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Papercut (Linkin Park song)

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Not to be confused with Papercuts, a greatest hits album by Linkin Park.
"Papercut"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Hybrid Theory
B-side
ReleasedJune 18, 2001
Recorded2000
StudioNRG (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length3:05
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Linkin Park
Producer(s)Don Gilmore
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Crawling"
(2000) 		"Papercut"
(2001) 		"In the End"
(2001)
Audio sample
Music video
"Papercut" on YouTube

"Papercut" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the third single from their debut album Hybrid Theory (2000) and appears as the opening track on the record. It combines multiple genres in a way that Chester Bennington said captured the essence of the band. He also said it was one of his favorite Linkin Park tracks. The song reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Composition and lyrics

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Rolling Stone described the track as opening the album with a hip-hop beat that gives way to "4-bit-infused alt-rock heaviness".[5] Mike Shinoda says the song combines three genres within its first 20 seconds: a beat inspired by Timbaland, nu-metal style guitars, and drum and bass.[6]

Chester Bennington said of the song:[7]

In the beginning, my whole goal was to bring as much melody as I could to the music [...] The band was really, really good at doing the hip-hop thing, and really good at writing rock music, but there hadn’t been a lot of melody [before] I joined. [...] When we got to that song, the chorus was so dope and the words behind it were so cool, that I didn’t need to do much melodically until we flipped it up at the end. That was a lot of fun; I felt like that song really captured what the vibe of the band’s about.

Before his death, Bennington stated multiple times that "Papercut" was one of his favorite Linkin Park songs.[8]

Release

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"Papercut" is the opening track on the band's debut album Hybrid Theory. It was released on 18 June 2001 as the second single from the record.[5][9] The band's previous single, "Crawling", included a live performance of the track as a B-side.

The song has also been released in various forms as remixes. Linkin Park's remix album Reanimation (2002) features a version of "Papercut" remixed by Cheapshot and entitled "Ppr:Kut".[10] The band's EP collaborating with Jay-Z, Collision Course (2004) features a mash up of the track with Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'".[11]

Music video

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The music video for the song was co-directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox.[12] It shows the band performing in the lounge of an upscale house. Kerrang! describes the room next door as appearing "darker, twisted, shadowy". In this room a chrysalis is generated and hundreds of dragonflies emerge, referencing the cover art of Hybrid Theory. The room then begins to shape-shift around the band with faces coming through the wall.[13] The song's lyrics appear scrawled along the walls in the darker room. Brad Delson and Dave Farrell both appear playing acoustic instruments.[14]

Mike Shinoda reflected in 2021, "The only thing about that song that didn’t age well, in retrospect, is the video". He explains that it was made at a difficult time for the band when they were frequently getting into disagreements, so he chose not to give his views on Chester Bennington's outfit. He also comments, "The special effects are goofy [...] It’s not a terrible video, I think we’ve made worse, but when I watch it now, I look like a fucking idiot and I don’t know what’s going on".[13]

As of September 2024, the video had over 289 million views on YouTube.[13]

Chart performance

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The song reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart in 2001 and was in the chart for 6 weeks.[15][16] It also reached number 32 on the Modern Rock Tracks Chart in 2002.[17] The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2017, for digital sales of 500,000 units.[18]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Linkin Park

No.TitleLength
1."Papercut"3:05
2."Points of Authority" (Live)3:25
3."Papercut" (Live)3:12
4."Papercut" (Video)3:13

Personnel

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Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (2001–02) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 87
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 43
Germany (Official German Charts)[21] 49
Ireland (IRMA)[22] 27
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[23] 39
Scotland (OCC)[24] 10
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 80
UK Singles (OCC)[26] 14
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[27] 1
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[28] 32
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[29] 100
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[30] 18

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[31] Gold 300,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[32] Gold 50,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Platinum 607,000[33]
United States (RIAA)[35] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom June 18, 2001 CD Warner Bros. [9]
United States January 2002 Alternative radio [36]

References

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  1. ^ "26 Nu Metal Workout Songs". Bodybuilding.com. May 28, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  2. ^ Morton, Luke (7 October 2020). "The secret history of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory: In their own words". Kerrang!. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  3. ^ "10 Essential Rap-metal songs as chosen by Neshiima". loudersound.com. July 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  4. ^ "Linkin Park: 12 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. July 20, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Readers' Poll: The Best Linkin Park Songs". Rolling Stone. 2012-07-04. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  6. ^ "The secret history of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory: In their own words". Kerrang!. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  7. ^ Doyle, Christopher R. Weingarten, Hank Shteamer, Brittany Spanos, Suzy Exposito, Maura Johnston, Patrick; Weingarten, Christopher R.; Shteamer, Hank; Spanos, Brittany; Exposito, Suzy; Johnston, Maura; Doyle, Patrick (2017-07-20). "Linkin Park: 12 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-05-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Hyman, Dan (4 July 2012). "Readers' Poll: The Best Linkin Park Songs - 3. "Papercut"". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media.
  9. ^ a b "New Releases This Week: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. June 16, 2001. p. 31. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  10. ^ "Album Search for "reanimation"". AllMusic. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  11. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (2004-11-26). "Jay-Z/Linkin Park, Collision Course". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  12. ^ "Papercut (Official Video) on LinkinPark.com". Archived from the original on 2012-04-20. from www.linkinpark.com
  13. ^ a b c ""I'm Sorry, I Don't Know What We Were Doing": Mike Shinoda Reflects…". Kerrang!. 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  14. ^ Papercut [Official HD Music Video] - Linkin Park. Retrieved 2024-05-06 – via www.youtube.com.
  15. ^ Official Charts Company for "Papercut" by Linkin Park
  16. ^ Roberts, David (20 May 2005). Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums (18th ed.). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 299. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  17. ^ Linkin Park. "Linkin Park - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  18. ^ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America.
  19. ^ "ISSUE603.PDF" (PDF). Pandora: Australia's Web Archive. Archived from the original on 2002-02-20. Retrieved July 23, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Linkin Park - Papercut". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  21. ^ GmbH, musicline.de / PhonoNet. "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de". musicline.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  22. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Linkin Park". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  23. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Linkin Park - Papercut". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  24. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  25. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Linkin Park - Papercut - swisscharts.com". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  26. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  27. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. June 24, 2001. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  28. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  29. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 30. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  30. ^ "Linkin Park Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  31. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Linkin Park; 'Papercut')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  32. ^ "Italian single certifications – Linkin Park – Papercut" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  33. ^ Official Charts Company (September 15, 2024). "They just scored their highest Singles Chart peak EVER with #TheEmptinessMachine, but what are @linkinpark's all-time biggest songs in the UK?". Instagram. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  34. ^ "British single certifications – Linkin Park – Papercut". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  35. ^ "American single certifications – Linkin Park – Papercut". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  36. ^ "Elton, Adams, Usher And More" (PDF). Radio & Records. January 25, 2002. p. 18. Retrieved June 13, 2022. Hybrid Theory ... is set to move even more copies as Linkin Park bring "Papercut" to the masses. Hear it now in Alternative.
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