Breaking the Habit

This is about someone who has the tendency to do things to hurt himself physically and mentally. "You all assume I'm safe here in my room unless I try to start again" - this means he spends a lot of time in his room, where everyone thinks he can't do anything to hurt himself, but little do they know that he could at any time start hurting himself without them knowing. He regrets all the things he has done or had done to him in the past and he constantly picks himself apart for it. "I don't wanna be the one the battles always choose cause inside I realize I'm the one confused," is saying he gets a lot of problems thrown at him and he doesn't understand why this always seems to happen to him.

More lyric analysis: "Clutching my cure, I tightly lock the door" - The cure for emotional pain is to cause physical pain. "You all assume I'm safe here in my room, unless I try to start again" - That is showing that the person prefers solitude, and although others think he's safest by himself, it's really when he's worst off, because he will start his self harm all over again. Also, he doesn't seem to understand his pain and all he wants is for it to go away, but the only known way for it to go away is to cause more. It's a vicious cycle.

Mike Shinoda had been trying to write a song around this lyrical idea for for over five years but nothing seemed to work. While the album was being put together, Mike began working on an interlude, crossing a digitally manipulated beat with strings and piano. Brad and Joe suggested that Mike make the small interlude into a whole song. The piece was extended to three minutes and sixteen seconds and went under the name "Drawing." When Mike took it home to write lyrics, it only took him less than two hours to get the song that he was trying to write for years. With some finishing touches of live piano and live strings, the song was finally complete - six years in the making.