video
"Somewhere I Belong" on YouTube

"Somewhere I Belong" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released on March 17, 2003 as the first single from their second studio album Meteora (2003) and is the album's third track. It entered the top ten on the majority of the charts on which it appeared in.

Chart performance

"Somewhere I Belong" was officially released to U.S. radio on March 18, 2003. The song reached the top thirty on the Hot 100 Airplay, and the following week it debuted at No. 47 on the Hot 100, the official U.S. chart. The song peaked at number thirty-two in its fifteenth week and remained on the chart until its twentieth week. The song entered the top ten on the majority of the Billboard charts on which it appeared. It proved to be highly popular on rock radio, it reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. It was listed at No. 24 in the Alternative Songs decade end chart.

In Canada, "Somewhere I Belong" was officially released to radio in March 2003. The song reached the top five on the Canadian Singles Chart where it peaked at No. 3. "Somewhere I Belong" is one of the highest charted Linkin Park songs in Canada.

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in May 2003. "Somewhere I Belong" peaked at number ten in the UK Singles Chart. Although Linkin Park reached number one in New Zealand and the top ten in the Ireland, Japan and Canada, it was a moderate top twenty success in Germany, Italy, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. "Somewhere I Belong" reached the top forty in France and Belgium in early 2003.

Music video

The video was directed by the band's turntablist, Joseph Hahn. It presents the band playing the song in front of a fire, with occasional shots of Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda in front of a waterfall with what appears to be monks around them. The doors in what is supposedly Bennington's room have the Chinese characters for fire and water, which possibly represent the waterfall and burning fire behind Shinoda while rapping.

During the video, on a dresser sits several props, most notably, Master Grade Gunpla models of the MSN-04 Sazabi from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero (EW Version) from Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, and RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam "Zephyranthes" Full Burnern from Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. At the last time they sing the chorus, the bed sets on fire, and forms the Hybrid Theory Soldier. Near the ending of the video, tall, long-legged, tusked creatures that were on a painting (which reminds The Elephants and The Temptation of St. Anthony) behind Chester's bed march past, even at one point the creature paintings seemed to move before stopping again. It was awarded as Best Rock Video at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards,^[2] and was the first music video broadcast on Fuse TV. MTV's James Montgomery named the video as Linkin Park's fifth best, saying that while the video is "massive", he said "it's the minimal touches that make it one of their all-time best", and called the end result a "stirring, powerful piece".^[3][4][5]

Track listing

CD single

7-inch vinyl

In other media

• The song was one of the three songs off of Meteora that played during The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' win at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards. "Somewhere I Belong" played during "Best Movie" while "From the Inside" and "Faint" appeared during the nominee montage for "Best On-Screen Team" and "Best Action Sequence" respectively.
• Conservative commentator Mark Levin's son selected the song's instrumental as the main bumper music theme for his father's radio talk show.^[6]
• The song was also featured in a profile video for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• The instrumental version played in the opening video for the AST Dew Tour.
• In January 2011, "Somewhere I Belong" was released in a Linkin Park DLC pack for Rock Band 3.
• The song was used for a promo of the Nature entitled "Chasing Big Cats".
• On November 18, 2013, a 2002 demo of this song, titled as "Pretty Birdy", is chosen and featured on LP Underground XIII.

Personnel

Linkin Park

• Chester Bennington – vocals, guitar
• Mike Shinoda – rap vocals, rhythm guitar, sampler
• Brad Delson – lead guitar
• Dave "Phoenix" Farrell – bass guitar
• Joe Hahn – turntables, samplers
• Rob Bourdon – drums

Production

• Don Gilmore – producer

Chart positions

Certifications

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics