Place To Start

"Place To Start" is the first song on Mike Shinoda's Post Traumatic EP as well as the first song on his debut studio album, Post Traumatic.

Background

"Place To Start" is the only song on the Post Traumatic EP not to be performed entirely by Mike Shinoda as Rob Bourdon provided percussion on the song. He said, "I made the music / track of “Place To Start” while we were working on the OML album. Rob did brushes and crashes on it back then."

On an interview to Kerrang!, he further elaborated saying, "That track actually started during the [2017 album] One More Light sessions. I had brought it in as a demo and never developed it all the way to the finish. There was a time when I thought that should be the intro to the One More Light album, actually. When I listened back to it, the idea of starting the EP before Chester passed away was something I thought was nice. There was an element of that that felt... older. The lyrics are all new... Well, I shouldn't say 'all new', but they are through the lens of where I was at that particular moment. I wanted to get people, in a sense, caught up with the answer to the question that everyone asks: 'How are you doing?'"

Mike told Genius, "The demo of this song began during the recording sessions for (the Linkin Park album) "One More Light." I had almost made it the intro of that album. Something about making it the intro of my album seemed right. I revised some of the lyrics to reflect where I was at when I began writing, after Chester had passed. I also kept Rob Bourdon’s snare brush sounds and crashes."

Mike later said that he was essentially out-voted by the rest of the band when he wanted the track to open One More Light.

The end of the track features voicemails from three people, two being Linkin Park videographer Mark Fiore and bandmate Phoenix, who were checking on Mike following Chester Bennington's death. The third voicemail was finally confirmed in early 2020 as being from Mike's friend, Cory Sandelius with whom he went to college. He had taken photos of Linkin Park back in 1999.

Music Video

The music videos on the Post Traumatic EP are described as "cinéma vérité", shot in a way that doesn't obscure the fact that they're real life. Mike says he wanted to shoot a video while feeling something. He explained, "Grief is so personal, and I thought that a D.I.Y., autobiographical format made the most sense. So I shot & edited everything in the videos myself. I‘m planning to continue doing it this way until it doesn’t feel right anymore, or until the work becomes too much."

All three of the EP videos were released by Mike on January 25th, 2018, the day the EP was released.

Versions

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

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Place To Start	Post Traumatic EP Post Traumatic	2:13	2017	January 25, 2018
Place To Start (Instrumental) (105 BPM)	Post Traumatic EP - Acapellas & Instrumentals Post Traumatic - Instrumentals	1:37	2017	February 15, 2018	Official instrumental version. Released for free download on Mike Shinoda's official website on February 15, 2018 in WAV format.
Place To Start (Acapella)	Post Traumatic EP - Acapellas & Instrumentals	2:16	2017	February 15, 2018	Official acapella version. Released for free download on Mike Shinoda's official website on February 15, 2018 in WAV format.

Live

"Place To Start" got its live debut at Mike's Identity LA performance, being played after "Welcome". The song was performed without the voicemails that end the studio version of the song. Though the song started as a staple in the set, it was largely dropped following his show in Chengdu. It was only performed once after that show, in San Francisco. Mike said in an interview that the song is hard on him emotionally, leading to him performing it less often. .

Mike said, "The ones I perform in the set were chosen because I knew that I could sing them. [The album opener] “Place to Start” is a bit hard for me to perform emotionally, so I do that one in moderation. That one’s a little hard because I did it in the beginning of the process of everything, and the first verse of “Over Again” is tough, so I don’t do that for some of the shows. It’s more self-care than anything."

Variations

Last Updated: July 17, 2018

Type	Description	First Played	Last Played
Alternative	Shortened (No Voicemail Outro)	May 12, 2018	November 6, 2018

Personnel

• Written and produced by Mike Shinoda
• Vocals by Mike Shinoda
• Percussion on "Place To Start" by Rob Bourdon
• Mixed by Mike Shinoda
• Mastered by Michelle Mancini

Lyrics

Album Version

I don't have a leg to stand on
Spinning like a whirlwind nothing to land on
Came so far never thought it'd be done now
Stuck in a holding pattern waiting to come down
Did somebody else define me
Can I put the past behind me
Do I even have a decision
Feeling like I'm living in a story already written
Am I part of a vision / made by somebody else
Pointing fingers at villains but I’m the villain myself
Or am I out of conviction with no wind in the sail
Too focused on the end and simply ready to fail
Cause I’m tired of the fear that I can’t control this
I’m tired of feeling like every next step’s hopeless
I’m tired of being scared what I build might break apart
I don’t want to know the end, all I want is a place to start (Ooooh)
I don’t want to know the end, all I want is a place to start (Ooooh)

Hey Mike, uh, just calling to uh, you know, send my condolences
Hey man, it's Mark, just calling to check in onn you, see how you're doing
What up Mike? Just calling to see how you're doing, check in with you a little bit
Wanna obviously send my love and support and, um, just let you know I'm here for you
I know you're super busy, didn't wanna bother you, um, just wanted to let you know I'm thinking about you
Give me a call back if you want, if not, I guet that too, um, but I'm sure I will see you and/or talk to you sometime soon. Alright bud, hope you're hanging in there. See ya

External Links

• Place To Start (Official Video): YouTube