Released September 8, 2003 Length 3:08 | Format CD single | |
B-side "From the Inside" (Live)
"Easier to Run" (Live) Recorded 2002 (New Orleans, Louisiana) Genre Nu metal
alternative rock | ||
"Numb" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their second studio album, Meteora (2003), and is the thirteenth and final track on the album. One of Linkin Park's most well-known and critically acclaimed songs, "Numb" topped the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 12 weeks. The song spent six weeks at the top of the chart in 2003 and six weeks in 2004. The song also spent three weeks atop the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Contents
The song was remixed as "Numb/Encore", a collaboration between the band and rapper Jay-Z. It was a massive hit for both artists which was featured on the album Collision Course and earned them the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. "Numb" was ranked number 95 on Rhapsody's list of the "Top 100 Tracks of the Decade".
In January 2011, "Numb" was released in a Linkin Park DLC pack for Rock Band 3.
Music video
Directed by Joe Hahn, the indoor scenes of the music video are set in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic as are the outdoor scenes. The school interiors, the classroom, the corridor and the outside playground are set in Johannes Kepler Grammar School (Gymnázium Jana Keplera) in Prague. The bridge scenes were all shot on Prague's famed Charles Bridge. Due to vocalist Chester Bennington suffering from severe abdominal and back pains, the band's performance was filmed later in a matching cathedral in Los Angeles.
The video follows the domestic and social problems faced during a day in the life of an unpopular outcast young female student (portrayed by Briana Evigan). The girl apparently spends much of her time drawing pictures, revealing that she probably has dreams of becoming an artist. She is largely shunned and ridiculed at school, considering that when she is told off by the lecturer for drawing in class everybody laughs at her and teases her, when she trips on the stairs nobody stops to help her up, and that when she tries to join a group of girls at a lunch table they immediately get up and leave. There are also self-inflicted cut marks on her arms, which spell out "NUMB". During the song's climax, she is shown in her room, as she ties up her hair with a paintbrush, and throws paint at a canvas in anger. At the end, she runs into the church that the band was playing in, almost as if she heard them, only to find the church left behind empty.
MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos ranked it at #40.
Chart performance
The track became one of Linkin Park's most critically acclaimed songs, as well as one of their most commercially successful, peaking at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on February 24, 2004, and spending 3 weeks on top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks and 12 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks. "Numb" was the 33rd best performing single on the Hot 100 during 2004 and it was listed at number 15 in the alternative songs decade end chart. As of June 2014, the song has sold 2,036,000 copies in the US.
The song was also successful in Oceania, peaking at number 10 in Australia and number 13 in New Zealand. "Numb" is also their longest running single in France, spending 23 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 19; it was also successful in Greece, topping the singles chart. However, it only ranked for one week in Italy and on the Belgian Singles Chart. In the UK, the song peaked at #14 and stayed for only 6 weeks on the chart, being less successful than its two preceding singles.
Track listing
All tracks written by Linkin Park.
All tracks written by Linkin Park.
All tracks written by Linkin Park.