Castle Of Glass

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Template:Infobox single "Castle Of Glass" is the sixth track off of Linkin Park's fifth studio album, Living Things, and the third single to be released from it. The track was used during the promotion of Danger Close Game's Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which is the third song the band has contributed to the franchise. "The Catalyst" was used for the 2010 Medal Of Honor game, and "Lies Greed Misery" was also used for Medal Of Honor: Warfighter.

The single was released on November 12, 2012 with proceeds going to the Help for Heroes campaign.[1] The physical single was released on February 1, 2013[2] after being pushed back several times.[3] A digital EP was released on March 22, 2013 in Europe.[4]

Background

Pretty much everything through the first chorus remained unchanged from the initial demo version of the song to the final, album released track, as revealed by Mike Shinoda.[5] Shinoda also cited "Castle Of Glass" as an example of Living Things's more personal themes, stating "This album tends to be a little more of a personal record, compared to the last record, which I guess I would say was a little more political. And this song is an example of that; the lyrics can have multiple meanings, be it a soldier’s story [or] an individual at home, dealing with a personal relationship. [And the video] is really mostly narrative; and it’s kind of the story of the families and the soldiers that this game is based on."[6]

Chester Bennington talked about the song, and how different the ways in which he and Shinoda had interpreted the lyrics, saying "You can look at a song like 'CASTLE OF GLASS,' which for me, has one of the most interesting opposing points of view. When Mike was talking about the lyrics, at one point he had said, 'You know, it's kind of like finding yourself as this broken part of this big machine, and feeling like you're not part of that, or trying to find your place in the bigger scheme of things.' And that can mean a solider coming home from war, and trying to fit back into society, or a person getting out of prison, or whatever. And here I am, envisioning this big, beautiful glass castle on a hill, and, like, unicorns. I'm thinking like 'Yeah, if you zoom in, I'm this little broken part of this castle that no one knows about, and I may seem like flawed and not important, but when you back up and look at the big picture, you're part of this really beautiful thing that keeps you together. And it was a really interesting twist; I think a lot of our lyrics can be taken from multiple perspectives, depending on what you want the song to be about ... they can be felt on so many different levels."[7]

Owen Pallett, who worked on "I'll Be Gone", was initially going to work on two songs off Living Things, but ended up only having time for one. Shinoda wound up composing the strings for the other song. "Castle Of Glass", being the only song on the album for which Shinoda is credited for strings in the album booklet, is more than likely this other song.[8]

Remix

"Castle Of Glass" was remixed by band member Mike Shinoda for Linkin Park's second remix album, Recharged, and was included in Criterion Games's Need For Speed Rivals. When talking about his remix for the song, Shinoda said "My CASTLE OF GLASS remix was a journey; the verse section was the first thing I made, which originally lived in a Justice/Daft Punk kind of world. But I didn’t want the song to be two-dimensional or a rip-off, so I dirtied up the sounds and added a little of a prog-rock kind of feel. Then I added the ambient intro. After that, I had the idea to take it somewhere really unexpected, which is where the last movement came in. I think that last section is where the real musicality and magic happens, introducing the dreamy synths, new chord changes, vocoder vocals, guitar, and piano."[9][10]

Tracklist

CD Single

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 Castle Of Glass Linkin Park 3:25
2 Lost In The Echo (KillSonik Remix) Linkin Park 5:09

Digital Single

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1 Castle Of Glass Linkin Park 3:25
2 Lost In The Echo (KillSonik Remix) Linkin Park 5:09
3 Burn It Down (Live Rock Im Park 2012) Linkin Park 4:00
4 Lies Greed Misery (Live Rock Im Park 2012) Linkin Park 2:30

Music Video

The music video for "Castle Of Glass" started filming on July 25, 2012 and was made in partnership with the video game publisher EA in support of their first-person shooter, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, which the video features several clips from. The video was released on October 10, 2012 to Linkin Park's official YouTube page. The video depicts a young boy dealing with the loss of his father, who was killed in action. The band is shown performing in a violent storm, with pieces of shattered glass swirling around them. Near the end of the video, the boy begins looking through his father's belongings, inspiring him to follow in his father's footsteps and joining the military as a SEAL. The end of the video shows a man telling a young girl that her father, too, had died in battle. The video's final shot showcase a quote from Winston Churchill, stating "All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

All of the band's performance was shot in front a green screen, with production being handled by Digital Domain and Mothership. The video relied heavily on CGI for the band's sequences, and continues the recurring post-apocalyptic theme in the videos for Living Things of the world falling apart, primarily the opening shot of Mike Shinoda, where the room he's standing in crumbles to the ground, revealing the storm that the band performs in.

