Mr/Ms Mars

Here's a tune that shouts of Mars, to me. It's by Linkin Park, the first track on their latest album, Living Things.

Broken promises and failed relationships are recurrent themes in Linkin Park songs. This piece, “Lost in the Echo,” seems to tell the story of someone who's been through many battles but has come out standing strong, undefeated and ready for the next fight. He's been in fixed mode but is giving way to mutability, which brings relief. There's a determination and a toughness in his words that I find appealing in a general sense.

This is a loud-voiced Mars, as you will hear if you give it a listen. One of LP's lead singers is Chester Bennington, whom I like to call "Chester of the Golden Screaming Voice” :)

As is characteristic for LP, there's a roughness to both the language and the sentiments that you may not care for.

If you wish, then, put on your fatigues and get ready for Mr (or Ms!) Mars:

LOST IN THE ECHO

You were that / foundation

Never gonna be another one no

I followed / so taken

So conditioned I could never let go

Then sorrow / then sickness

Then the shock when you flip it on me

So hollow / so vicious

So afraid I couldn't let myself see

That I could never be held

Back or up no / I hold myself

Check the rep / yep you know mine well

Forget the rest / let them know my hell

There and back / yet my soul ain't sell

Kept respect up / the best they fell

Let the rest be the tale they tell

That I was there saying...

In these promises broken / deep below

Each word gets lost in the echo

So one last lie / I can see through

This time I finally let you

Go

Test my will / test my heart

Let me tell you how the odds gonna stack up

Y'all go hard / I go smart

How's that working there for y'all in the back, huh?

I've seen that frustration

Been crossed and lost and told no

and I've come back / unshaken

Let down and lived and let go

So you can let it be known

I don't hold back I hold my own

I can't be mapped / I can't be cloned

I can't C-flat / it ain't my tone

I can't fall back I came too far

Hold myself up and love my scars

Let the bells ring wherever they are

'Cause I was there saying...

NO / YOU CAN TELL 'EM ALL NOW

I DON'T BACK UP / I DON'T BACK DOWN

I DON'T FOLD UP AND I DON'T BOW

I DON'T ROLL OVER / DON'T KNOW HOW

I DON'T CARE WHERE THE ENEMIES ARE

CAN'T BE STOPPED / ALL I KNOW / GO HARD

WON'T FORGET HOW I GOT THIS FAR

FOR EVERY TIME SAYING...

In these promises broken / deep below

Each word gets lost in the echo

So one last lie / I can see through

This time I finally let you

Go

To listen to the song on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNv5g_9EliQ

PHOTO CREDITS

Image above, and photo of the female boxer below, from Pixabay (CC0)

Photo of Chester at the mike is by Kristina Servant, "Linkin Park Montreal," from Flickr (CC-licensed; cropped by me).