| "Robot Boy" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Linkin Park | |
| from the album A Thousand Suns | |
| Working title: | Robot Boy |
| Recorded: | 2008 - 2010 |
| Length: | 04:29 |
| Time signature: | 4/4 |
| Tempo: | 130 |
| Key: | F Major |
| Live debut: | May 24, 2014 |
| Last performed: | October 27, 2017 |
| Writer: | Linkin Park |
| Producer: | Mike Shinoda, Rick Rubin |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| A Thousand Suns tracklist | |
Background
"Robot Boy", despite its seemingly simple premise, is one of the most complex songs on A Thousand Suns. In many cases, Shinoda and Bennington would record and double melodies and harmonies, then choose the "vocal hierarchy" during mixdown. With multiple tracks to choose from, they were able to blend and fade between each singer. "Robot Boy", for example, begins its first of three separate movements with six overlaying vocals — one main and two harmonies per singer — then balloons to more than 24 tracks packed with volume fades and EQ automation. "We decided to go for a more vintage vocal layering, a la the Beach Boys and The Eagles—again, to contrast a robotic, mechanical-sounding track," says Shinoda.[1]
The first mention of "Robot Boy" was made on June 5, 2009 via a post on Mike's blog where he said, "We had a big band meeting this week to get caught up on album progress. With all the New Divide and Transformers stuff going on, we've been distracted for a while :) In our weekly meetings, we listen to each song, give it a grade (A+ to F-), and write notes. The grades get tallied (10 points for an A+, 9 for an A, and so on). The written notes are things like "the music in the first half loses my attention a little bit," or "I like the chorus, but the verse is a little weak." My favorite note from this week: "Sometimes it’s nice to have balls." (thank you Dave) The songs all have working titles like "Robot Boy," "Rygar," and "Underbite." Usually the working titles don't sound anything like the song (the name usually comes before we've written a note). All of those titles are going to change, but we need to name stuff to keep it organized. “Robot Boy” got the highest grade so far, at about an 8.75. "Voyage" got the lowest, with a cumulative 3.5 and notes like "sleepy time." LOL. We listened to about 18 song ideas, and I think we'll have another session to listen to another 10-15 songs in a week or two."[2] "Under Bite" ended up turning into "The Catalyst" and "Rygar" ended up turning into "Wretches And Kings" from this post as well.
Chester claimed "'Blackout' and 'Robot Boy' were a lot of fun to record. There were so many elements to the songs that it made them really interesting to do" on the LP Underground Newsletter Anniversary Edition. The song's piano intro makes way for a song dominated by Mike and Chester's layered voices, harmonies building into a climactic synth solo. Its intense use of layering is what stops the song from being performed in its entirety live. In a LPU Chat in 2013, on the subject of "Skin To Bone" and "Robot Boy" live, Mike replied, "Some songs weren't made to be played live, we might play them somehow but we have other songs in mind, those songs are made of samples and keys if the band was made of 6 Shinodas we could play them."[3]
In 2020 when asked if "Robot Boy" was influenced by the song "Peace" by Depeche Mode, Mike said, "No, the chord progression is a 60s/70s progression. You hear it on things by The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and a host of other bands from that era. And I thought it would be interesting to do that progression. You don't usually hear that progression with modern sounds and sampled beats and things like that. So that was like the chord progression and the music bed. And over the top of that, the lyrics and stuff, I think that was mostly Chester on the lyrics, and I think I came up with the melody or I helped with the melody."[4]
Mike talked on the April 7, 2021 Twitch stream about recording the synth solo, saying: "Improvised to start. Only a few takes before I liked it. Like, I did it and I was like, 'Yeah, that's the thing'. I did do the solo into the computer though, with MIDI, so like I screwed up a note or two and I can change the note. Especially the end of it it was like a really weird combination of notes, so I think I changed a couple of notes in there."