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Title: Linkin Park “Castle of Glass” Music Video
Directed by: Drew Stauffer & Jerry O’Flaherty
Client: Electronic Arts
 
Executive Producer, Medal of Honor: Greg Goodrich
Director of Post Production: Drew Stauffer
 
Production Company: Mothership
Directors: Drew Stauffer & Jerry O’Flaherty
Chief Executive Officer: Ed Ulbrich
Executive Producer: Rich Flier
Head of Production: Scott Gemmell
Producer: Tiffani Manabat
Line Producer: Kim Monaco
Director of Photography: Pete Konzcal
 
Visual Effects and Animation by: Digital Domain
Chief Executive Officer: Ed Ulbrich
Executive Producer: Rich Flier
Head of Production: Scott Gemmell
VFX Supervisor: Richard S. Morton
CG Supervisor: David Liu
VFX Producer: James Taylor
VFX Coordinator: Katryna Shattuck
Matte Painter: Dark Hoffman
Digital Artist: Brandon Webb
Digital Artist: Michael La Fave
Digital Artist: Christopher Romano
Roto Artist: David Wilson
Roto Artist: Heidrun Haroldstottir
Roto Artist: Marcel Martins
Lead Nuke Compositor: Barry Berman
Nuke Compositor: Lenz Kol
Nuke Compositor: Peter Sidoriak
Nuke Compositor: Dave Takayama
Nuke Compositor: Scott Hale
Tracking: Michael Lori
Tracking: Roxanne Zuckermann
Tracking: John Aghassian
Tracking: Eugene Colescott
Online Editor: Lisa Tomei
 
Editorial by: Whitehouse Post
Executive Producer: Joni Williamson
Editor: Josh Bodnar
Assistant Editors: Shane Ried & Collin Davis

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Versions

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

Studio

Title Album Length Recorded Released Notes
Castle Of Glass Living Things

Castle Of Glass

3:25 2012 June 20, 2012
Castle Of Glass (Official Video) 4:50 2012 October 10, 2012
  • Extended intro.
  • Slightly different instrumental through the first half of verse one.
  • Short ambient outro.
Castle Of Glass (Radio Edit) Castle Of Glass (FR Radio CD) 3:05 2012 2013
  • Shortened intro.
Castle Of Glass (Instrumental) Living Things (Acapellas and Instrumentals)

Castle Of Glass (Denmark Promo)

3:25 2012 September 11, 2012
  • Official instrumental version.
  • There are glitches at 0:36, 1:10, 1:28, and 2:36.
Castle Of Glass (Acapella) Living Things (Acapellas and Instrumentals)

Castle Of Glass (Denmark Promo)

2:49 2012 September 11, 2012
  • Official acapella version.

Remix

Title Album Length Recorded Released Notes
Castle Of Glass (M. Shinoda Remix) Recharged 6:20 2013 October 24, 2013
  • Remix by Mike Shinoda.
Castle Of Glass - Linkin Park Remix Living Things Remixes 2013
  • Remix by Mike Shinoda.
  • Early version.

Live

"Castle Of Glass" was rehearsed for two weeks prior to its debut at the 10th Annual VGAs, where it was nominated for "Best Song In Game" in Medal of Honor: Warfighter. It quickly replaced "In My Remains" in the setlist starting in 2013, where the studio version was played consistently until January 2014. At the Concert For The Philippines in January, the band brought out Ann and Nancy Wilson from the band Heart to sing on the song, marking the first time female musicians have ever joined Linkin Park on stage for a song.

Once the cycle for The Hunting Party started at KFMA Day 2014, a new version of "Castle Of Glass" debuted, with the first verse and chorus coming from the studio track, and the bridge and ending coming from "Castle Of Glass (M. Shinoda Remix)". This was dubbed the "Experience Version". It also featured a short piano transition outro leading into "LOATR/SOTD/Iridescent". Starting on the Carnivores Tour, a brief sample loop played prior to the song beginning.

