Powerless (Linkin Park song)

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"Powerless"
Linkin Park - Powerless.jpg
Single by Linkin Park
from the album Living Things <templatestyles src="Noitalic/styles.css"/>and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Released October 31, 2012
Recorded
Genre
Length 3:44
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s) Linkin Park
Producer(s)
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Lost in the Echo"
(2012)		 "Powerless"
(2012)		 "Castle of Glass"
(2012)
Music video
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Promotional video on YouTube

"Powerless" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song was written by the band and produced by co-lead vocalist Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin. Its working title was "Tinfoil", which instead ended up serving as the intro to the song. It was released on iTunes as a digital single from the soundtrack of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on October 31, 2012, in Japan. The song was also released as a single worldwide through the official website of the band. The song was released as the third single from the album Living Things.[1][2] The release included the "Powerless" artwork and featured just the one track.

Composition

"Powerless" is a mid-tempo song[3] that features "lock-step beats, soaring harmonies, and synthesizer whispers".[4] The song has a piano-based production and is described by Spin as having an "electro-goth atmosphere like Bruno Mars on the most recent Twilight soundtrack".[5] The Silver Tongue Online described the song as "a foundation of busy percussion and electronica, a sweeping chorus and Coldplay-worthy bridge".[6] It's also been described as a "surging, slow-burning, classically Linkin Park anthem".[7] Lyrically, the song is about a self-destructive friend or lover.[8]

Promotion

"Powerless", the twelfth and closing track of the album, is featured in the closing credits to the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.[9] A performance music video of "Powerless" featuring scenes from the film was released on Yahoo!, serving as the film's music trailer.[10] The music video was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, director of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.[11] The video was filmed in Berlin, Germany.[11] Bekmambetov screened the film for the band, who reacted positively to the film, and believed that the band had a song that would fit into the film; hence, "Powerless" was chosen.[11]

It was used in a commercial promoting the second season of the NBC show Revolution, following the usage of "Roads Untraveled" in a commercial promoting the first season.

Reception

Billboard lists "Powerless" as an example "of why Linkin Park remains vital while its nu-metal compatriots have more or less fallen by the wayside".[4] AltSounds.com says the song is "certainly bigger and bolder than the majority of the album's songs, but it still doesn't shake you to your core like I wish it would".[12]

Music video

Chester Bennington has confirmed in an interview that a music video will be shot for "Powerless".[13] Music for Relief premiered the promotion video of "Powerless" on November 27, 2012.[14] The two-minute video was a compilation between the "Powerless" footage filmed for the trailer of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and clips of the Music for Relief's Power the World campaign.[14]

As of November 2021, the song has 4.5 million views on YouTube.

Track listing

Digital single
No. Title Length
1. "Powerless"   3:44

Personnel


Charts

Chart (2012) Peak
position
UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[15] 40

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Japan[16] October 31, 2012 Digital download Warner Bros.
Worldwide[1]

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Linkin Park - Powerless Linkin Park.
  2. ↑ Discography : Singles : Linkin Park Archived 2015-11-20 at the Wayback Machine Linkin Park
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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