What I've Done

"What I've Done"
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Minutes to Midnight and Transformers: The Album
B-side
Released April 2, 2007
Format
Recorded The Mansion, Los Angeles, California
2006
Genre
Length
  • 3:25 (album version)
  • 3:28 (single version)
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Linkin Park
Producer(s)
Linkin Park singles chronology
"Numb/Encore"
(2004)		 "What I've Done"
(2007)		 "Bleed It Out"
(2007)
Transformers: The Album track listing
Music video
"What I've Done" on YouTube

"What I've Done" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the first single from their third studio album Minutes to Midnight (2007). The song is composed in the key of G minor and is set in 4/4 time. The song was released as a radio single on April 1, 2007, as a digital download on April 2, and as a CD single on April 30. The live version of "What I've Done" from Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards, but did not win.[2] It also serves as the main theme of the 2007 science fiction film Transformers and also appears on Transformers: The Album (2007).[3] Being certified three times platinum by the RIAA, it is the band's most commercially successful song, though not necessarily most well-known.

"What I've Done" was featured in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. In January 2011, it was released in a Linkin Park DLC pack for Rock Band 3, along with a PRO mode update, which allows use of real instruments such as guitar, keyboards and electronic drumkits. The song is also a B-side to the UK single of "Iridescent". An instrumental version of the song is currently used by Sky as background music for their interactive services.

Composition

Chester Bennington described the track in a March 2007 interview with MTV:

Joe [Hahn] came up to Mike and me and asked us to take the whole idea of Minutes to Midnight and apply that to how the band has changed. So, in a way, it's us saying goodbye to how we used to be...The lyrics in the first verse are 'In this farewell, there's no blood, there's no alibi,' and right away, you'll notice that the band sounds different: The drums are much more raw, the guitars are more raw and the vocals aren't tripled. It's just us out there .... and that's how Rick Rubin wanted it.[4]

The single and video appeared in the iTunes Store shortly after midnight EST on April 2, 2007. It became available the day after on iTunes in the UK and Australia. On April 2, the song was featured streaming on the front page of their official website, with the video being added to the site shortly thereafter.
"What I've Done"
A 19 second sample of the chorus of "What I've Done".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The song starts out with a short 3-second guitar part and then a piano motif, before adding a hip hop-inspired drum line, and then introducing a raw-sounding guitar riff. When the song is played live at Linkin Park's concerts, Mike Shinoda plays the piano intro and the guitar after that. This song differs from most of Linkin Park's songs from previous albums in that it features almost no lead vocals from vocalist Mike Shinoda, with the exception of a brief "na na na" refrain at the end. "What I've Done" was the last song written for Minutes to Midnight.[5] The song also has a downbeat exactly once every second, consistent throughout its entirety.

Mike Shinoda created a remix of the song, which is called "What I've Done (Distorted Remix)", which is included as a b-side to "Bleed It Out". The remix was then included in the international tour edition of Minutes to Midnight, as well as a track in the Linkin Park Underground-exclusive CD Underground X: Demos.[6]

Music video

The music video for "What I've Done" was filmed in the California desert and was directed by Linkin Park turntablist Joe Hahn.[7] It features footage of the band performing in the desert, interspersed with stock footage reflecting on a variety of social and environmental issues including pollution, global warming, racism, Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, abortion, starvation, terrorism, Holocaust, warfare and nuclear warfare, deforestation, poverty, drug addiction, obesity, destruction, rising gasoline prices and crimes committed by humanity. The video also features short views of important historical figures, such as (in order of appearance) Mother Teresa, Robert Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Gautama Buddha, Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln, Joseph Stalin, Fidel CastroAdolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Benito Mussolini. Some cutscenes, such as the traffic scene and the napalm exploding, were also featured on the Rise Against music video for "Ready to Fall". The video premiered on April 2, 2007 on MTV and Fuse. It premiered on MTV Asia, MTV Germany, TMF Netherlands and Canada's MuchMusic on April 3, 2007.

