Ryan’s Ultimate Albums “Edition One”

Artist: Nine Inch Nails
Album: The Downward Spiral



Released: March 8, 1994
RIAA Certifications: Quadruple Platinum (Yes, that means 4,000,000 copies)

About the Album: Before you go on I have to warn you, there is a lot of swearing in this Album. It appears in the lyrics posted below all the songs, so if you’re partial to such language please don’t read it or listen to the music.

The Downward Spiral is the 8th release from Nine Inch Nails and their 3rd major release. It’s, in my own opinion, one of the most powerful Albums ever released. Its plot follows a character trying to rid himself of the controls of religion and society as he uses sex as an escape. Eventually, this character has to face his internal void. The album reaches its climax in the title track. The final track, "Hurt", acts as an epilogue of a sorts. Many critics believe that the character resolves this conflict through suicide (lending to complaints of severe nihilism); others have taken the album's final self-destructive episode as representative of the death of the character's old identity.

Enjoy.

Track One:

Mr Self Destruct

Lyrics:
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

You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me you do this to you (I am an exit)

I am the needle in your vein
I am the high you can't sustain
I am the pusher I’m a w***e
I am the need you have for more

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
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

Track Two:

Piggy

Lyrics:
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
Cause i don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i don't care
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i just don't care

Hey pig
Nothing’s turning out the way i planned
Hey pig
There are a lot of things i hoped you could help me understand
What am i supposed to do?
Lost my crap because of you

Nothing can stop me now
Cause i don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i don't care
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
Cause i just don't care

Nothing can stop me now . . .

Track Three:

Heresy

Lyrics:
He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what i put inside of me
He got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity

God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I’ll 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

God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I’ll see you there
Your god is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I’ll see you there

“Will you die for this?”

God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I’ll see you there
Your god is dead
And no one cares (drowning in his own hypocrisy)
If there is a hell
I’ll see you there

Track Four:



March of the Pigs

Note: "March of the Pigs" has one of the most unique time signatures of any song to enjoy popular radio play. It's in 29/8 time and mixes three bars of 7/8 time with one bar of 4/4 time. The song has a BPM rate of 269.

Lyrics:
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 it 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*** 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

All the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn't it make you feel better?
The pigs have won tonight
They can all sleep soundly
And everything is all right

Track Five:



Closer

Note: "Closer" is perhaps Nine Inch Nails' most well-known song. The song's chorus is intensely sexual and includes the famous line "I want to f*** you like an animal", requiring the profanity to be censored for radio play despite its prominent placement in the song.

Lyrics:
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 wanna f*** you like an animal
I wanna feel you from the inside
I wanna f*** 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
It’s your sex I can smell
Help me
You make me perfect
Help me become somebody else

I wanna f*** you like an animal
I wanna feel you from the inside
I wanna f*** you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god

All 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

Track Six:

Ruiner

Lyrics:
You had all of them on your side
Didn’t you?
Didn’t you?
You believed in all your lies
Didn’t you?
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 the ruiner ruins everything he sees
Now the only pure thing left in my f***ing world is wearing your disease

How’d you get so big?
How’d you get so strong?
How’d it get so hard?
How’d it get so long?

You had to give them all a sign
Didn’t you? (Didn’t you?)
Didn’t you?
You had to covet what was mine
Didn’t you? (Didn’t you?)
Didn’t you?

The ruiner's a collector
He’s an infector
Serving his crap 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***ed me up much more than you'll ever know

How’d you get so big?
How’d you get so strong?
How’d it get so hard?
How’d it get so long?

And 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 . . .

Track Seven:

The Becoming

Lyrics:
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 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
Of my circuitry
Drowns out all i hear
There’s 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 is 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 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
And goddamn this noise inside my head . . .

Track Eight:

I Do Not Want This

Lyrics:
I’m losing ground
You know how this world can beat you down
And 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 . . .

And 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
And don't tell me that you care
There really isn't anything now, 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 . . .

And 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*** everyone in the world
I want to do something that matters . . .

Track Nine:

Big Man With a Gun

Lyrics:
I am a big man (yes I am)
And I’ve got a big gun
Got me a big old dick and I
I like to have fun
Held against your forehead
Well, I’ll make you suck it
Maybe I’ll put a hole in your head
You know, just for the f*** of it
Well, i can reduce you if i want
I can devour
I’m hard as f***ing steel, I’ve got the power
I’m every inch a man, and I’ll show you somehow
Me and my f***ing gun
Nothing can stop me now

Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
I’m going to come all over you
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
I’m going to come all over you
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
I’m going to come all over you
Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot
I’m going to come all over you

Me and my f***ing gun . . .

Track Ten:

A Warm Place

Lyrics:
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together
The best thing about life is knowing you put it together . . .

Track Eleven:

Eraser

Lyrics:
Need you
Dream you
Find you
Taste you
f*** you
Use you
Scar you
Break you

Lose me
Hate me
Smash me
Erase me

Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me
Kill me

Kill me

Kill me

Track Twelve:

Reptile

Lyrics:
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 w***e
My disease my infection
I am so impure

Give it

Devils speak of the way 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 w***e
My disease my infection
I am so impure

Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious w***e
My disease my infection
I am so impure
Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious w***e
My disease my infection
I am so impure

Track Thirteen:

The Downward Spiral

Lyrics:
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***ing things up fixed
In one determined flash

Everything’s blue
Everything’s blue in this world
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
All fuzzy
Spilling out of my head

Track Fourteen:

Hurt

Note: "Hurt", the conclusion to the The Downward Spiral's tale of self-destruction, presents a man's hindsight view of his own downfall. It is a sobering, harrowing song, the chorus asking "what have I become?" before admitting, "everyone I know goes away in the end." It also acts as an apology to those surrounding the narrator: "I will let you down, I will make you hurt," acknowledging the pain caused to loved ones. The song ends on an ambiguous note, proclaiming:
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way


Lyrics:
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 crap
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become?
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
And 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