Three songs for Valentine’s Day: “Valentine’s day” by Linkin Park

A Valentine’s Day without roses and without promises, made of absence, memory and cracks in the voice. This is it “Valentine‘s Day” according to Linkin Park, who titled the ninth track with this name “Minutes to minight”, their third studio album.

The album, released in 2007, was for the band a work of passage and search for a language beyond‘urgency of the beginning. In a‘interview with Kerrang!, published ahead of the release of “Minutes to minight,” frontman Chester Bennington called “Valentine‘s Day” as “one of the most pop songs of‘album”. And he added:

“Sometimes we have to be very careful not to lose the‘integrity of what we do: we’re a very dark band and we like to be that way. We talk about uncomfortable things and try to make you feel comfortable with them. We tried to do it here in a more pop song and I really like that aspect of it‘album”.

In the same period, the meaning of the song was revealed by Bennington in the track by track published by a French magazine in which it was reported:

“People who have lost someone in their life recognize themselves in the lyrics of ‘Valentine‘s Day’. It’s a song about‘importance of small moments between two people.”

Here are the lyrics to “Valentine’s day”

In the piece, Chester Bennington’s voice and the lyrics are supported by Mike Shinoda’s production alongside Rick Rubin, while the tension comes from Brad Delson’s guitars, Dave’s bass “Phoenix” Farrell, Joseph Hahn’s samples and Rob Bourdon’s drums. There is a construction that proceeds by accumulation and implosion, up to a‘final explosion that does not celebrate the‘love but the lack of it, as if Valentine’s Day were more of a‘elegy than a party.