Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral Album Lyrics

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Mr Self Destruct

I am the voice inside your head
and I control you
I am the lover in your bed
and I control you
I am the sex that you provide
and I control you
I am the hate you try to hide
and I control you
I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down I use you up
Mr. Self-destruct
I speak religion's message clear
and I control you
I am denial guilt and fear
and I control you
I am the prayers of the naive
and I control you
I am the lie that you believe
and I control you
I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down I use you up
Mr. Self-destruct
I am the needle in your vein
and I control you
I am the high you can't sustain
and I control you
I am the pusher I'm a whore
and I control you
I am the need you have for more
and I control you
I am the bullet in the gun
and I control you
I am the truth from which you run
and I control you
I am the silencing machine
and I control you
I am the end of all your dreams
and I control you
I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down I use you up
Mr. Self-destruct

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
[texture generating guitars: Adrian Belew]

 

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Piggy

hey pig
yeah you
hey pig piggy pig pig pig
all of my fears came true
black and blue and broken bones you left me here I'm all alone
my little piggy needed something new
nothing can stop me now
I don't care anymore
nothing can stop me now
I just don't care
hey pig
nothing's turning out the way I planned
hey pig there's a lot of things I hoped you could help me understand
what am I supposed to do I lost my shit because of you
nothing can stop me now
I don't care anymore
nothing can stop me now
I just don't care
nothing can stop me now
you don't need me anymore

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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Heresy

he sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
he tries to tell me what I put inside of me
he's got the answers to ease my curiosity
he dreamed up a god and called it Christianity
your god is dead and no one cares
if there is a hell I will see you there
he flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
he made a virus that would kill off all the swine
his perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
demands devotion atrocities done in his name
your god is dead and no one cares
drowning in his own hypocrisy
and if there is a hell I will see you there
burning with your god in humility
will you die for this?

[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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March Of The Pigs

step right up march push
crawl right up on your knees
please greed feed (no time to hesitate)
I want a little bit I want a piece of it I think he's losing it
I want to watch it come down
don't like the look of it don't like the taste of it don't like the smell of it
I want to watch it come down
all the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
take the skin and peel it back
now doesn't that make you feel better?
shove it up inside surprise! lies
stains like the blood on your teeth
bite chew suck away the tender parts
I want to break it up I want to smash it up I want to fuck it up
I want to watch it come down
maybe afraid of it let's discredit it let's pick away at it
I want to watch it come down
now doesn't that make you feel better?
the pigs have won tonight
now they can all sleep soundly
and everything is all right

[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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Closer

you let me violate you, you let me desecrate you
you let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you
help me I broke apart my insides, help me I’ve got no soul to sell
help me the only thing that works for me, help me get away from myself
I want to fuck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to fuck you like an animal
my whole existence is flawed
you get me closer to god
you can have my isolation, you can have the hate that it brings
you can have my absence of faith, you can have my everything
help me tear down my reason, help me its' your sex I can smell
help me you make me perfect, help me become somebody else
I want to fuck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to fuck you like an animal
my whole existence is flawed
you get me closer to god

through every forest, above the trees
within my stomach, scraped off my knees
I drink the honey inside your hive
you are the reason I stay alive

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan moulder]
[special hi-hat programming: Flood]

 

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Ruiner

you had all of them on your side, didn't you?
you believe in all your lies, didn't you?
the ruiner's got a lot to prove he's got nothing to lose and now he made you
believe
the ruiner's your only friend well he's the living end to the cattle he
deceives
the raping of the innocent you know the ruiner ruins everything he sees
now the only pure thing left in my fucking world is wearing your disease
how did you get so big?
how did you get so strong?
how did you get so hard?
how did you get so long?
you had to give them all a sign, didn't you?
you had to covet what was mine, didn't you?
the ruiner's a collector he's an infector serving his shit to his flies
maybe there will come a day when those that you keep blind will suddenly
realize
maybe it's a part of me you took to a place I hoped it would never go
and maybe that fucked me up so much more than you'll ever know
how did you get so big?
how did you get so strong?
how did you get so hard?
how did you get so long?
what you gave to me
my perfect ring of scars
you know I can see what you really are
you didn't hurt me nothing can hurt me
you didn't hurt me nothing can stop me now

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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The Becoming

I beat my machine it's a part of me it's inside of me
I'm stuck in this dream it's changing me I am becoming
the me that you know had some second thoughts
he's covered with scabs and he is broken and sore
the me that you know doesn't come around much
that part of me isn't here anymore
all pain disappears it's the nature of my circuitry
drowns out all I hear there's no escape from this my new consciousness
that me that you know used to have feelings
but the blood has stopped pumping and he's left to decay
the me that you know is now made up of wires
and even when I'm right with you I'm so far away
I can try to get away but I’ve strapped myself in
I can try to scratch away the sound in my ears
I can see it killing away all my bad parts
I don't want to listen but it's all too clear

hiding backwards inside of me I feel so unafraid
Annie, hold a little tighter I might just slip away

it won't give up it wants me dead
goddamn this noise inside my head

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
[ring mod guitar: Adrian Belew]
[apr 2600: Flood]

