The message in Good Goodbye by Linkin Park

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Good Goodbye is a song by the band Linkin Park featuring rappers Pusha T and Stormzy. The song was part of the seventh studio album One More Light and was released on 13 April 2017.

Song Meaning and Explanation

The chorus is basically telling the other person to get the f**k out of the place. Its about calling out the person and kind of conveying to him ‘you don’t deserve to be here because you left me when I was in trouble. You didn’t have anything to do with me back then so you don’t have anything to do with me right now’.

The song has several references to basketball. The video shows Chester and other players dunking the basketball. Mike talks about how the background of the song was related to basketball.

He felt there needed to be an updated version of the song ‘Hit the road Jack’ in which cheerleaders were dancing to a player getting fouled out. So, that was a reference point to this song as well.

Mike talked about his verse saying in basketball you need to read your opponent’s movements. Therefore he mentions enemies trying to read him are looking highly illiterate. This is him talking about his rap game specifically. Mike Shinoda as a rapper is way different compared to others.

He feels that he is in his own league and he has been killing it for a long time; way before the other rappers even thought about entering the game or perhaps were even alive.

The other rappers are mad that someone is in front of them all the time. The line which talks about you got a lot to discuss on the bus headed back where you’re from is basically the person discussing how he failed and it was all over before he could understand it with his teammates. This usually happens in basketball games when players go back in the tour bus and it could be used universally.

In keeping with the theme of basketball, the video we shot [for ‘Good Goodbye’] features, in my opinion, the greatest player of all time is the emperor of a dunk contest to the deaths in which I have to go up against round after round of dunking on dudes to save my life. I think we’re kind of known for our more serious stuff but this is a fun distraction from being so serious all the time.

Chester Bennington

Pusha T mentioned about his life in his verse mainly talking about his time in jail and how good it was to get rid of it. He feels great now that he is out of prison. Meanwhile, Stormzy talked about getting over his demons and past life.

He is mentioning how good it feels to be in the present moment knowing the fact that people in the past can’t bother him anymore.

Its quite a coincidence that Chester really left the world just about 2 months after producing this song.


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