A.06

Background

"A.06" was a demo created in 2002 during the Meteora sessions. Originally a full song, it was shortened and released in November 2002 on the LP Underground 2.0 CD. The song was then used for a 2002 television commercial promoting Meteora, with a female spray painting the Linkin Park logo and album release month of March 2003 on a canvas.

Mike Shinoda talked about the song on August 12, 2015 during a Reddit AMA: "A.06 was a demo we tried to flesh out, but never really liked the longer version." The original long instrumental demo was released under the title "A-Six" in November 2009 as part of the LP Underground 9.0: Demos CD. On the booklet, the band wrote, ""A-Six", the original (long) version of a track which would eventually end up on the LPU2 CD."

Brad Delson mentioned during a Linkin Park Underground chat in 2003 that the clip of the lyrics "just drag it out, remember" in The Making Of Meteora documentary was "from a song called "A6" which will be on the LPU 2.0 cd." Although the transcript of the chat with Brad was lost over time (the chat summary exists), Chester Bennington also talked about the clip during a LPU chat in April 2003: "That didn't really have a name at the time (the one on the DVD). That song actually didn't make the record and never got finished, but on the commercial for our record Meteora on the very first commercial before the graffiti one where it was just black with LP 03.03 that song was the intro part so it was kind of used."

In April 2023, Linkin Park released "A6", the third version of the song, on Meteora 20. This version features rapping by Mike, a faster chorus, and a bell-like synth on the chorus of the track. It seems more raw in nature and could have been the original rough demo of the song, before "A-Six."

Brad Delson did a track-by-track commentary of the Lost Demos disc for the "Super Deluxe Box Set" book. About "A6", he wrote, "We messed with this riff seemingly for albums. Heaviness. Feels like the melodic possibilities never emerged to compliment the urgency of that opening figure. This chorus bed feels like it had a lot of possibility, though. Funny how many songs we would write just to catch that epic fish. Even the ones that feel super promising are often just foreshadowing or fodder for what's to come. Sometimes the key is the stick-with-it-ness. Sometimes the key is the stick-not-with-it-ness. Bridge is like woah. Not sure how we even made that sound."

Versions

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

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
A.06	LP Underground 2.0 Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	0:54	2002	November 18, 2002
A.06	A.06	0:29	2002		Shortened version. Released on iTunes as a ringtone.
A-Six (Original Long Version 2002)	LP Underground 9.0: Demos Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	3:52	2002	November 23, 2009	Instrumental demo.
A6 (Meteora|20 Demo)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) Lost Demos	3:55	2002	April 7, 2023	Mike Shinoda's vocals on the verses.

Remix

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
A.06 (8 Bit Rebellion Version)	8-Bit Rebellion! Ringtones	0:31	2010	April 17, 2010	8-bit version. Intro only.

Live

"A.06" has been performed live on a handful of times. It made its live debut at the March 6, 2003 studio filming of Top of the Pops at the BBC where it was played between songs filmed for television to pass the time. At this performance, Chester sang lines of "My Own Summer" (Shove It) over it, which Linkin Park played on tour the previous year on Projekt Revolution 2002. The next performance came just two days later at CD:UK/Headliners, another television filming appearance where it was again played between TV takes for songs.

The next month on Projekt Revolution 2003, the song was played one known time, at the Tucson, Arizona show on April 19, 2003. At this show, Joe and Brad changed instruments on "Nobody's Listening", which can be seen in Joe's birthday video posted by Linkin Park in 2022. As far as reported information goes, "A.06" was not performed again until the Kerrang Awards in London on August 21, 2003. London ironically is the city that got three "A.06" performances when the song was virtually impossible to catch live for fans. At this show, Linkin Park was filming "Faint" and "From The Inside" for fans and played "A.06" between song takes, just like the March performances.

The lone, and last, "A.06" performance came at the last show of Projekt Revolution 2004 in Mountain View, California on September 5, 2004. After "Crawling" opened the encore, Linkin Park decided to have a little fun and play "A.06", but after the buildup they did not play the heavier jam part of the track. This caused Chester to cuss on stage, in a joking manner, and that was it - no more "A.06" live!

Linkin Park's setlists are incomplete for 2003 and 2004, most notably Projekt Revolution 2003, so it is possible the song was performed one or a few more unknown times.

The longer versions of the track, "A-Six" from LPU 9 and "A6" from Meteora 20, have never been performed live - only the shorter "A.06".

Personnel

Linkin Park

• Chester Bennington: Vocals
• Rob Bourdon: Drums
• Brad Delson: Guitars
• Joseph Hahn: Records, Sampling
• Phoenix: Bass
• Mike Shinoda: Emcee, Vocals, Sampling

Production

• Written by Linkin Park
• Produced by Don Gilmore and Linkin Park

Lyrics

Meteora|20 Demo

Has it always been this dark at this time of the night?
Anybody up with me in these speckles of light?
Looking out the windowpanes, I close my eyes again
With a head that's full of rain and a chest that's full of lead
I've got a broken seam that I never tore away
I've got an empty room but I've got a lot to say
I've got another dream and it's waiting for the day
The light is coming soon to keep me up awake

Has it always been this loud at this time of the dark?
Everything is creaking and buzzing like it's gonna fall apart
Even though I can't see much, I'm looking around again
With a head that's full of rain and a chest that's full of lead
I broke another seam and it never goes away
And in this empty room there's nothing left to say
I've got another dream, but it's waiting for the day
That the light is coming soon, to keep me up awake

External Links

• A.06 (Official Audio): YouTube
• A-Six (Original Long Version): YouTube
• A6 (Meteora|20 Demo): YouTube