Points of Authority

It took me a while to get the lyrics. They are all about child abuse and how it marks you for life. People who've been abused in childhood get the lyrics best, I suppose - but probably only those who know and accept that they've been abused (most feel so guilty and ashamed that they don't even realise they're victims) This bit: "Forfeit the game before somebody else Takes you out of the frame and puts your name to shame Cover up your face you can't run the race The pace is too fast you just won't last" - is not about the parrent, it's about YOU, the abused teen/child, this is how abused children think and feel - incompetent and weak, unable to face life, wanting to give up.

"You love the way I look at you While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through You take away if I give in My life, my pride is broken" - this is the frustrated teen talking to the parrent, the teen knows what the parrent's abuse is doing to him/her, taking away their pride and self-respect.

"You like to think you're never wrong You want to act like you're someone You want someone to hurt like you You want to share what you've been through You live what you learn" - this part switches back, it's about the abused again. You are YOU, he's not talking to the parent now, but to the abused. Abused children think and feel that way (that they're never wrong, acting like they're someone etc) and it's all explained by "YOU LIVE WHAT YOU LEARN". The abused are this way because of the abuse.

"You love the things I say I'll do The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you You take away when I give in My life, my pride is broken!" - He's talking to the parents again. "You" are the parents in this part, and this bit is about how abused children later abuse themselves and engage in self-destructive behavior, due to a habbit they've developed of trying to hurt back their parents/abusers.

I personally don't thinnk this song is about a guy-girl thing. It seems to be alot deeper then the shalllow lives of a dating affair. The writer seems to be striving for something. A goal, a prize. Something of great value that, although they are put many awful tortures of life, they still press o toward the goal. It apears they are writing to someone who tried to run along side of them and failed. And after failing they tried to bring down the writer who is still running the race.
This can relate to everyone who has ever putdown or insulted another just because they are doing better in life then themselves. We bring the other down so we may feel better about ourselves. We enjoy seeing pain on thier faces and in thier hearts as we may have felt in the past. It's sad really, to think that still many people cannot realize this so quickly.

This is the best song on Hybrid Theory!

From the time Chester was 7 up until he was 13 he was sexually abused by a family friend. He didn't come out for a long time and when he did and he chose not to press charges because the man abusing him was also abused as a child.

THIS SONG ROX!!!!

Linkin Park is the best, and if you dont agree with me why are you reading this? all of there songs are the best. they have good meanings. and they have Joe Hahn. Joe is one of the best in the band. even if he does have a split personality:)

I think it is about the government, hence the title Points Of Authority. My favorite on Hybrid Theory.

It took me a while to get the lyrics. They are all about child abuse and how it marks you for life. People who've been abused in childhood get the lyrics best, I suppose - but probably only those who know and accept that they've been abused (most feel so guilty and ashamed that they don't even realise they're victims) This bit: "Forfeit the game before somebody else Takes you out of the frame and puts your name to shame Cover up your face you can't run the race The pace is too fast you just won't last" - is not about the parrent, it's about YOU, the abused teen/child, this is how abused children think and feel - incompetent and weak, unable to face life, wanting to give up.

"You love the way I look at you While taking pleasure in the awful things you put me through You take away if I give in My life, my pride is broken" - this is the frustrated teen talking to the parrent, the teen knows what the parrent's abuse is doing to him/her, taking away their pride and self-respect.

"You like to think you're never wrong You want to act like you're someone You want someone to hurt like you You want to share what you've been through You live what you learn" - this part switches back, it's about the abused again. You are YOU, he's not talking to the parent now, but to the abused. Abused children think and feel that way (that they're never wrong, acting like they're someone etc) and it's all explained by "YOU LIVE WHAT YOU LEARN". The abused are this way because of the abuse.

"You love the things I say I'll do The way I'll hurt myself again just to get back at you You take away when I give in My life, my pride is broken!" - He's talking to the parents again. "You" are the parents in this part, and this bit is about how abused children later abuse themselves and engage in self-destructive behavior, due to a habbit they've developed of trying to hurt back their parents/abusers.

I've been a fan of Linkin Park since I was a teen because I always related with the songs strongly but I don't think I fully understood why until Chester took his life and I listened again after having studied a great deal about social psychology and philosophy.

I don't think its about anyone in specific but rather society and its narcissistic habits, the tendency for people to elevate themselves whilst tearing down those around them. This isn't a conscious thing (we all believe we are 'correct' regardless of what we do) but rather a common trait of the masses and I think Chester was all too keenly aware of it, living a life of existential despair knowing just how ugly we were as a species and how it was reflected in our society... no amount of 'success' can overcome that kind of despair.

Even the great psychological philosopher Nietzsche who talked much of overcoming such despair instead of giving into the nihilism of the masses eventually suffered a breakdown and was said to have ran out to a collapsed horse that was being beaten to death by its master and yelled "I understand you!", he died a few years later from deep depression.

In a way I cant help but compare Chester to Nietzsche in a way... he dances chaotically between the line of giving in and overcoming in his lyrics in much the same way Nietzsche did in his perception. Eventually it became too much...

This song really shows that us guys aren't bad... it's the women and their deceptive ways... i feel the words of this song cause i've gone through it oh so many times