Believe Me

“Nothing ends nicely, that’s why it ends.”

-Tom Cruise

The second (or third?) single from Fort Minor’s The Rising Tied was “Believe Me.” The track features not only Ryu and Tak from Styles of Beyond, but also Eric Bobo from Cypress Hill. In terms of feel, Shinoda describes the track as having an “old school hip-hop foundation, but still feels new.” The 90s NYC beat makes up the old school part, while the chord progression and the vocalists’ collective flow feels fresh and exciting.

If the main melody of the song seems strangely familiar, that’s because it’s from a loop from called “Orchestra Strings 08.” It can be found on the digital audio workstation GarageBand and maybe Logic as well if I remember right. Previous generations of rappers would dig into their cool uncle’s record collection for samples. Not Shinoda. When chatting to fans in 2005, he explained, “This is the only exception where I used a loop from a sample library, I think. I just thought it would be fun for you all to find.” It is fun, in an “easter egg in a video game” kind of way.

And if you listen to the album version, pay attention at the end. Shinoda is heard talking to someone in the studio. He says, “Okay, so here’s the thing…” which segues into the opening of “Get Me Gone” where his talk continues. This is why it’s good to listen to an album start to finish every once in a while. There’s a certain magic in listening to these songs as a body of work.

The lyrics of “Believe Me” are fairly self-explanatory. One of the verses:

“I used to have a little bit of a plan
Used to, have a concept of where I stand
But that concept slipped right outta my hand
Now, I don’t really even know who I am
Yo, what do I have to say? Maybe
I should do what I have to do to break free, and
Whatever happens to you, we’ll see
But it’s not gonna happen with me.”

It could be about a bad relationship, and an even worse breakup. Ryu and Tak’s verses in particular steer things in that direction. The narration tells of wanting to make things work at some point, but the other person is so self-destructive, or otherwise makes things so impossible, it just has to end. Too much has happened, nobody quite remembers how it all started, but you know it has to end.

Mike’s verse suggests a feeling of guilt from cutting the partner off. But it needs to happen. Not out of malice, not out of spite, but because it needed to happen. And if the other person continues with their self-destructive tendencies, well, as Shinoda says in the chorus, he won’t be there when they go down.

Epictetus once said, “Every event has two handles: one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other — that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.”

True in some cases. Other times, you just can’t. I can’t really speak for anyone else, but I know how important equilibrium and balance are to me, so I don’t see any need to engage with people who would disrupt that. I am not obligated to give them any of my time.

Every decade or so, I’ve had to do a friend cull. There was a point where I got to be quite efficient at it, but only out of necessity. If I don’t think much of so-and-so because he wears cargo shorts and spends his days playing Call of Duty, then there’s not much point in keeping him around, or vice versa. If someone finds fault with everything I do, or I with them, then we’re only wasting each other’s time.

I can’t say it feels good to make these decisions, even if it is for the sake of a better outcome. But like that verse line, I like to think I have a concept of where I stand, in all things.

It’s easy to focus on differences. You might struggle to fit in, which leads to all kinds of feelings — alienation, frustration, resentment. The existentialists spoke of ressentiment, or the way resentment creates frustration that fuels even further resentment. Maybe it can’t be helped, but I can’t say it’s a good motivatior. Some relationships are worth saving. Family ties, a friendship that goes back years and years with shared memories, some shared bond that outweighs all the negatives. But then, not every relationship is. Some people are truly toxic, and no piece of fortune cookie wisdom can give us the tools to thrive in such an environment. The trick is to know what to do, when, and how to go about it.

“Identifying their strengths,” Confucius said of learning from difficult personalities, “I follow them, and identifying their weaknesses, I reform myself accordingly.”

“Believe Me” must have resonated with many, as it was a great chart success for Fort Minor. The music video was directed by Laurent Briet (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tori Amos). Shinoda and co. can be seen in a garage. Lights expand from one side to the other, illuminating the garage and passing over the guys — Shinoda, Styles of Beyond, and Bobo.

“[Briet] did a very different video for me,” Shinoda said in an interview with MTV News. “It’s really clean and there’s these crazy light effects. As you’re shooting the video, it’s like there’s nothing there, so you had to imagine what’s going to happen. I was very critical. I had to apologise many times for making him go back and change things a lot, but he was a good sport about it and we basically spent an extra two weeks on it. Basically from my face to the album artwork to crazy shapes that fly through the air, they’re all transparent, three-dimensional light shapes that flow through the air and carry the song.”

The track boasts one of the catchiest choruses Shinoda has ever come up with, and that’s compared to his work in Linkin Park and any of his other projects. The percussion during the bridge courtesy of Bobo is a real high point. And then you have these lyrics describing an awful situation nobody ever wants to be in. Actually, it’s a weird song with all these elements that shouldn’t work… but they do, somehow.

If anything, I prefer the deeper cuts from The Rising Tied, but if you want a catchy hit single with an incredible juxtaposition of elements, look no further than “Believe Me.”