"Powerless" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

. The song was written by the band and produced by co-lead vocalist

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda (; ja, 篠田賢治, Shinoda Kenji; born February 11, 1977) is an American musician, singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and was the band's collaborative vocali ...

and

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is the co-founder (alongside Russell Simmons) of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popula ...

. 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''.Linkin Park - Powerless
''

''. The release included the "Powerless" artwork and featured just the one track.

Composition

"Powerless" is a mid-tempo song that features a lock-step breaks, soaring harmonies and synthesizer whispers. The song has a piano-based production and is described by ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' as having an "electro-goth atmosphere like Bruno Mars on the most recent ''Twilight'' soundtrack". The Silver Tongue Online described the song as "a foundation of busy percussion and electronica, a sweeping chorus and

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

-worthy bridge". It's also been described as a "surging, slow-burning, classically Linkin Park anthem". Lyrically, the song is about a self-destructive friend or lover.

Promotion

"Powerless", the twelfth and closing track of the album, is featured in the closing credits to the film '' Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter''. A performance music video of "Powerless" featuring scenes from the film was released on

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

, serving as the film's music trailer. The music video was directed by

Timur Bekmambetov Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov (, ; ; born June 25, 1961) is a Russian-Kazakhstan, Kazakh film Film director, director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, and tech entrepreneur. He is best known for the fantasy epic ''Night Watch (2004 fi ...

, director of ''Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter''. The video was filmed in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. 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. It was used in a commercial promoting the second season of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

show ''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'', following the usage of "Roads Untraveled" in a commercial promoting the first season.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' lists "Powerless" as an example "of why Linkin Park remains vital while its nu-metal compatriots have more or less fallen by the wayside". 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".

Music video

Chester Bennington Chester Charles Bennington (March 20, 1976 – July 20, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter who was best known as the lead vocalist of rock band Linkin Park. He was also the lead vocalist of the bands Grey Daze, Dead by Sunrise, a ...

has confirmed in an interview that a music video will be shot for "Powerless".

Music for Relief Music for Relief is a 501(c)(3) charitable trust founded by the rock band Linkin Park in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Throughout its first twelve years, the organization responded to over 30 natural disasters across four continen ...

premiered the promotion video of "Powerless" on November 27, 2012. 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. As of November 2021, the song has 4.5 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– keyboards, piano, backing vocals, guitars *

Dave Farrell David Michael Farrell, also known by his stage name Phoenix (born February 8, 1977), is an American musician, best known as the bassist of the rock band Linkin Park. He was also a member of Tasty Snax, a pop punk band. Early life He was born in ...

– bass guitar *

Joe Hahn Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) is an American musician, DJ, director and visual artist best known as the DJ of the American rock band Linkin Park, doing the scratching, turntables, sampling, and programming for all seven of Linkin Park's ...

– turntables, samplers, synthesizers *

Rob Bourdon Robert Gregory Bourdon (born January 20, 1979) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founding member of the American rock band Linkin Park. Early life Bourdon was born in Calabasas, California. He received classical piano l ...

– drums, percussion

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Linkin Park songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs written by Mike Shinoda 2012 songs 2012 singles Warner Records singles Rock ballads Electronic rock songs 2010s ballads