favorite NIN song

Ennui

The Freeman
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just wondering, i figure there are enough fans to warrant this thread.

If you had to pick ONE SINGLE SONG (no "I COULDN'T DECIDE ENNUI SO HERE'S A LIST OF TWENTYSEVEN GOOD ONES") by NIN... to listen to for the rest of your life... what would it be?

Mine is undoubtedly "The Day the World Went Away", though there are about 25 runners-up.

I listened to the words he'd say
but in his voice i heard decay
the plastic face forced to portray
all the insides left cold and grey
there is a place that still remains
it eats the fear it eats the pain
the sweetest price he'll have to pay
the day the whole world went away
 
As hard as it is... We're In This Together.

It's one NIN song that I can say that never gets old, never gets skipped, and is always enjoyed. It starts off quiet and then comes in with a bang saying "I mean business." The distored guitar kicks in along with the defined snare. It gives you a kick-ass feeling as if you're in a movie. The chorus kicks in, yelling at you (one of the few "screaming" choruses). Probably the reason I love this song so much is because it incorporates almost everything NIN is known for. It has the defined drum, majorly distorted and off-key guitar (and less-used instruments like a tambourine and piano, the latter being used in almost every NIN song), and emotional lyrics discussing a female figure or symbol of sorts. The ending drops the hard guitar and changes to a soft, quiet ending making you think about what you've just heard, often putting me in a depressed yet impowered mood.

One thing is missing from the song and it's a synth part. That's one major thing NIN is known for.
 
I love that song as well. Have you seen the video? It's great, 100 trents running around in a vaccum of whiteness.
 
Hmm, a warm place, despite that on repeat the loud blip at the start would seem out of place :p

I just love it *shrug*
 
Why is everyone so obsessed with NiN?

I'll admit first off, that I've heard maybe 6 or 7 of their songs, total. But what I have heard is some of the most generic, tedious crap I've ever heard outside of hip-hop. Also, I get the impression that Trent Reznor is a complete asshole; nto to mention that the mand looks like a bunch of queers, but that doesn't really count for much.
 
This is a very hard question my friend...

Out of all my choices:

Piggy
Ruiner
Hurt
Right where it belongs
Closer
Gave up
A warm place
The big come down

I'm going to have to say Ruiner.




btw. I just watched the Happiness in Slavery video. THAT WAS ABSOLUTLY DISGUSTING AND SICKENING. The song has just been ruined for me. I think I'm gonna be sick
 
You think the Happiness in Slavery video was disgusting? Watch the Broken movie. It's banned in like every civilized country in the world, it's way worse than the HiS video.

and I can feel you on the Ruiner sentiment, that is the single best NIN song to sing along to ever
 
Most definately Closer for me.

Yeah i've seen both videos before, they're pretty intense. Here it is for anyone who is interested. The quality is not the best but you get the idea.
 
i really honestly can't choose one song.
i suppose if i were introducing NiN to someone who did not know the band, i'd start with:

Hurt
And all that could have been
Ruiner
Terrible lie
We're in this together
Getting Smaller
Suck

that is sort of a list with something from every album and with different sounds and pace to the songs.

Que-Ever said:
Why is everyone so obsessed with NiN?

im not sure its obsession.
theres something unique about Trent Reznor that draws people in...a friend once explained it as Trent having a certain special thing in his voice...a pain, something human that 95% of all the musicians past or present do not have.

ever since i was given that explanation, i thought of it and notice what my friend pointed it...most musicians do not deliever the sincerity in their music that Trent seems to do time and time again.
and with a different sound for each album too...how many artists can claim these things? not many.
 
It's very easy to feel like Trent is pretentious when you first listen to NIN - but you have to take it all in at once, really. To feel what he's saying. The music's just amazing.
 
Qonfused said:
As hard as it is... We're In This Together.

It's one NIN song that I can say that never gets old, never gets skipped, and is always enjoyed. It starts off quiet and then comes in with a bang saying "I mean business." The distored guitar kicks in along with the defined snare. It gives you a kick-ass feeling as if you're in a movie. The chorus kicks in, yelling at you (one of the few "screaming" choruses). Probably the reason I love this song so much is because it incorporates almost everything NIN is known for. It has the defined drum, majorly distorted and off-key guitar (and less-used instruments like a tambourine and piano, the latter being used in almost every NIN song), and emotional lyrics discussing a female figure or symbol of sorts. The ending drops the hard guitar and changes to a soft, quiet ending making you think about what you've just heard, often putting me in a depressed yet impowered mood.

One thing is missing from the song and it's a synth part. That's one major thing NIN is known for.


Quoted for mother f**kin god damn truth!

Love that song *plays it now*
 
The Great Below probably, purely for the "Ocean pulls me close" part.
A warm place is also incredible, and Help Me I Am In Hell.
The Way Out Is Through is pretty damn good, so are most of the songs on With_Teeth, The Fragile, The Downward Spiral and Broken.

I love NIN :')
 
Something i can never have
Hurt
The day the world went away

most of the other Nin songs are crap.
 
I've never been a NiN fan, but I use to like 'Deep', and I heard 'Only' on VH1 awhile back and liked that
 
My favourite is definately 'Too much NiN indoctrination on these forums'. Seriously theres so much!
 
DeusExMachina said:
I like Cash's cover of Hurt...

So I guess that'd be my favorite NIN song.
Yeah, it's like 10x better than the original.

I've heard quite a bit of NiN, again, I don't get it, I just really don't.
 
