| "Valentine's Day" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Linkin Park | |
| from the album Minutes To Midnight | |
| Recorded: | 2006 - 2007 |
| Format: | Digital, Cassete, CD, Vinyl, DVD |
| Length: | 03:16 |
| Time signature: | 4/4 |
| Tempo: | 108 |
| Key: | D Minor |
| Live debut: | January 16, 2008 |
| Last performed: | June 27, 2008 |
| Writer: | Linkin Park |
| Producer: | Mike Shinoda, Rick Rubin |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Minutes To Midnight tracklist | |
"Valentine's Day" is the ninth track off of Linkin Park's third studio album, Minutes To Midnight.
Background
"Valentine's Day" remained largely unchanged throughout the recording process, as revealed by the limited edition booklet for Minutes To Midnight, which read "Searching for a collective space to write and do pre-production, the band set up shop in a Hollywood rehearsal space known as the Korn Studio. There, the band hired engineer Ethan Mates to help them record rough song ideas. Although it was finished at the Laurel Studio, “Valentine's Day” retains most of the original music and vocals that were created at the Korn Studio. In fact, although the band experimented with re-recording most of their early demos, the earliest recordings were often chosen to make the album."
In an interview with Kerrang!, Chester Bennington called it "one of the poppier songs on the album", and went on to say "We have to be very careful sometimes that we don’t lose the integrity of what we’re doing – we’re a very dark band and we like it like that. We talk about uncomfortable things and try to make you comfortable with that. We tried to do that here in a more poppy song and I really like that aspect of the album."[1][2] The April 2007 issue of a French magazine published a track by track of Minutes To Midnight on which Chester said, "People who have lost someone in their lives recognize themselves in the lyrics. A song about the importance of minor events between you."[3]
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valentine's Day | Minutes To Midnight | 3:16 | 2006-2007 | May 14, 2007 | |
| Valentine's Day | Minutes To Midnight Instrumentals | 3:25 | 2006-2007 |
|
Live
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valentine's Day (Live From Frankfurt Germany, Jan 20 '08) | Given Up | 3:24 | January 20, 2008 | March 2, 2008 | |
| Valentine's Day (Live From Amnéville, 2008) | Minutes To Midnight - Live Around The World | 3:21 | January 17, 2008 | June 12, 2012 |
Live
"Valentine's Day" saw it's debut in 2008, on the Minutes To Midnight European Tour, and was featured in both Set R and Set T. Not much happened with the song live on the first tour, though at the show in Basel, Switzerland, Brad started the song in the wrong key, prompting Chester to sing it higher to match the key (the issue was fixed by the end of the song). The song gained an extended guitar intro on the Minutes To Midnight North American Tour, first appearing at the show in Manchester, New Hampshire but then not returning until later in the tour, at the show in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (though the extension wasn't noted on physical setlists until Los Angeles, California). Chester had some difficulty with the song near the end of the tour due to being sick, namely at the show in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lost his breath mid-way through a verse of the song. When the band introduced three more new setlists on the summer Minutes To Midnight European Tour, "Valentine's Day" was only featured in one setlist: Set Y. The song was dropped from the Projekt Revolution version of Set Y, and has not appeared since.
Variations
Last Updated: December 25, 2015
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | Guitar Intro | February 18, 2008 | June 27, 2008 |
Personnel
- Chester Bennington
- Mike Shinoda
- Brad Delson
- Dave "Phoenix" Farrell
- Joseph Hahn
- Rob Bourdon
Production
- Produced by Rick Rubin and Mike Shinoda
- Engineers: Dana Neilsen, Andrew Schelps, and Ethan Mates
- Engineer Assisting: Phillip Broussard, Jr.
- Mixing: Neal Avron
- Mixing Assisting: Nicolas Fournier and George Gumbs
- Mastering: Dave Collins
Lyrics
My insides all turn to ash / So slow
And blew away as I collapsed / So cold
A black wind took them away / From sight
And held the darkness over day / That night
And the clouds above move closer
Looking so dissatisfied
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing
I used to be my own protection / But not now
Cause my path has lost direction / Somehow
A black wind took you away / From sight
And held the darkness over day / That night
And the clouds above move closer
Looking so dissatisfied
And the ground below grew colder
As they put you down inside
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing
So now you're gone
And I was wrong
I never knew what it was like
To be alone
On a valentine's day
On a valentine's day
On a valentine's day
On a valentine's day
On a valentine's day
I used to be my own protection
On a valentine's day
But not now
On a valentine's day
Because my mind has lost direction
On a valentine's day
Somehow
On a valentine's day
I used to be my own protection
On a valentine's day
But not now
On a valentine's day
Because my mind has lost direction
On a valentine's day
Somehow
Gallery
-
DVD artwork
External Links
References
- ↑ Kerrang!, April 2007
- ↑ The Linkin Park Times - Interviews & Articles, April 4, 2007
- ↑ LPRussia.com ~ Первый о Linkin Park ~ wap.LPRussia.com, April 22, 2007
