Linkin Park › Papercut Guitar Tab

I just gotta say that this band is just absolutely amazing. The energy they produce is just amazing! If they ever come to a show near you, GO! It's an amazing experience and you definately get your money's worth! Now, onto Papercut. To me, the song comes out as mainly dealing about paranoia. The song begins with things that only people who are thinking too much because either of what they've done or because they don't trust anyone or anything around them. (Why does it feel like night today? Something in here's not right today... Paranoia's all I've got left.) Mike continues by asking himself why he feels like this and wonders where all the pressure has come from. He then brings up the ‘voice in the back of my head’. This could either be his conscience or another voice in his head. It could be a split personality; one that’s telling him of his faults. “The face that he holds inside” is that voice and he doesn’t let everyone know about ‘it’; he keeps it to himself. The ‘face’ seems to always be with him (“Face that awakes when I close my eyes”) and points out his faults (“Face that watches every time I fall”). The chorus just reinforces these feelings of paranoia. (“Its like I’m paranoid, looking over my back… it’s like I can’t stop what I’m hearing within; it’s like a face inside is right beneath my skin.”) The second verse mentions again the ‘face’ within Mike, yet makes it clear that he’s not the only person who experiences this. (“You got a face on the inside too; your paranoia is probably worse”). The next line is probably the most meaningful line in the song. (“I don’t know what stressed me first, but I know what I can’t stand/ Everybody acts like the fact of the matter is that I can’t add up to what you can”). The person in the song seems to again be going deeper into his/her paranoia and does something that all teens do; compare oneself to others. Everybody has done this, whether it being something athletic or academic. All of us have compared ourselves or have been compared by others to friends, enemies, teammates, or even siblings. I personally have done this to myself when I compare myself to a friend and teammate in school after I’ve done badly. It’s a frustrating complex that everyone experiences; its human nature, yet we do it to ourselves all the time. Mike then continues by saying that another person also experiences everything he experiences. (“But everybody has a face that they hold inside; face that awakes when they close my eyes; face that watches every time they lie; face that laughs every time they fall and watches everything… the face is watching you too, right inside your skin”). And finally, to cap it off, good ol’ screamin’ Chester has his little phrases (“The sun goes down; I feel the light betray me”). This signals to me that when the sun goes down, the person has felt left alone. The sun seemed to have been his little speck of hope, stability, or calmness in his/her life. Now that it has left, he has nothing now except the darkness; the same darkness that brings out the ‘face’. Well, that’s my take on Papercut. Hopefully it made some sense to you. Look for more of my takes on Linkin Park songs in the near future. =)

I gotta say that this song is one o my favorites. Linkin Park is a very talented band and their songs really stick in my head. Papercut talks about your inner self. Knowing that we all have so many personalities, that we don't know what to do. We get Paranoid and we feel like our inner self is taking over. This song really rocks!!!!!

Hey, i like this song alot, but one part about it kinda puzzles me...what does "The sun goes down / I feel the light betray me," mean? I just want to see what other people think.

damn, all of you guys can read my mind, especially cr3284. i so agree with all of you all. I LOVE LP

to me this song is about how not feeling like yourself or having how everyone has a streak of multiple personalities. i think it's about dwelling on shitty things in our lives that we can't get away from

I gotta say that this song is one o my favorites. Linkin Park is a very talented band and their songs really stick in my head. Papercut talks about your inner self. Knowing that we all have so many personalities, that we don't know what to do. We get Paranoid and we feel like our inner self is taking over. This song really rocks!!!!!

holy shit... is anyone else freaked out about how many people who post here can relate themselves to all of these songs about depression, hatred, paranoia and suicide? Does anyone here have a normal life?

I love this song because it tells how everyone, even though they might not notice it, has multiple personalities because everyone has a person inside them that lets them know when they're doin the wrong thing and when they're doin the right thing. That person could be your conscience or it could be another human being waiting to escape or be discovered within you. I especially love this group because they talk about real issues that real people in the real world go through all day, and some times everyday. They've made it totally clear that just because they're famous that it doesn't mean that they're gonna be totally fake and talk about fake stuff that's never even happened to them or someone they know. And I love that in this group's music.