I have to agree with Ennui. If you listen to a few random NIN songs, most likely you will not "get it," like Badger here. Most songs develop from another or have ties to a previous song. To truely understand, listen to all of The Fragile or The Downward Spiral. If you listen to this, listen to that, it doesn't make much sense.

I describe it as a great movie: the movie gives you little pieces here and there but at the end it all comes together and makes you think ... "Wow."
 
Qonfused said:
I have to agree with Ennui. If you listen to a few random NIN songs, most likely you will not "get it," like Badger here. Most songs develop from another or have ties to a previous song. To truely understand, listen to all of The Fragile or The Downward Spiral. If you listen to this, listen to that, it doesn't make much sense.

I describe it as a great movie: the movie gives you little pieces here and there but at the end it all comes together and makes you think ... "Wow."

yup.
this is so true about The Fragile album.
it can be described as one huge track...and Trent was brilliant with the transition of one track to another on The Fragile album.
 
closer. I'm not too fond of the lyrics, but I like the "closer to god" chorus and the melody at the very end...(it really should have been played more often in the song)

I also love every day is exactley the same, but really only the verses, I like the scale that the song is in, (I don't know the name of it, but its kind of like a blues scale with a major third and a major fourth every now and then)
 
Hurt (Cash's version is better though)
The Day the World Went Away
or maybe
Right Where It Belongs

I'm no harcore fan though, more of a casual listener.
 
I'm one of those "I think Trent is a good musician and some of his songs are quite alright...but he is overrated as a whole" people (we are the minority). Still, it is annoying that the fans on here are trying to convince people that don't like NiN that they just don't "get it".

I like "Every Day is exactly the same", oddly.
 
Oh my god, I can't decide if I like Ruiner or A Warm Place better now. Oh god, idk idk idk...

Also this quote describes the significance of 'A Warm Place' in the concept album (The Downward Spiral)

Throughout the whole album, the character defied god, killed god, then became god, through sexual and violent acts ("you get me closer to god") As the mechanical voice inside his head tries to take over him and control him, this song reflects where the machine could not reach, could not control . A warm place inside you that reminds you that there is a place inside you that nobody can reach, and nobody can take away from you, the peace and calm in your heart that will stay with you forever.
This is the turning point in the album - just as the mechanical side of the mind starts to take over control, the character realises that he can still make a choice to save his soul - death
By eraser, he wants death, in reptile, he wants to feel emotion.by the downward spiral, the mechanical side takes over, but as it does, he takes a gun to his head, to save others, and to save himself.

http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858495594
 
I was put on to NIN when they first came out but never was a tremendous fan, although I often liked some of their songs allot.

The songs I've heard, remember, and love the most might acutally be one song, I'm not sure.

here piggy pig pig pig... The song starts of like that, I'm not sure if that is the interlude to the song I really like or if this is the actual song.


The other song I love has lyrics that are screamed something like:

God is dead ... and no one cares! If there's hell below ... I'll see you there!

Along with the most kickass guitar riffs in memory.

What is that song? I think they are both off of Downward Spiral.

I'd also like a link to be able to listen to those songs right now, since I can't find that CD. I may have lost it years ago.
 
"here piggy pig pig pig" - Piggy, The Downward Spiral

"God is dead ... and no one cares! If there's hell below ... I'll see you there!" - Heresy, The Downward Spiral
 
Sooooo hard to pick a favorite song, but I guess my favorite album would be The Downward Spiral. Though I find it hard to listen to it now, because I obsessed with that album during a really bad time of my life, so listening to it brings back bad memories.
 
i can't decided on a favorite album, i like TDS, the fragile, and with teeth about equally in very different capacities
 
Heh, i seem to be one of the few people that like the NiN version of hurt over the cash one. I just find the way trent does it slightly creepier and that adds to the overall effect of the song for me :/

As for that video stern, i'd hate to be one of the guitarists :D
 
i agree septih, i like the original hurt more than cash's cover, though the cover is wonderful
 
diluted said:
Sooooo hard to pick a favorite song, but I guess my favorite album would be The Downward Spiral. Though I find it hard to listen to it now, because I obsessed with that album during a really bad time of my life, so listening to it brings back bad memories.
I know what you mean, but for me they aren't bad memories, just very lasting, shocking, sort of depressing memories, mostly because it was so long ago, when everything was great in my life, and it was about the point where I started to self destruct and destroy my life, having been heavily into drugs for several years, but this is about the time I even started to experiment with hardcore drugs. Very fitting that the album name is The Downward Spiral. Nothing can describe the feeling of listening to some of those songs for the first time while higher than a muther****ing plane, but I will try - "Awesome."


As for that video stern, i'd hate to be one of the guitarists
I think it's safe to say he was ****ing wasted the way he could hardly keep from destroying everything and from falling over. :LOL: Just a guess, but I'd say drunk and high on marijuana as well.

The hand that feeds
That's the new song right? Yea, I heard that. It's really really good.

God damn it I can't receive D.C. 101 on my stereo in my room where I live now, I feel like I have been isolated for so long.
 
What is their best song in a way that I could have a pretty good résumé of what they do?
 
AntiAnto said:
What is their best song in a way that I could have a pretty good résumé of what they do?
you'd need to hear at least 10-15 songs to have a decent resume of what they do
 
Ennui said:
you'd need to hear at least 10-15 songs to have a decent resume of what they do

i agree.
every album has its own unique sound...and i say that proudly because the truth is most bands out there just spew the same sound in new albums.
i'd advise to listen to about 3-4 songs per album to get an idea of what NiN is like...if you really want me point out an album, The Fragile and the Still CD are both good choices.
 
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