 

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I Do Not Want This

I'm losing ground
you know how this world can beat you down
I'm made of clay
I fear I'm the only one who thinks this way
I'm always falling down the same hill
bamboo puncturing this skin
and nothing comes bleeding out of me just like a waterfall I'm drowning in
2 feet below the surface I can still make out your wavy face
and if I could just reach you maybe I could leave this place
I do not want this
I do not want this
I do not want this
I do not want this
don't you tell me how I feel
don't you tell me how I feel
don't you tell me how I feel
you don't know just how I feel
I stay inside my bed
I have lived so many lives all in my head
don't tell me that you care
there really isn't anything, is there?
you would know, wouldn't you?
you extend your hand to those who suffer
to those who know what it really feels like
to those who've had a taste
like that means something
and oh so sick I am
and maybe I don't have a choice
and maybe that is all I have
and maybe this is a cry for help
I do not want this
I do not want this
I do not want this
I do not want this
don't you tell me how I feel
don't you tell me how I feel
don't you tell me how I feel
you don't know just how I feel

I want to know everything
I want to be everywhere
I want to fuck everyone in the world
I want to do something that matters

[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
[drum performance: Stephen Perkins]
[drum treatments: Flood and Trent Reznor]

 

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Big Man With A Gun

I am a big man
(yes I am)
and I have a big gun
got me a big old Dick and I
I like to have fun
held against your forehead
I'll make you suck it
maybe I'll put a hole in your head
you know, just for the fuck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as fucking steel, and I’ve got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
me and my fucking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
me and my fucking gun
me and my fucking gun

[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineers: Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan]
[additional guitars: Danny Lohner]
[steakhouse: Tommy lee]

 

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A Warm Place

[Instrumental]

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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Eraser

need you
dream you
find you
taste you
fuck you
use you
scar you
break you
lose me
hate me
smash me
erase me

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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Reptile

she spread herself wide open to let the insects in
she leaves a trail of honey to show me where she's been
she has the blood of reptile just underneath her skin
seeds from a thousand others drip down from within
oh my beautiful liar
oh my precious whore
my disease my infection
I am so impure
devils speak of the ways in which she'll manifest
angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
need to contaminate to alleviate this loneliness
I now know the depths I reach are limitless
oh my beautiful liar
oh my precious whore
my disease my infection
I am so impure

[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]

 

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The Downward Spiral

he couldn't believe how easy it was
he put the gun into his face
bang!
(so much blood from such a tiny little hole)

problems have solutions
a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash

everything's blue
in this world
the deepest shade of mushroom blue
all fuzzy
spilling out of my head

[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
[drums: Andy Kubiszewski]

 

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Hurt

I hurt myself today
to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
the only thing that's real
the needle tears a hole
the old familiar sting
try to kill it all away
but I remember everything
what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
you could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear my crown of shit
on my liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
beneath the stain of time
the feeling disappears
you are someone else
I am still right here
what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
you could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
if I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

[production and mix: Trent Reznor]
[drums: Chris Vrenna]

 

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Burn

["The Downward Spiral" Delux Edition Bonus Disc's Track]

This world rejects me
This world threw me away
This world never gave me a chance
This world gonna have to pay

Well I don't believe in your institutions
I did what you wanted me to
And like the cancer in your system
I've got a little surprise for you

Something inside of me
Has opened up its eyes
Why did you put it there?
Did you not realise?
This thing inside of me
It screams the loudest sound
Sometimes I think I could

Burn

I look down at where you're standing
Flock of sheep all on display
With all your lies piled up around you
I can take it all away

Something inside of me
Has opened up its eyes
Why did you put it there?
Did you not realise?
This thing inside of me
It screams the loudest sound
Sometimes I think I could

I'm gonna burn this whole world down

I never was a part of you

I am your savior
I am corruption
I am the angel
Of your destruction
I am perversion
Secret desire
I am your future
Swallowed up in fire

 

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Dead Souls

[Japanese import bonus track]

[Joy Division cover from 'The Crow' soundtrack]

Someone take these dreams away
that point me to another day
A duel of personalities
that stretch all true reality

They keep calling me
Keep on calling me
They keep calling me
Keep on calling me

When figures from the past stand tall
and mocking voices ring the hall
Imperialistic house of prayer
conquistadors who took their share

They keep calling me
Keep on calling me
They keep calling me
Keep on calling me

Calling me, Calling me

They keep calling me
Keep on calling me
They keep calling me
Keep on calling me