The video starts off with some grass sinking down into the dirt, causing it to turn wet. It then cuts to a scorpion walking to where Linkin Park are performing. It explores the many ironies of humanity and its ill-effects on the earth and the environment (see above). It juxtaposes various pieces of footage: a large, well-fed man eating fast food, a woman measuring her waist and a man who is so malnourished that his ribcage is visible through his skin; African Americans being hosed down by the Ku Klux Klan; nuclear explosions, the World Trade Center collapsing as a result of the September 11 attacks, children waving American flags (one of the children being Brad Delson), a Middle Eastern child holding an AK-47, clips of oil tankers torn in half and birds covered in an oil slick. The video ends with the same grass at the beginning growing out of the dirt, causing it to dry up.

The video clip was featured and won on MTV's Battle of the Videos against videos by Evanescence ("Sweet Sacrifice") and Lil' Mama ("Lip Gloss").[8] The video also marks the first appearance of a Linkin Park video in the #1 spot on MTV's TRL, hitting #1 six times so far. The video has over 100 million views overall on YouTube. AOL currently has a live performance of "What I've Done" on their website.[9] MTV's James Montgomery called "What I've Done" the "biggest, baddest and best Linkin Park video of all time," praising the visuals as well as the numerous political figures and events occurring within the video. He summarized the video's message: "Hahn was smart — or brave — enough to inject a message here: the destructive power of man versus the unyielding beauty of nature, and where it all will undoubtedly end (hint: we lose)."[10]

As mentioned in episode 89 of MTV Cribs, Chester's jacket was lent to him by Yellowcard frontman Ryan Key.[11]

Alternate music video

A second video, made exclusively for Australia, features a considerably different scenario from the first; instead of clips of human sin and the grass sinking clip, the video tells the story of a woman (played by Emma Mullings) working at a government-run pharmaceutical company learning of a plan to develop a deadly new virus for "social control", and - with the help of several people dressed in black hooded sweatshirts with Linkin Park's logo on them - smuggles out several blood samples of a human test subject of the virus to expose the conspiracy. The video can be seen on YouTube and Linkin Park's Australian website.[12][13][14][15]

Chart performance

The song made big debuts on the US charts during the chart week of April 21, 2007. The song debuted in the top 10 of the US Hot 100 on April 10, 2007, at #7. It is the band's second highest debut to date on the chart (this title was previously held by "Somewhere I Belong" which opened at #47), earning "Hot Shot" debut of the week, and subsequently becoming the third highest position for a Linkin Park single to date on the Hot 100. The song was their highest debut until they released "New Divide" in May 2009. At the time of its debut it was only the eleventh song since 2000 to debut at #7 or higher on the Hot 100, and only the third song to do so by an artist not from American Idol. The song was partly fueled by digital sales, debuting at #4 on the digital chart. The song was certified 2×Platinum by the RIAA on November 13, 2008.[16] It reached 3 million downloads by early 2011, making it their most successful digital song in the US.[17] As of January 2015, the song has sold 3,700,000 copies in the US.[18]

In addition the song became only the third song ever to open at #1 on the Modern Rock chart, also becoming the band's seventh number one on the chart. It held the #1 spot on Alternative Songs for 15 consecutive weeks, at the time tying it with Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy" The song also reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, where it stayed for 8 consecutive weeks. In the iTunes music store, the song had reached number two. It was kept out of the top spot by "Give It to Me" by Timbaland. The music video is the first to reach the number 1 spot on TRL for Linkin Park video history. It has also become a moderate hit on the Adult Top 40, and Pop 100 Airplay charts, peaking at number 21 and 17 respectively on those charts.

The song hit #6 in the UK once the physical format was released, making it Linkin Park's highest-charting UK single.

Track listings

All tracks written by Linkin Park.

