My Gen X Playlist: In the End – Linkin Park

I remember reading that apple cider vinegar is good for you. Since I’m open to anything healthy, I tried a spoonful. Jeez… I almost couldn’t keep it down. The next time I diluted it with a big glass of water and discovered it was still bad. There is no masking that taste. It’s awful no matter how much you dilute it.

There are some things that absolutely suck, but still are good for you. Apple cider vinegar is one of them. It’s doppelgänger, failure, is not far behind. Both taste like shit going down, but ultimately are good for you in doses. You just have to learn to hold your nose and swallow.

Nobody wants it, but everyone needs a little failure. Without it, where is the appreciation for reaching your goal? How would people learn grit? If everything was easy, would there be any sense of accomplishment?

I’m like you. I’ve had my share of failures throughout my life. I’m suspect of anyone who doesn’t have a resume of them. As difficult as they are, they’ve also become the best lessons to learn from. And the most important thing is how you react to them.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.

– Maya Angelou

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

– Rocky Balboa

Yes, it’s a travesty to include Rocky Balboa in the same company as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Maya Angelou. Sacrilegious even. But sometimes good advice comes from the most unconventional places. Thanks, Rock.

Linkin Park wrote a song about failure. In the End was released in 2001.

One of the most iconic tracks about failure is “In the End” by Linkin Park. It’s a song that many listeners find relatable as it explores the struggle of trying your best yet still not succeeding.

In the song, the narrator has put a lot of effort and dedication into something or someone, only to see everything crumble. This feeling of defeat is obvious in the lines “I tried so hard / and got so far / but in the end / it doesn’t even matter.”

– hellomusictheory

I know this song is about failure, but this music video has 1.7 billion views. Surely they did something right.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

[Chester Bennington:]
It starts with one
[Mike Shinoda:]
One thing I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To explain in due time

[Chester Bennington:]
All I know
[Mike Shinoda:]
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down to the end of the day
The clock ticks life away

[Chester Bennington:]
It's so unreal
[Mike Shinoda:]
It's so unreal, didn't look out below
Watch the time go right out the window
Trying to hold on, but didn't even know
I wasted it all just to watch you go

[Chester Bennington:]
Watch you go
[Mike Shinoda:]
I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard

[Chester Bennington:]
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

[Mike Shinoda:]
One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how I tried so hard

[Chester Bennington:]
I tried so hard
[Mike Shinoda:]
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised it got so far

[Chester Bennington:]
Got so far
[Mike Shinoda:]
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me in the end

[Chester Bennington:]
In the end
[Mike Shinoda:]
You kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of a time when I tried so hard

[Chester Bennington:]
I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There's only one thing you should know

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
There's only one thing you should know

I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter