Where'd You Go

Background

"Where'd You Go" was started from the piano and then the chorus. Mike said, "I just came into the studio and sat down and played it. The words were there in a matter of probably two minutes. A few weeks later I decided I wanted Holly to sing it instead of me because I thought her voice would make the track so much more powerful."

Holly Brook (now Skylar Grey) had recently been signed by Brad Delson, who showed a lot of interest in her music, to Linkin Park's label Machine Shop Recordings. The label began publicizing Brook many months in advance of her first album and to feature her vocal performance on a Fort Minor song provided her a lot of promotion. She said, "It was in early fall (of 2005) that Mike Shinoda called me up. He said, 'I have this song, and could you put your vocals on it?' I spent a half-hour singing it at a session, and that was it! The next thing I know, is that Mike's got this whole solo project called Fort Minor, and I went on tour with him to sing 'Where'd You Go.' Mike brought this 11-piece band on the road, and we've toured the U.S. and Australia." When asked about the style of the song before the album was released, Holly said, "You'll just have to wait and see! I would never go out of my way to sound like something that I am not. Even though our styles of music are very different, I believe they compliment each other nicely."

The song also features background vocals by Jonah Matranga.

Mike describes "Where'd You Go" as "a really crazy love song", saying it is about being on tour, but from the person at home's perspective, whose lover is always traveling. Although Mike wrote the song with his wife, Anna, in mind, he made it somewhat generalized so it would make a better story and people could relate it to more than just one situation. He mentions "people whose parents are divorced, people who have someone away in the army, people whose parents/loved one work too much." According to him, the song makes his wife cry every time she hears it.

On the Making of The Rising Tied DVD when he was having Jay-Z and Brad help him pick songs for the album, Mike explained, "A lot of people write songs about being on the road and nobody really writes songs from the perspective of the people they leave at home. My wife has cried three times listening to this song."

Holly Brook Version

Linkin Park's legal dispute with Warner Bros. Records in 2005 caused Machine Shop Recordings, to which Holly Brook was signed to, to go on an indefinite hiatus. This led Holly to record her own version of "Where'd You Go" and send it to radio stations, asking fans to request her version over Fort Minor's. She performed this version live in 2006 while touring in support of her debut solo album, Like Blood Like Honey, but the song was never included on any release.

Remix

Where'd You Joe?

"Where'd You Joe?" was remix of "Where'd You Go" released by Mike Shinoda for free download exclusively for Fort Minor Militia members in February 2006. Joe Hahn produced and mixed the remix. The vocal take of the clean version was used on the remix. Mike wrote: "Joe just made this a couple weeks ago. We have a couple remixes of the song floating around out there (one by Styles Of Beyond producers Skully and Cheapshot, another by LP guitarist Brad Delson). I love Joe's--I think it's one of the most unique remixes i've heard of a Fort Minor song. I hope all of you out there who are remixing or plan to remix FM songs are inspired by it. Those of you who don't make music can just sit back and enjoy"

Other Remixes

Two remixes were released on the Where'd You Go single. The first by Brad Delson, under the title "Where'd You Go (Big Bad Remix)", and the second by Vin Skully and Cheapshot of Styles Of Beyond, under the title "Where'd You Go (SOB Remix)". The "SOB Remix" was also released as a bonus track on the limited edition of We Major which was given out at Joe Hahn's SURU store in Los Angeles in 2006. This version of the mixtape is mixed exactly the same as the original, but was remastered for better sound quality and features different artwork.

Ryu of Styles Of Beyond did a remix of the song which remains unreleased.

Although not official, Adam Young of Owl City released a remix of "Where'd You Go" through his Tumblr page in 2012. About the remix, he wrote: "Although I do not choose to advocate crude language in the music I personally create under the Owl City moniker as a representation of myself, I am very fond of this song and its message as written brilliantly by Mike Shinoda. While this remix features my production and musical contributions, I did not have any influence over the lyrics. I am merely a great admirer of the original song and I deeply respect how it addresses societal issues regarding certain types of men (military members, professional athletes, touring musicians, and those separated/divorced) and how their lack of existence in the household damages families."

Another notable unofficial remix was done by musician and actor Maestro Harrell and released on his official SoundCloud page on August 20, 2015.

