Life began to turn upside down for the late singer Chester Bennington too soon. Having been sexually abused as a child, Bennington could no longer cope with that burden as he approached his teenage years. He had to exorcise out those bad feelings, so he began to write.
As he wrote, all the bitterness and painful memories were pouring out of his pen. He couldn’t find any other way to comfort all those frustrations and, in fact, himself. He just wrote, and many people could relate to those lines, even seeing them as a kind of salvation for themselves when he became a world-renowned rock legend.
In one particular song by Linkin Park, you can almost feel it all over your body, like someone is scratching you under your skin when you listen to it. This unique piece is named ‘Crawling’ and was featured in the band’s 2000 debut album, ‘Hybrid Theory.’
The reason it gives you these feelings is that Bennington felt that way precisely as he was writing it and was exceptionally talented at putting those challenging emotions down on paper. In an interview with Spin in 2009, the late vocalist revealed what the song had meant to him.
“Crawling has caused me the most trouble live more than any other song,” Bennington admitted before revealing that the song had been inspired by his own battle with addiction. “Crawling is about feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol, hence the line ‘These wounds they will not heal.’”
In a significant portion of its lyrics, Chester Bennington, who took methamphetamines throughout his adolescence, focused on the negative impacts of using drugs: hallucinations, anxiousness, a creepy sensation under his skin, and feeling helpless in front of all those pressures.
The song, which can sometimes be challenging to listen to, especially in intense emotional moments, is just one example of Bennington’s exceptional songwriting talent. In addition, performing it live during the Linkin Park concerts had also always been troubling for the late singer.
