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]
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral Album Lyrics
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral Lyrics
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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
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
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
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]
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]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 f*ck 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
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 f*ck 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
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
[Static-X:]
Speed toward hell
Shed no tears
You don't know me
Take my life
Steal my tongue
To defeat your taste
Could never criticize
No better than me
Better than you
It's easier to lie
Than to tell the truth
You've become the waste that I despise
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 f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
[Static-X:]
Speed toward hell
Shed no tears
You don't know me
Take my life
Steal my tongue
To defeat your taste
Could never criticize
No better than me
Better than you
It's easier to lie
Than to tell the truth
You've become the waste that I despise
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
(Within my stomach, scraped off my knees)
This is the motion of the new revolution
(You are the reason, I stay alive)
The trance is the motion [x13]
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
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 f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
[Static-X:]
Speed toward hell
Shed no tears
You don't know me
Take my life
Steal my tongue
To defeat your taste
Could never criticize
No better than me
Better than you
It's easier to lie
Than to tell the truth
You've become the waste that I despise
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 f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God
[Static-X:]
Speed toward hell
Shed no tears
You don't know me
Take my life
Steal my tongue
To defeat your taste
Could never criticize
No better than me
Better than you
It's easier to lie
Than to tell the truth
You've become the waste that I despise
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
(Within my stomach, scraped off my knees)
This is the motion of the new revolution
(You are the reason, I stay alive)
The trance is the motion [x13]
This is the motion of the new revolution
This is the motion of the new revolution
Writer: Atticus Ross, Trent Reznor
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 f*cking 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 f*cked 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]
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 f*cking 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 f*cked 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]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 the you know he had some second thoughts
He's covered with scabs he is broken and sore
The me that you know he 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 no escape from this my new consciousness
The me that you know he 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 of my bad parts
I don't want to listen but it's all to clear
Hiding backwards inside of me I feel so unafraid
Annie, hold a little tighter I might just slip away
It wont give up it wants me dead
Goddamn this noise inside my head
I'm stuck in this dream it's changing me I am becoming
The me the you know he had some second thoughts
He's covered with scabs he is broken and sore
The me that you know he 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 no escape from this my new consciousness
The me that you know he 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 of my bad parts
I don't want to listen but it's all to clear
Hiding backwards inside of me I feel so unafraid
Annie, hold a little tighter I might just slip away
It wont give up it wants me dead
Goddamn this noise inside my head
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 f*ck 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]
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 f*ck 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]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 f*ck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as f*cking steel, and I've got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
me and my f*cking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
me and my f*cking gun
me and my f*cking gun
[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineers: Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan]
[additional guitars: Danny Lohner]
[steakhouse: Tommy lee]
(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 f*ck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as f*cking steel, and I've got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
me and my f*cking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
me and my f*cking gun
me and my f*cking gun
[production: Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineers: Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan]
[additional guitars: Danny Lohner]
[steakhouse: Tommy lee]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Eraser
need you
dream you
find you
taste you
f*ck you
use you
scar you
break you
lose me
hate me
smash me
erase me
[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
dream you
find you
taste you
f*ck you
use you
scar you
break you
lose me
hate me
smash me
erase me
[production: Flood and Trent Reznor]
[mixing engineer: Alan Moulder]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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]
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]
Writer: TRENT REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
The Downward Spiral
Everything's blue in this world
He couldn't believe how easy it was
(he put the gun into his face)
Bang!
(so much blood for such a tiny little hole)
Problems do have solutions you know
A lifetime of f*cking things up fixed
In one determined flash
Everything's blue
Everything's blue in this world
All fuzzy
Spilling out of my head
The deepest shade
All spilling
He couldn't believe how easy it was
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
Everything's blue in this world
A lifetime of f*cking things up fixed
A lifetime of
The deepest shade
All fuzzy
Spilling
Bang!
He couldn't believe how
Bang!
He couldn't believe how easy it was
Bang!
He couldn't believe
Bang!
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
The deepest shade
The deepest shade
Bang!
All fuzzy
Spilling out of
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
The deepest shade of mushroom
He couldn't believe how easy it was
(he put the gun into his face)
Bang!
(so much blood for such a tiny little hole)
Problems do have solutions you know
A lifetime of f*cking things up fixed
In one determined flash
Everything's blue
Everything's blue in this world
All fuzzy
Spilling out of my head
The deepest shade
All spilling
He couldn't believe how easy it was
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
Everything's blue in this world
A lifetime of f*cking things up fixed
A lifetime of
The deepest shade
All fuzzy
Spilling
Bang!
He couldn't believe how
Bang!
He couldn't believe how easy it was
Bang!
He couldn't believe
Bang!
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
The deepest shade
The deepest shade
Bang!
All fuzzy
Spilling out of
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
The deepest shade of mushroom
Writer: MICHAEL REZNOR
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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 this 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
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 this 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
Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-destruction of a man from the beginning of his misanthropic "downward spiral" to his suicidal breaking point. The album was a commercial success and established Nine Inch Nails as a reputable force in the 1990s music scene, with its sound being widely imitated, and the band receiving media attention and multiple honors.
Trent Reznor, the band's sole official member at the time, had moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, the site of the murder of actress Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family in 1969; it was transformed into a studio for recording the Broken EP (1992) and subsequently The Downward Spiral. The album features elements of industrial rock, techno, metal and ambient soundscapes, in contrast to the band's synth-pop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989). Reznor was strongly influenced by David Bowie's Low and Pink Floyd's The Wall for their themes of introspection and dissociation, and their focus on texture and space.
The Downward Spiral has been regarded by music critics and audiences as one of the most important albums of the 1990s, and was praised for its abrasive and eclectic nature and dark themes, although it was sensationalized by social conservatives for some of its lyrics. The album spawned two lead singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer", in addition to the promotional singles "Piggy" and "Hurt". The lead singles were accompanied by music videos, with the former shot twice and the latter being heavily censored. A remix album titled Further Down the Spiral was released in 1995.
Genre(s):
Industrial rock, alternative rock, industrial metal Trent Reznor, the band's sole official member at the time, had moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, the site of the murder of actress Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family in 1969; it was transformed into a studio for recording the Broken EP (1992) and subsequently The Downward Spiral. The album features elements of industrial rock, techno, metal and ambient soundscapes, in contrast to the band's synth-pop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989). Reznor was strongly influenced by David Bowie's Low and Pink Floyd's The Wall for their themes of introspection and dissociation, and their focus on texture and space.
The Downward Spiral has been regarded by music critics and audiences as one of the most important albums of the 1990s, and was praised for its abrasive and eclectic nature and dark themes, although it was sensationalized by social conservatives for some of its lyrics. The album spawned two lead singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer", in addition to the promotional singles "Piggy" and "Hurt". The lead singles were accompanied by music videos, with the former shot twice and the latter being heavily censored. A remix album titled Further Down the Spiral was released in 1995.
Producer(s): Trent Reznor, Flood
Length: 65:02
Released: March 8th, 1994
Year: 1994