Tracklist

CD Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Where'd You Go	Mike Shinoda	3:55
2	Where'd You Go (Big Bad Remix)	Brad Delson, Shinoda	4:09
3	Where'd You Go (SOB Remix)	Cheapshot, Shinoda, Vin Skully	3:17

Digital Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Where'd You Go (Video)	Shinoda	5:07
2	Where'd You Go (Video)	Shinoda	5:07

Promo Single

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1	Where'd You Go (Album Version)	Shinoda	3:51
2	Where'd You Go (Radio Version)	Shinoda	3:55
3	Where'd You Go (Instrumental)	Shinoda	3:57
4	Where'd You Go (Album A Cappella)	Shinoda	3:19
5	Where'd You Go (Radio A Cappella)	Shinoda	3:17

Music Video

Music Video

Holly Brook announced on January 25, 2006 that the music video had recently been shot for "Where'd You Go", saying, "Last week we shot the video for "Where'd You Go" and that was a great time. I had never done a video shoot before and was surprised to see how much shooting was actually done.... Most of the time was spent on doing hair and makeup, fixing the lights, etc. Actual on camera time was minimal, but fun. Can't wait to see the finished piece!"

The video was debuted on February 23, 2006 on MTVAsia.com. Throughout March 2006, Fort Minor shared three videos about the making of the music video on the Fort Minor MySpace page.

The music video for "Where'd You Go" was directed by Philip Andelman and was filmed in the homes of three different families who were interviewed for the video. "Mike explained that he wrote the song for his wife, who has a hard time when he’s on the road. He wanted to address that struggle but not specifically. I threw out the idea of three true stories presented in a documentary format," the director explained. This was Holly Brook's very first music video. She said, "Well, it was fun, but there was a lot less shooting time than I thought there would be. I thought it would be a full day of being on camera, but most of the time was actually getting my makeup and hair done."

The video was co-edited by Barney Miller and Terence Ziegler of Company X. They enlisted mixer Jeff Slutz of Sugarbox on their efforts working the live dialogue in with the Fort Minor track and extending the music. Miller said, "we were always struggling to find the perfect balance, so one story would not overwhelm the other. This was more critical than usual because the story had to stand on its own and then fit rhythmically and emotionally with the song."

In late 2006, Clear Channel Music posted the entire The Rising Tied album complete with commentaries from Mike Shinoda before each song. On "Where'd You Go", he said, "The song ‘Where’d You Go’, basically, started as an idea of writing a song about being on the road, but from the perspective of the people that get left at home. I included, uhm, two really great singers – Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga on the song. After the album was released, I heard so many different versions of how people connected with the story, you know, from the idea of having parents who were divorced to having siblings who were away, or having a loved one who was, you know, off… as like a soldier in Iraq. These stories really really touched me, and I think touched a lot of other people, who were involved with the project, and that’s kinda of what we ended up doing the video about. Uhm, whenever you make a song that people connect within a special way, uhm, that.. the song kinda becomes part of their experiences in their life – that’s definitely one the best feelings as an artist!" At the end of the video, a brief note by Mike states "'Where'd You Go' was filmed in the homes of three families who share the same sense of loneliness as this song. Thank you for sharing your homes and stories with us."

Artist Name: Fort Minor
Song Name: Where'd You Go?
Director: Philip Andelman
Director of Photography: David Lanzenberg
Production Company: Partizan
Format: 35mm
Executive Producer: Jeff Pantaleo
Producer: Rachel Curl
Video Commissioner: Devin Sarno
Record Label: Warner Bros. Records

Music Video Contest

On June 22, 2006, Fort Minor in association with MTV Overdrive launched a contest on which fans would be able to submit their own videos for "Where'd You Go". Fort Minor said, "Fort Minor is offering you the unique possibility to make your OWN Where'd You Go video, inspired from Fort Minor's Where'd You Go song and video. Use your creativity, imagination, and superb video skills to produce your video interpretation of Fort Minor's Where'd You Go."

Videos were due by July 5, 2006. "Mike Shinoda will personally pick three winners, whose videos will be shown on MTV's online broadband channel "Overdrive" for the week of July 24th-30th. Over that week, fans will be given the opportunity to choose their favorite video. The winner receives a congratulatory phone call from Mike, the ballcap Mike wore in the "Where'd You Go" video complete with autograph, original hand-drawn art from 'The Rising Tied', and a signed still from the video."

The videos were reviewed by Mike Shinoda, who picked his three favorites and made them available on MTV's website so the fans could vote on their favorite. The three videos as well as a video of Mike Shinoda explaining the contest were uploaded to the YouTube channel FortMinorContest. The winner, David Ly, was named in August and received a sketch painting by Shinoda from The Rising Tied's art. In second place was Katherine Blizard, and in third place, Brian Azeoka.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Where'd You Go	The Rising Tied	3:51	2005	November 22, 2005	Features vocals by Holly Brook and Jonah Matranga.
Where'd You Go	The Rising Tied (Non-PA Version)	3:51	2005	November 22, 2005	Different vocal take. Different lyrics.
Where'd You Go	Where'd You Go	3:55	2005	April 10, 2006	Lacks the transition to "In Stereo".
Where'd You Go (Radio Version)	Where'd You Go	3:55	2005	April 10, 2006	Different vocal take. Different lyrics. Lacks the transition to "In Stereo".
Where'd You Go (Mix Clean)		3:32	2006	2006	Holly Brook solo version. Released to radio stations in 2006.
Where'd You Go (Instrumental)	Where'd You Go Instrumental Album: The Rising Tied	3:57	2005	April 10, 2006	Official instrumental version.
Where'd You Go (A Cappella)	Where'd You Go	3:19	2005	April 10, 2006	Official acapella version.
Where'd You Go (Radio A Cappella)	Where'd You Go	3:17	2005	April 10, 2006	Different vocal take. Different lyrics. Official acapella version.

Remix

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Where'd You Joe? (Cleaned)		3:32	2006	February 2006	Remix by Joe Hahn. Released for free download to Fort Minor Militia members in February 2006 in MP3 and M4A formats. This was the only Fort Minor Militia exclusive track to be released in more than one format.
Where'd You Go (Big Bad Remix)	Where'd You Go	4:09	2005	April 10, 2006	Remix by Brad Delson.
Where'd You Go (SOB Remix)	Where'd You Go DJ Green Lantern Presents Fort Minor: We Major (Limited Edition)	3:17	2005	April 10, 2006	Remix by Vin Skully and Cheapshot.
Where'd You Go (Ryu Remix)			2005		Remix by Ryu Maginn. Unreleased.

Live

"Where'd You Go" got its live debut at the MySpace 2nd anniversary party, being played after the "Fort Minor Medley", and with Chester Bennington filling in for Holly Brook. The following performance, for AOL Sessions, featured the song being performed with Holly Brook for the first time, and was played at least three times, to allow Holly to get used to wearing in ear monitors. The song was played only once more in 2005, at the show in Universal City, maintaining its mid-set position. The song wasn't played again until Fort Minor's 2006 US tour, where the song was played regularly with Brook. At the final show of the US Tour, Jonah Matranga joined Fort Minor for "Where'd You Go", which is the only time he ever did that. At the following show in Taipei, Mike brought up popular Chinese singer Elva Hsiao for "Where'd You Go" and, at the show in Singapore, Mike brought up Jessie Thyiodor for the song. Brook returned to sing on the song during the Australian and New Zealand tour, but couldn't make the Club Tattoo 11th Anniversary performance, so Mike had the backup singers sing her part. Fort Minor started using "Where'd You Go" for TV performances following the Club Tattoo show, with Holly joining Fort Minor for the song. Holly, however, couldn't make the trip to Japan for the Summer Sonic performances, resulting in Chester filling in again for both shows in Japan.

Once Mike brought Fort Minor back from hiatus, "Where'd You Go" was performed directly after "Until It Breaks", and used the instrumental from "Until It Breaks" until verse two, where the studio instrumental kicked in. For the first time, Mike started singing Holly's part of the song, but had the studio vocals playing over the PA system.

On Mike's Post Traumatic Tour, "Where'd You Go" was mashed up with "Waiting For The End." The mashup began with the "Waiting For The End" samples with the "Where'd You Go" chorus, followed by the "Waiting For The End" beginning verse. Mike would then rap the rest of "Where'd You Go" through the mashup. During Mike's first full festival performance, Taka from the band ONE OK ROCK (who had performed with him only months prior during "Somewhere I Belong" at the Hollywood Bowl tribute show) joined Mike to perform the mashup, singing Holly Brook's part. At the first Summer Sonic performance in Osaka, Mike joined ONE OK ROCK onstage for their song "One Way Ticket," which Mike had helped produce, rapping part of the first verse and bridge (by accident) of "Where'd You Go" during the first verse. Starting with Mike's set in Chengdu, China, the mashup was followed by an acapella sing-a-long of "Waiting For The End." Beginning in at Mike's show later on in the tour in Singapore, that sing-a-long came directly out of the mashup with Mike playing the piano to "Waiting For The End," effectively becoming an outro to the song. For one show in San Francisco, he did the sing-a-long as an intro to the song instead of as an outro.

Variations

Last Updated: April 25, 2016

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Mashup	w/ Until It Breaks Instrumental Until Verse 2	June 29, 2015	September 8, 2015

Mike Shinoda

Last Updated: May 3, 2020

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Intro	"Waiting For The End" Sing-a-long	November 6, 2018	November 6, 2018
Outro	Short Piano Outro	August 14, 2018	August 14, 2018
Outro	"Waiting For The End" Sing-a-long	August 22, 2018	October 11, 2018
Outro	"Waiting For The End" Sing-a-long + "Where'd You Go" Piano Outro	October 13, 2018	October 13, 2018
Outro	"Waiting For The End" Sing-a-long + Short Piano Outro	October 14, 2018	September 8, 2019
Mashup	w/ "Waiting For The End"	May 12, 2018	September 8, 2019

• NOTE: All extensions from Mike Shinoda sets are to the "Waiting For The End" / "Where'd You Go" mashup, not the individual song itself.

Live Guests

• Chester Bennington (Linkin Park)
• Elva Hsiao
• Jessie Thyiodor
• Takahiro Moriuchi (ONE OK ROCK)

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Status
2006	MTV Video Music Awards	Ringtone Of The Year	Won

Lyrics

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.

She said;
"Some days I feel like shit, some days I wanna quit,
And just be normal for a bit,
I don't understand why you have to always be gone,
I get along but the trips always feel so long, and,
I find myself tryin' to stay by the phone,
'Cause your voice always helps me and I feel not so alone,
But I feel like an idiot, working my day around a call,
That when I pick up I don't have much to say, so,
I want you to know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
At times debating, telling you I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"."

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home.

Come back home, you know that place where you used to live?,
Used to barbeque up burgers and ribs,
Used to have a little party every Halloween with candy by the pile,
But now you only stop by every once in a while.
(Shit) I find myself just filling my time,
With anything to keep the thought of you from my mind,
I'm doing fine, and I'm planning to keep it that way,
And you can call me if you find that you have something to say,
And I'll tell you;
"I want you to know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
At times debating, telling you that I've had it with you and your career.
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"."

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home.

I want you know it's a little fucked up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
No longer debating,
Tired of sitting and hating and making these excuses,
For why you're not around, and feeling so useless,
It seems one thing has been true all along,
You don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone,
I guess I've had it with you and your career,
When you come back I won't be here,
And you can sing it.

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home
Please come back home
Please come back home
Please come back home

When you made me that initial batch of songs
I was like, "That's the shit right there"
Holla

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.

She said;
"Some days I feel like shh, some days I wanna quit,
And just be normal for a bit,
I don't understand why you have to always be gone,
I get along but the trips always feel so long, and,
I find myself tryin' to stay by the phone,
'Cause your voice always helps me and I feel not so alone,
But I feel like an idiot, working my day around a call,
That when I pick up I don't have much to say, so,
I want you to know it's a little messed up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
At times debating, telling you I've had it with you and your career,
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"."

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home.

Come back home, you know that place where you used to live?,
Used to barbeque up burgers and ribs,
Used to have a little party every Halloween with candy by the pile,
But now you only stop by every once in a while.
Yeah, I find myself just filling my time,
With anything to keep the thought of you from my mind,
I'm doing fine, and I'm planning to keep it that way,
And you can call me if you find that you have something to say,
And I'll tell you;
"I want you to know it's a little messed up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
At times debating, telling you that I've had it with you and your career.
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"."

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home.

I want you know it's a little messed up,
That I'm stuck here waiting,
No longer debating,
Tired of sitting and hating and making these excuses,
For why you're not around, and feeling so useless,
It seems one thing has been true all along,
You don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone,
I guess I've had it with you and your career,
When you come back I won't be here,
And you can sing it.

Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Where'd you go? I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever,
That you've been gone.
Please come back home

Please come back home
Please come back home
Please come back home

Gallery

• 

  EU single

• 

  AU single

• 

  US promo

• 

  JP promo

• 

  Artwork from Warner Music Group Germany

Other Uses

• This song was sampled by Youssoupha de Saron in the song "Dreamin'" on the album Noir Désir released in 2012.

External Links

• Where'd You Go (Music Video): YouTube
• Where'd You Go (Music Video) (Amended): WBR
• Where'd You Go (MTV Music Video Remake Winner): David Ly