"Healing Foot" is a song from the Meteora recording sessions that was officially released on the 20th Anniversary Edition of Meteora. The song was released on March 25, 2023 as an exclusive reward for the Linkin Park Hunt in the Marbleverse after all Marbles had been collected.
Background
In November 2011, Linkin Park released a Meteora demo titled "Broken Foot" on the LP Underground Eleven CD. The title of the demo is a reference to when Brad Delson stormed offstage after becoming very mad at the technical problems he had during the Chula Vista, CA September 28, 2001 show with his pedals and amps. An MTV article about the incident said, "At the end of the set he stormed offstage and expressed his rage by kicking a large steel door. The guitarist was taken to the hospital, and his foot was placed in a soft cast, the band's management said."[1]
In the DVD titled The Sequel To The DVD With The Worst Name We've Ever Come Up With from the Hybrid Theory 20 box set, Brad shows that he has to wear a brace on his foot while on the Projekt Revolution 2002 Tour in January and February 2002.
"Healing Foot", released in April 2023 for Meteora 20, is the second reference to the incident from a Meteora demo title.
In the DVD released with Meteora, there is a clip of Rob Bourdon playing drums on an unknown song with piano leading the melody. The clip almost instantly rose to fame in the Linkin Park community as an unreleased song that everyone was wanting to hear. Nothing more was said about the song until when Mike Shinoda went on TikTok Live to promote Meteora|20, answering a question from Derek of LPAssociation.com who asked him about the track. After watching the YouTube link of Rob playing drums, Mike said he knew the song and that it was in the box set. As it turns out, this song ended up being "Healing Foot."
When the song was released for a German-only exclusive hunt for "Linkin Park Marbles" across multiple cities, Mike Shinoda said, "You've done it! You've found all of the marbles. As a thank you, we wanted to give you the chance to listen to one of the "Lost Demos" from the Meteora 20th anniversary release before it comes out on April 7th, so here we go. This one is a highly anticipated track that was identified by the fan community years ago because it was in the Making Of content for Meteora and all the fans said, "Wait a minute, that's a track that is not on the album, what is that? Rob's playing drums on this thing we haven't heard." The demo never got an official name, it just had a demo name which was "Healing Foot", so you are in the rare and exclusive group that get to hear it - so here you go, "Healing Foot"!"
When discussing the box set, Mike said about "Massive" and "Healing Foot", "One of those two I think I tried to resurrect during Minutes to Midnight, and again, it was like, "No man, we don't want to look backward at all." So this is all about that 2003 moment. There's a certain level of quality control going on. We want to make sure that when we put something together, it's thoughtful and we'’ve done our best. Is it going to be perfect? No. Is it going to appeal to everybody? Of course not. It never will be."[2]
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healing Foot | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:31 | 2002 | March 25, 2023 |
|
Personnel
Lyrics
It's safe to say I've always felt this way
Holding back my words again
For fear they're uninvited
Now it's safe to say
At this point that I've been wrong and it's all been a mess
I listen to the cars drive by and don't know why that I couldn't have left
But now I'm stuck in the middle of a situation that I made appear
You'd be surprised at how scared of the clarity you could be 'til you see it so clear
But it's like I can't really look at it rationally
Wishing that you could look back at what I see
These things happen, but actually
The things that happen have happened to me
So don't try to tell me it's all okay
I'm reaching for this from too far away
Yesterday's problems here again today, and it's safe to say
It's safe to say I've always felt this way
Holding back my words again
For fear they're uninvited
Now it's safe to say
At this point, you've been wrong and it's all been a mess
I placed all the signals out there and don't know why that you couldn't have guessed
And now you're stuck in the middle of a situation that you made so real
And you gotta just play with the cards that you got until it's your turn to deal
But it's like I can't really look at it rationally
Wishing that you could look back at what I see
Everything you ever asked me to be
Is there in the smallest fraction of me
So don't try to tell me it's all okay
You're reaching for this from too far away
Yesterday's problems here again today, and it's safe to say
It's safe to say I've always felt this way
Holding back my words again
For fear they're uninvited
But now it's safe to say
No more regrets (I slowed them down)
No boundaries left (I've drawn them down)
No asking how (I broke them down)
No stopping now
It's safe to say I've always felt this way
Holding back my words again
For fear they're uninvited
But now it's safe to say
This fear is just a plague
I'm taking back my heart again
No longer undivided
Now it's safe to say