CD1 • 7" picture disc
No.TitleLength
1."What I've Done"  3:29
2."Faint" (Live)2:46
CD2 • Australian single • iTunes EP
No.TitleLength
1."What I've Done"  3:28
2."Faint" (Live)2:46
3."From the Inside" (Live)3:31

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[19] 13
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[20] 8
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[21] 8
Czech Singles Chart 2
European Hot 100 Singles[22] 4
France (SNEP)[23] 17
Germany (Official German Charts)[24] 4
Ireland (IRMA)[25] 15
Italy (FIMI)[26] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 26
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] 28
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[29] 9
Norway (VG-lista)[30] 12
Polish Singles Chart[31] 1
Slovak Singles Chart 16
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[32] 6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[33] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[34] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[35] 7
US Billboard Pop 100 4
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[36] 21
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[37] 1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[38] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[39] 17
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[40] 100

Year-end charts

Chart (2007) Rank
German Singles Chart[41] 45
US Billboard Hot 100[42] 38

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[43] platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[44] platinum 80,000^
Germany (BVMI)[45] Gold 150,000^
Italy (FIMI)[46] Gold 10,000*
Japan (RIAJ)[47] Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[48] platinum 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI)[49] Gold 400,000double-dagger
United States (RIAA)[16] 3× Platinum 3,700,000[18]
Ringtone
United States (RIAA)[50] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Worldwide April 2, 2007 Digital download Warner Bros.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Robinson coolly delivers for Tech baseball". www.ajc.com. 2010-05-26. Retrieved 2013-04-27.
  2. ↑ "Nominees And Winners | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved October 31, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Transformers: The Movie Soundtrack CD Album". Cduniverse.com. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  4. ↑ "Linkin Park Finish Apocalyptic Album, Revive Projekt Revolution Tour". MTV. 2007-03-06.
  5. ↑ LP Times reports on "What I've Done".
  6. ↑ "Home : Linkin Park". Linkin Park.
  7. ↑ "Clock Strikes 'Midnight' For New Linkin Park Album". Billboard. 2007-03-06.
  8. ↑ "What I've Done" wins MTV Battle of the Videos.
  9. ↑ "What I've Done" live on AOL.
  10. ↑ Montgomery, James (26 August 2010). "Does Linkin Park's 'The Catalyst' Rank Among Their Best Videos?". MTV.com. MTV Network. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  11. ↑ "MTV Cribs (Season 15) - Ep. 4 - Ryan Key, Willa Ford, Joe - MTV". MTV.
  12. ↑ Linkin Park
  13. ↑ "What I've Done (Official Video) on Youtube". from Linkin Park's Youtube Channel
  14. ↑ "What I've Done (Official Video) on Youtube". From the Warner Bros. Records Youtube Channel
  15. ↑ "What I've Done (Australian Video) on Youtube". From akatfi's Youtube Channel
  16. 1 2 "American single certifications – Linkin Park – What I%27ve Done". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  17. ↑ "Week Ending Feb 6, 2011: Songs: Katy Stands Alone - Yahoo! Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
  18. 1 2 Grein, Paul (31 January 2015). "The 15 Most Downloaded Songs in Rock History". Yahoo! Music.
  19. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Linkin Park – What I've Done" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  22. ↑ Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100 | Billboard.com
  23. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Linkin Park - What I've Done" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 20, 2007". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Top Digital Download. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 21, 2007" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Linkin Park – What I've Done" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done". VG-lista. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Polish Singles Chart |".
  32. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Singles Top 100. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  33. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  34. ↑ "Linkin Park: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  35. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  36. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  37. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Alternative Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  38. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Linkin Park – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Linkin Park. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  40. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201428 into search. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  41. ↑ "Linkin Park". mtv.de.
  42. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 Year-End 2007". Retrieved 2016-08-14.
  43. ↑ NO certyear WAS PROVIDED for AUSTRALIAN CERTIFICATION.
  44. ↑ "Canadian certifications – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Music Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2007.
  45. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Linkin Park; 'What I've Done')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  46. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Linkin Park – What I've Done" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved January 10, 2015. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Linkin Park in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
  47. ↑ "Digital sales certification in July, 2010". Recording Industry Association of Japan. 2010-08-20. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  48. ↑ THE FIELD type (album/single/compilation) MUST BE PROVIDED for NEW ZEALAND CERTIFICATION.
  49. ↑ "British single certifications – Linkin Park – What I've Done". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 24, 2015. Enter What I've Done in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  50. ↑ "American single certifications – Linkin Park – What I've Done". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 18, 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
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