MUSIC EPORTFOLIO

MUSIC IN NATURE

What I’ve Done by Linkin Park

Linkin Park Background
Linkin Park is a rock and pop music group who create music in various different styles such as
alternative metal, heavy metal, rap-rock, post-grunge etc. This group consists of Chester
Bennington (Born March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017), Brad Nelson, Dave Farrell, Joe Hahn, Mike
Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, Kyle Christner, Mark Wakefield.

Linkin Park rose to international fame with the release of their debut studio album called Hybrid
Theory consisting songs such as “In the End”, “One Step Closer” and many more.

What I’ve Done Music Video Analysis

One of their songs “What I’ve Done” significantly talks about what humans have done to the
planet over the years and how the current condition is deteriorating.
The song expresses guilt and regret over the bad things he has done.
In the music video, you can see the harmful effects of war, destruction, poverty, pollution,
murder, drug use etc. which basically indicates the gruesome things humanity has done so far.
There are many instances in the video where you can see how human activities have been
causing the planet to degrade – You can see factories emitting harmful gases and infrastructures
being destroyed over time due to the pollution.
This music video is also a very good interpretation of everything that is wrong with humans and
with the choices they choose in their daily lives. The images also show sickening traits of human
beings and what humans can do when given the power to do so.
Bridge:

For what I've done

I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving
The bridge conveys to us that it is not too late and that we only have a limited amount of time to
repair the harm we have done to the environment around us. "For what I've done, I start again,
and whatever pain may come" indicates that the vocalist is attempting to start anew, regardless of
the suffering and harm that may befall him; he will do everything that he can to modify and solve
the world's issues. "Today this ends, I'm forgiving," explains how the artist wants you to know
that they are altering how they treat the world and helping to make it a better place for everyone
to live.
Verse 1:

In this farewell
There's no blood, there's no alibi
Cause I've drawn regret
From the truth of a thousand lies
So let mercy come and wash away

This verse expresses strong feelings of guilt and hope, which can explain that even if the singer
believes he has contributed to how the world around us is degrading, we can learn from our
mistakes and not repeat them, which can make us feel better about taking action to make the
world a better place.
Verse 2:

Put to rest what you thought of me

While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty
So let mercy come and wash away
The second verse is the part in which you can see how these lyrics discuss how the artist wants
everyone to alter their perception of him and how he wants the world to know that he has grown.
"While I clear this slate with the hands of uncertainty" also shows how insecure and doubtful you
seem to be about altering your way of life/quality of thinking.
Chorus:

What I've done

I'll face myself
To cross out what I've become
Erase myself
And let go of what I've done
The song's chorus continues along the same theme of forgiveness. The chorus focuses on
confronting yourself, realizing who you've become, changing yourself, ultimately letting go of
the past, letting go of all you've done. In this context, it might refer to our involvement in
destroying the environment around us.
VISUALS
This song's music video depicts various components of how people influence the world. There
are several broad themes highlighted here, tend to range from crimes to environmental concerns.
In the opening of the music video, a very little patch of plants disappears into the ground,
followed by all of the video's elements – crimes perpetrated all across the world, discrimination,
environmental crises, and so on.
However, towards the end of the video, you could see that the little patch of plants sprouts again,
hinting that throughout the song, the viewers should get the idea that this is a tremendous
opportunity for them to be reborn and thus become better humans.
Song structure:
The song is composed of E flat and B flat, with the first note being G, indicating that it is in G
minor.
G minor is the ideal scale for creating a song about planetary concerns, especially when
considering how the music video was created (the music video has themes of devastation and
chaos), and G minor scale is a scale that gives listeners a sense of frustration, resentment, and
distaste.

The first two bars of the song begin with a piano instrumental in the treble clef with the noted
being G, D, G, D, E, D, G, D respectively. The song is in 4/4 time signature which means it has a
stable flow of notes throughout the song. This melody is the main tune of the song and is going
to be repeated throughout the whole song in the background. Below the staves, you can see the
letters ‘mp’ (mezzo piano) which indicated that the song needs to begin moderately soft. The
music in the treble clef starts in bar 3 with G being played octaves apart followed by B flat and F
(All played octaves apart). The song has a tempo of 120 (Allegro – lively and fast, 120 – 140).

The melody is repeated in the bass clef, with the same notes performed. The last bar of this line
appears to contain a crescendo sign, implying that the song would have to become louder as it
progresses into the next bar.
In this line, you can see the letter ‘f’ which indicates that from here on the song is supposed to be
played loudly and strongly. This part of the song is played very quickly as you could see all the
bars in this line consist of quavers in both treble clef and bass clef. In the treble clef, the notes D
and B flat are played which then progresses into D and A which then goes back to the original
notes and again the notes are changed but a few notes higher this time with the notes F and C.
Throughout the whole line the base note being played remains the same while the notes above
that changes (progresses). The same movement can be seen in the bass clef.

