Hit The Floor

"Hit The Floor"
Song by Linkin Park
from the album Meteora
Working title:	Husky
Recorded:	2002
Length:	02:44
Time signature:	4/4
Tempo:	75
Key:	C# Minor
Live debut:	February 23, 2003
Last performed:	April 26, 2003
Writer:	Linkin Park
Producer:	Don Gilmore, Linkin Park
Label:	Warner Bros.
Meteora tracklist
Foreword Don't Stay Somewhere I Belong Lying From You Hit The Floor Easier To Run Faint Figure.09 Breaking The Habit From The Inside Nobody's Listening Session Numb

"Hit The Floor" is the fifth song on Linkin Park's sophomore album Meteora. It is noted as an interesting song for its angry rock vibe atop a hip-hop beat.

Background

In March 2003, Mike Shinoda did a track-by-track of Meteora for ShoutWeb. About "Hit The Floor", he said:

""Hit The Floor" is interesting because it's got this hip-hop style beat. For all the technical musicians out there, there is one thing that you'll notice right off the bat in the song. When you're writing a big rock chorus, you come in on the one count, on the downbeat, and you're just blaring music. The interesting thing about this song is that it comes on the "and" after the one. It's a syncopated start almost. For the technical musicians out there, you'll notice that it was definitely a chance that we took, that ended up working out. It was a difficult thing to make work and I think we feel pretty proud of it.

Just as a side note, and this leads us into the next song, is what I think makes great writing. It's like being a great athlete. It's when you can do something that's very difficult in a way that seems easy or even natural. You notice a great athlete, doing something that is just impossible for the average person to do but they make it seem so easy. And in that song, that's one element of it. In "Hit The Floor", that's one thing that is really working in that song.

"Hit The Floor" is kind of about people who look down on other people. It's basically about people stepping on other people to get to the top and acting like they're invincible when everybody knows that you can't be that person forever. You can't step on other people to get to wherever you want to get to. It just ends up coming back and biting you. And even in that song there is definitely more to it than that."

On the Meteora booklet, the band wrote, "The band wanted to make a heavy song with a hip hop bounce - this is what came out. Mike and Chester tried numerous singing-style choruses, but when Chester brought the screaming hook into the studio, everyone knew it was going to work. the hardest work in creating this song was in the minor details. Tightening the lyrics and capturing the performances took days to finish."

A scratch primarily based on a sped-up clip of a Chester scream from "By Myself" was used in both verses of "Hit The Floor".

In early 2003, the Linkin Park Street Team received promo stickers for Meteora without "Hit The Floor" listed as a track. This has led fans to believe that the song originally wasn't going to be on the album.

Demo

In April 2023, Linkin Park released a demo of "Hit The Floor" on Meteora 20 with the name "Husky."

Brad Delson did a track-by-track commentary of the Lost Demos disc for the "Super Deluxe Box Set" book. About "Husky", he wrote, "With a name like "Husky," you wouldn't want this to be tepidly polite. Verse vocal is rad. Love that guitar tone. Playful. Let's stop and start... and stop... and start. The syncopated riff in the bridge is not waiting in line."

Versions

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

Studio

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Hit The Floor	Meteora	2:44	2002	March 25, 2003
Husky (Hit The Floor Demo)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) Lost Demos	3:14	2002	April 7, 2023	No vocals during chorus and bridge. Different lyrics.
Hit The Floor	Meteora - Instrumentals	2:46	2002		Official instrumental version.

Live

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Hit The Floor (Live In Nottingham 2003)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	3:14	March 03, 2003	April 7, 2023	Not present in the original radio broadcast.

Live

"Hit The Floor" had a very short run in Linkin Park's setlists. It was among the first tracks from Meteora to debut live, appearing alongside eight other songs from the album at the first show in 2003. Throughout its tenure live, "Hit The Floor" was a fairly straight forward song, with no extensions and the only additional vocal effect applied was an SPX990 being used on Mike's vocals in the chorus. After Projekt Revolution 2003 ended, both "Hit The Floor" and "Easier To Run" were dropped from the sets, and haven't been played since.

Personnel

Linkin Park

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

Production

• Don Gilmore: producer
• Andy Wallace: mixer

Lyrics

Album Version

There are just too many
Times that people
Have tried to look inside of me
Wondering what I think of you
When I protect you out of courtesy
Too many times that I've
Held on when I needed to push away
Afraid to say what was on my mind
Afraid to say what I need to say
Too many
Things that you've said about me
When I'm not around
You think having the upper hand
Means you've got to keep putting me down
But I've had too many stand-offs with you
It's about as much as I can stand
So I'm waiting until the upper hand
Is mine

One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Watch it drop
Making your heart stop
Just before you hit the floor
One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Missed your shot
Making your heart stop
You think you won
And then it's all gone

So many people like me
Put so much trust in all your lies
So concerned with what you think
To just say what we feel inside
So many people like me
Walk on eggshells all day long
All I know is that all I want
Is to feel like I'm not stepped on
There are so many things you say
That make me feel like you've crossed the line
What goes up will surely fall
And I'm counting down the time
‘Cause I've had so many stand-offs with you
It's about as much as I can stand
So I'm waiting until the upper hand
Is mine

One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Watch it drop
Making your heart stop
Just before you hit the floor
One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Missed your shot
Making your heart stop
You think you won
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
Now it's all gone

I know I'll never trust a single thing you say
You knew your lies would divide us
But you lied anyway
And all the lies have got you floating
Up above us all
But what goes up has got to fall

One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Watch it drop
Making your heart stop
Just before you hit the floor
One minute you're on top
The next you're not
Missed your shot
Making your heart stop
You think you won
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
And then it's all gone
Now it's all gone

Husky

Watching as the light fades in
Everybody else is asleep
Nobody keeps you as well as these friends you keep
But how do you hold on to those who turn their backs when it's your turn to knee
You just get more than you got until everybody sees

Now, I know you've never needed the pity of anyone
Not even your father for making you what you've become
But if you let these people take whatever you may bring
They'll take advantage while they're taking you for everything

With all these people you’re trying to impress
You’re still letting them pull you around just like a marionette
And I'm watching the way you do this, like you're never gonna learn
You just giving these people everything for nothing in return

Now, I know you've never needed the pity of anyone
Not even your father for making you what you've become
But if you let these people take whatever you may bring
They'll take advantage while they're taking you for everything

External Links

• Hit The Floor (Official Audio): YouTube
• Husky (Hit The Floor Demo): YouTube
• Hit The Floor (Live In Nottingham 2003): YouTube

References

• http://web.archive.org/web/20080513181635/http://www.forfeitthegame.com/notes.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20080513181453/http://www.forfeitthegame.com/mike-on-met.html
• http://web.archive.org/web/20030412184824/http://www.shoutweb.com/features/linkinpark0303.phtml