Generally, song interpretations have neither right nor wrong. A song is written by a songwriter based on their real-life situation, in order to share their experience with others that may share the same experience although their situations may vary.

As far as I can see, many of the interpretations for this song is about a destructed relationships between 2 parties. Yes, the song does fit that in, but my interpretation is very much a different situation.

As for my interpretation, it's about yourself regretting about your past, thus leading it to a painful moment in your life.

So, as the starting rap by Mr Shinoda states:

*This verse is a general start-off about the whole song, it starts with; Your thoughts.*

"This is not the end, this is not the beginning.

*For most people, they would say that this sentence is about the middle of the entire process. Yes and no. It is in fact, out of this entire situation that is being referred here, thus neither end nor beginning. Also, this is just to say that the begin and the end was not official, perhaps near end but not the end, beginning was screwed up or the other way round etc.*

"Just a voice like a riot rocking every revision.
But you listen to the tone and the violent rhythm.
Though the words sound steady something empty's within them."

*Take note of the word 'riot'. In a riot, it will be chaotic and full of violence. As we know, when we look back to the past in order to understand things from our painful and unwanted situations, our emotions may tend to get mixed up easily, thus, the word 'riot' was used to describe the way of feelings.*

*However, if you listen and examine close enough to these situations, you will realize that, it is not as chaotic as it seems. What was done had already been done, which is why 'empty' is used.*

*Additionally, it may refer to the voice speaking to you inside your head, which keeps on reminding you about the past. But I don't really agree much to this voice interpretation part.*

"We say yeah with fists flying up in the air.
Like we're holding onto something that's invisible there.
Cause we're living at the mercy of the pain and the fear.
Until we dead it, forget it, let it all disappear..."

*As a cyber quote had said 'Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.' and I find that this few sentence do match with this quote, because many people leads a battle in their heart, imperceptible to the eyes of others. We may be happy at all times, but nobody knows about our struggles behind these smiles.*

Now for Mr Bennington's verse:

"Waiting for the end to come.
Wishing I had strength to stand.
This is not what I had planned.
It's out of my control."

*This is more like a re-enactment of the situation, where things did not went smoothly at all, a hiccup which he got way out of control, and he simply wished to 'exit' everything and abandon it all out.*

"Flying at the speed of light.
Thoughts were spinning in my head.
So many things were left unsaid.
It's hard to let you go."

*You must be wondering what's with the physics added inside. But to be frank, our thoughts and flashbacks struck us very fast, just like 'the speed of light'. In simplicity, paranoia. All the thoughts mashes up and kept on biting you, until you do not know how to control yourself, which is being referred as 'hard to let you go'. The 'you' may also be referring to the past and the occurrences.*

"I know what it takes to move on.
I know how it feels to lie."

*He literally knows how to move on and let go, but he was unable to do it, thus ended up using lies to himself and also to deceive others that everything is going fine.*

"All I want to do
Is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven't got"

*This few sentences is just to show that he wants to make things perfect instead of having the holes of regrets in life.*

"Sitting in an empty room
Trying to forget the past
This was never meant to last
I wish it wasn't so"

*This is my all-time favorite part of the whole song! As always, due to what we've regretted about the wrongdoings of our life, we tried very hard to let go of the pain, but these thoughts simply kept on coming back again and again and it's like a torture. And in turn, marks a struggle in part of our life. In other words, to 'emo' at a corner.*

And second verse of Mr Shinoda's rap:

"What was left when that fire was gone.
I thought it felt right but that right was wrong.
All caught up in the eye of the storm.
And trying to figure out what it's like moving on.
And I don't even know what kind of things I said.
My mouth kept moving and my mind went dead."

*In the aftermath of the entire rage and chaos (probably referring to the 'riot' mentioned earlier), you are getting sandwiched between situations and yourself. Confusion, lost and regrets fills you up, yet you still continued to do something which you are being oblivious about, whether it was correct or wrong. ('My mouth kept moving but my mind went dead' and 'I thought it felt right but that right was wrong') *

"So I'm picking up the pieces, now where to begin.
The hardest part of ending is starting again."

*Now clarity begins to heal him and he tries to repair and fix on the broken roads and try his best once more to change things (or learning from the painful bite). But the painful thing is to try and walk the same road which he might end up losing control again.*

The remaining verses are somehow the same. But sometimes I may suspect that the last verse of rap is the same as the first was because the person may be afraid to do a change, thus ended everything back in the same way as it once was.

This is my interpretation for this song. Be it, broken love, God Earth Man, loss of brother, living in fear or being tied in asylum, I find a very strong emotional connection between all of them.

Linkin Park always write songs that have broad meanings, so as to share it across people with same experiences instead of just the people whom shared the same situations. The interpretations are the experience(s), not situations. Linkin Park never fails to be my medication!

Thank you for reading, enjoy the song.
GOD bless you all!
:)