This line of the song has the letters ‘mf’ at the bottom which indicates that now the song needs to
be played moderately loud which is slightly softer than forte. Unlike the first line (how the song
crescendos from mp to f here the song directly becomes slightly softer from forte to mezzo forte.
This could be to show the beginning of verse 1 and highlight the words of the song. As the lyrics
are being sung, the same melody from line one is repeated in the background.

As the song progresses, in bar 29 you again have to increase the loudness of song to forte which
indicates that this could be the chorus and that the artist now wants to highlight the words and
make sure that it is heard by the audience by using louder music which could also help increase
the seriousness of the lyrics.
The same pattern is being followed throughout the whole song (mezzo forte during the verses
and forte during the chorus part) along with a similar chord progression and the repeating
melody in the background.

This part of the song is the bridge where you could see that this part of the song is continued to
be played in mezzo forte but by the end of the line you could see a sign which indicates the song
crescendos into forte which could increase the intensity and the impact that the song has on the
listener. By making the bridge softer than the chorus that follows, it creates a suspenseful yet
hopeful build up and creates expectations of what the listener could hear next in the song.
 ALL GOOD GIRLS GO TO HELL
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish is a famous artist born in Los Angeles, United States on December 18 2001.
All good girls go to hell is a song by Billie Eilish talking mainly about climate change and this song is
from the perspective of the devil which is portrayed by Billie Eilish herself.
Music Video Analysis
The music video has an eerie and dark vibe with several creepy visuals throughout the song. This song is
weird and creepy like many of her other songs but this one has a very significant message about climate
change.
In the beginning of the music video, you can see that Billie is falling from the sky and into a puddle of tar,
which could indicate birds getting trapped in thick puddles of tar in oceans (other waterbodies) and not
being able to get out of it.

In the middle of the music video, you could see that everything surrounding Billie is on fire which could
show us how climate change is causing fires to occur in surrounding areas (such as wildfires which
occurred in California).
Throughout the music video, you can see that the whole place around her is on fire and there are people
burning in the fire which could indicate that if we do not change the way of our living which is finding
alternatives for all the harmful things that we use, we are all doomed.
Lyrical Analysis:

[Intro]
My Lucifer is lonely
This could be referring to Billie Eilish herself who is singing from the devil’s point of view.

[Verse 1]
Standing there, killing time
Can't commit to anything but a crime
Peter's on vacation, an open invitation
Animals, evidence
Pearly Gates look more like a picket fence
Once you get inside 'em
Got friends but can't invite them
This verse might be referring to how humans waste their time by discovering ways to harm the
environment. The crime highlighted here might be crimes against animals or how we are
harming the environment via our bad lifestyles.

[Verse 2]
Look at you needing me
You know I'm not your friend without some greenery
Walk in wearin' fetters
Peter should know better
Your cover up is caving in
Man is such a fool, why are we saving him?
Poisoning themselves now
Begging for our help, wow

Verse 2 is much blunter and more honest about how we (humans) have come so far in ruining the
earth and now regret all the harm we have done to the environment.
It might also represent the devil's perception of how naïve, ignorant, and selfish humans can
become when they are in crisis.

[Pre-Chorus]
Hills burn in California
My turn to ignore ya
Don't say I didn't warn ya

This part explains wildfires in forests and how climate change has already warned us about how
catastrophic wildfires may be. If nothing is done, the planet could go extinct. "Don't say I didn't
warn ya" might also refer to nature's warnings about how the earth is deteriorating, but humanity
ignored those warnings and now suffer the consequences.

[Chorus]
All the good girls go to Hell (All the good girls go to Hell)
Cause even God herself (God herself) has enemies
And once the water starts to rise (Water starts to rise)
And Heaven's out of sight
She'll want the Devil on her team

The chorus highlights increasing water levels as a result of climate change. "And heaven's out of
sight, she'll want the devil on her team" could perhaps refer to how God is disappointed with
mankind and no longer wants to aid them, hence the only side humans would turn to is the devil.

[Post-Chorus]
My Lucifer is lonely
There's nothing left to save now
My god is gonna owe me
There's nothing left to save now

[Outro]
Ha-ha!
I cannot do the snowflake

This sentence demonstrates how Lucifer has likewise given up on attempting to rescue the world,
which is dying as a result of human humans' thoughtless and selfish acts, and how everything has
been ruined, thus there is no purpose in helping anybody. This phrase might potentially act as a
wake-up call to individuals about the importance of finding alternatives in order to rescue the
earth from extinction.

The whole song follows a same quiet dynamic with no increase or decrease in the volume, it
feels quiet and the artist’s voice is also whispery which adds on to the eeriness of the song.