Starting at the band's second show in Brazil, new elements were added to the new live version of "Castle Of Glass". Two speeches featured on A Thousand Suns, from "Wisdom, Justice, And Love" and "The Radiance", were added to the bridge and piano outro, respectively. The sample from "Wisdom, Justice, And Love" contained only the first two lines of the speech, while the sample from "The Radiance" was the whole speech. At one show in Germany, the band extended the intro of "Castle Of Glass" to allow the crowd to clap along with it.

While "Castle Of Glass" has been aborted a few times, once in Australia and once in Brazil, it has not been consistently dropped from the setlist.

Mike used "Castle Of Glass" as a part of his Fort Minor setlist upon its return in 2015. Starting with his performance in Los Angeles, Mike performed a remix of his own remix of the song, and mashed up "Kenji" with the bridge of the remix, performing the entire song.

Variations

Linkin Park

Last Updated: December 13, 2015

Type Description First Played Last Played
Intro Extended intro for crowd to clap along to November 9, 2014 November 9, 2014
Bridge w/ samples of the Wisdom, Justice, And Love speech October 19, 2014 November 14, 2015
Outro Piano Transition May 24, 2014 November 14, 2015
Outro w/ The Radiance speech October 19, 2014 November 14, 2015
Alternative Experience Version; Intro, first verse, and chorus come from album version, bridge and outro come from M. Shinoda Remix May 24, 2014 November 14, 2015

Fort Minor

Last Updated: December 13, 2015

Type Description First Played Last Played
Bridge w/ Kenji over M. Shinoda Remix bridge instrumental June 29, 2015 September 8, 2015
Alternative Remixed version of the M. Shinoda remix June 29, 2015 September 8, 2015

Live Guests

Last Updated: December 26, 2015

  • Benjamin Chandler (replacing Brad Delson)
  • Warren Willis (replacing Joe Hahn)
  • Ann Wilson (Heart)
  • Nancy Wilson (Heart)

Promotion

"Castle Of Glass" was first released to radio in late 2012 internationally, including places like the United Kingdom, Finland, and Denmark. The physical single was initially slated to be released on December 10, 2012, but was later postponed February 4, 2013. Despite that, it was released on February 1, 2013 for unknown reasons. The digital single was released on March 22, 2013. The song was certified Gold in Austria and reached Platinum in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

The song was heavily used in promotion for EA's Medal of Honor: Warfighter, and was featured in the end credits of the game.

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Status
2012 Spike Video Game Awards Best Song in a Game (Medal of Honor: Warfighter) Nominated

Personnel

Linkin Park

  • Chester Bennington: vocals
  • Rob Bourdon: drums, backing vocals
  • Brad Delson: guitars, bass, backing vocals
  • Joseph Hahn: records, sampling, backing vocals
  • Mike Shinoda: emcee, vocals, beats, sampling
  • Phoenix: bass

Production

  • Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin: producer
  • Manny Marroquin: mixer
  • Brian "Big Bass" Gardner: mastering

Artwork

  • Brandon Parvini at Ghost Town Media: design
  • The Uprising Creative: layout

Lyrics

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Take me down to the river bend
Take me down to the fighting end
Wash the poison from off my skin
Show me how to be whole again
 
Fly me up on a silver wing
Past the black where the sirens sing
Warm me up in a nova's glow
And drop me down to the dream below
 
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see
 
Bring me home in a blinding dream
Through the secrets that I have seen
Wash the sorrow from off my skin
And show me how to be whole again
 
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see
 
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything else I need to be

'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see
For you to see

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Take me down to the river bend
Take me down to the fighting end
Wash the poison from off my skin
Show me how to be whole again
 
Fly me up on a silver wing
Past the black where the sirens sing
Warm me up in a nova's glow
And drop me down to the dream below
 
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see

Take me down to the river bend
Take me down to the fighting end
Wash, wash the poison from off my skin
Show me how to be whole again
 
Fly me up on a silver wing
Past the black where the sirens sing
War, warm me up in a nova's glow
And drop me down to the dream below, low, low, low

'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see

For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see

'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
For you to see
'Cause I'm only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see
Only a crack
In this castle of glass
Hardly anything there for you to see
For you to see

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Gallery

In Other Media

  • "Castle Of Glass" is featured in the 2012 videogame Medal Of Honor: Warfighter.
  • A remix of "Castle Of Glass" by Mike Shinoda is featured in the 2013 videogame Need For Speed Rivals.

Cover Versions

South African alternative rock band City Of Heroes recorded an in-studio live cover of "Castle Of Glass" which was uploaded to their YouTube channel on June 6, 2013.[13]

External Links

References

References