What I've Done

Album

Minutes to Midnight

Label

Warner Bros. Records

Genre

Alternative rock

Composer(s)

Brad Delson;Chester Charles Bennington;Dave Farrell;Joseph Hahn;Mike Shinoda;Robert G. Bourdon

Entered Chart

Apr 21, 2007

Peak Date

Apr 21, 2007

Released

April 2, 2007

Recorded

2007 Studio The Mansion (Los Angeles, California)

Catalog #

Machine Shop Digital (Warner Bros.)

B-Side

"Faint" (Live)

In this song, Chester Bennington sings about things we've done that we regret - how we want to forget it all and move on. According to Bennington, the theme of the song is "admitting to your faults of the past and kind of accepting it and moving on and trying to become something better." The album title Minutes To Midnight refers to military terms of nuclear warfare, otherwise known as the Doomsday Clock. It is a political statement, but could also indicate the pressure the band was under to finish the album. >> Rick Rubin produced this track, and stripped Linkin Park's sound down to give them a more raw feel. Rubin did something similar in his work with Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. >> Mike Shinoda in Kerrang! Magazine: "On the other albums, Brad (Delson) and I started every song together (separately). But this was the only song that we wrote together and was the last one we finished. We wanted a song that encapsulated the feel of the whole record and I think this is that song. You're going to get something different out of every time you listen to it." This debuted at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart April 12th 2007. "What I've Done" was the third song in this tally's 19-year existence to begin its chart life at #1. The other two were R.E.M.'s "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Dani California." Report this ad The album Minutes To Midnight went to #1 in 28 of the countries in which it was released. Linkin Park performed this on Saturday Night Live on the May 12, 2007 episode. This was used in the 2007 movie Transformers.

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

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

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

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

For what I've done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I'm forgiving 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

(Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
What I've done
(Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
Forgiving what I've done
(Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na na)
(Na-na na na, na-na na na, na-na na)