Remix
In 2011, the Street Drum Corps did a remix of the song, dubbing it "unofficial" even though the band clearly had sent them the song's stems for their remix.[5]
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robot Boy | A Thousand Suns | 4:29 | 2008-2010 | September 8, 2010 | |
| Robot Boy (Test Mix, Optional Vocal Take) | LP Underground Eleven | 4:31 | November 15, 2011 |
| |
| Robot Boy | A Thousand Suns Instrumentals | 4:28 | 2008-2010 |
|
Remix
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Street Drum Corps' Unofficial Remix of Linkin Parks Robot Boy | 4:26 | November 5, 2011 |
|
Live
Linkin Park
"Robot Boy" has never been played live in its studio form. It has, however, been consistently performed throughout The Hunting Party touring cycle as a shortened instrumental, starting with KFMA Day 2014. When performing this version, Mike is the only person truly playing, as he plays the synth solo. "Robot Boy" was the first song to get its debut after the cycle for the album it appears on has ended.
A shortened version of "Robot Boy" opened the band's Hollywood Bowl tribute show, performing only the intro and outro of the song, sampling Chester's vocals as they all sang the track.
Variations
Last Updated: August 26, 2018
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative | Shortened (Intro, Synth Bridge, and Ending Instrumental Only) | May 24, 2014 | November 7, 2015 |
| Alternative | Shortened (Intro/Outro Only) | October 27, 2017 | October 27, 2017 |
Mike Shinoda
On Mike's solo tour, the shortened form of "Robot Boy" performed during the The Hunting Party tour returned, usually serving to open the encore, though it would also sporadically be used to open the show and very rarely was performed mid-set. The song was almost always followed by "World's On Fire", though by the end of the 2019 European Tour, both "Castle Of Glass" and "Hold It Together" had been played after it. Mike would also play the synth solo of "Robot Boy" during the extended bridge of "World's On Fire" after Dan's drum solo.
Variations
Last Updated: July 10, 2019
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative | Shortened (Intro, Synth Bridge, and Ending Instrumental Only) | October 13, 2018 | March 26, 2019 |
Personnel
Lyrics
You say / you're not gonna fight / 'cause no one will fight for you
And you think / there's not enough love / and no one to give it to
And you're sure / you've hurt for so long / you've got nothing left to lose
So you say / you're not gonna fight / 'cause no one will fight for you
You say / the weight of the world / has kept you from letting go
And you think / compassion's a flaw / and you'll never let it show
And you're sure / you've hurt in a way / that no one will ever know
But someday / the weight of the world / will give you the strength to go
Woah, oh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, woah, oh woah
Yeah, no
Hold on / the weight of the world / will give you the strength to go (No, no, no, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, no)
So hold on / the weight of the world / will give you the strength to go (Yeah, no, yeah no, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
So hold on / the weight of the world / will give you the strength to go (Yeah, woah, not, not, not, not, oh God)
Just hold on / the weight of your world / will give you the strength to go
You say you're not gonna fight
'Cause no one will fight for you
'Cause you think there's not enough love
And no one to give it to
And you say that faith is a lie
And fear is your only truth
And you're sure that everyone else
Is feeling the way you do
You say you've hurt for so long
That pain isn't something new
But, don't think the things that they've done
Predict what you're going to do
The truth is that trust is a gift
It's something we all can lose
So hold on, it's not where it goes
It's where it can lead you to
Hold on, it's not where it goes
It's where it can lead you to
Hold on, it's not where it goes
It's where it can lead you to
Hold on, it's not where it goes
It's where it can lead you to
Hold on, it's not where it goes
It's where it can lead you to
External Links
References
- ↑ Linkin Park: 'A Thousand Suns' - EMusician, November 29, 2017
- ↑ Mike Shinoda: How We Write, June 5, 2009
- ↑ Mike LPU Chat, June 26, 2013
- ↑ Mike Q&A Summary 5/29/20, May 29, 2020
- ↑ Robot Boy (Street Drum Corps Remix) - Newswire - Linkin Park Live, November 05, 2011