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meridian_roseFandom: Music (Band: Nine Inch Nails)
Type: Meta
Words: 697
Prompt: For the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
genprompt_bingo prompt "loss of faith"
Summary: A look at the album "Pretty Hate Machine" by Nine Inch Nails and in particular the track "Terrible Lie" and what it says about the singer's faith
Nine Inch Nails, often referred to as NIN, is an American industrial rock band, with Trent Reznor the most well known member.
The album "Pretty Hate Machine" was released in 1989. It includes the track "Terrible Lie" which has these lyrics
"(Hey God!)
Why are you doing this to me?
Am I not living up to what I'm supposed to be?
Why am I seething with this animosity?
(Hey God!)
I think you owe me a great big apology"
The chorus is "Terrible lie!" repeated over and over.
The singer is speaking to God, angry at what is going on in his life and wondering why he's being punished, if it's because he's not doing something he should be. He then thinks God owes him an apology for the hurt he's suffered despite his belief. The "terrible lie" could be that he feels everything he's been told in his religion was false.
He goes on to say that "Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams" but the bridge is a repetition of "Don't take it away from me, I need you to hold on to"; he's afraid of being without faith.
"I lost my ignorance, security, and pride
I'm all alone in a world you must despise
(Hey God!)
I believed your promises, your promises and lies"
The singer feels alone in a Godless, Godforsaken world, even though he once believed in God's teachings.
"How many you betray, you've taken everything
(Terrible lie!) My head is filled with disease, my skin is begging you please
(Terrible lie!) I'm on my hands and knees, I want so much to believe"
He know he's not the only one to lose faith but he's still hurting. He feels everything has been taken from him and despite this he's literally on his knees, begging to believe, to regain his faith.
The outro is a repetitive "I need someone to hold on to (I give you everything) I need someone to hold on to"; he needs someone, God, to hold onto and gives Him everything. It's a song of conflict from someone who feels they're losing/have lost their faith but is still seeking belief, needing someone to hold onto.
There are many other faith references in the album; another track, "Kinda I Want To" features religious imagery as the singer says "There's a devil sleeping in my bed" and "Well, maybe God will cover up his eyes" as he wants to do something that he knows isn't right:
"I know it's not the right thing
And I know it's not the good thing
But kinda I want to".
In "The Only Time" the singer, drunk and in love with a possibly unsuitable person says
"Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
While the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car"
and admits that "maybe I'm all messed up, Maybe I'm all messed up in you" but that "This is the only time I really feel alive", that sexual union, the physical world outweighs any spiritual concerns. Similarly in "Sanctified",
"I am justified
I am purified
I am sanctified
Inside you"
shows he's replaced faith with sex, going to say "Heaven's just a rumor she'll dispel,
As she walks me through the nicest parts of hell, I still dream of lips I never should have kissed". She's a poor replacement for God, someone he shouldn't be with, who metaphorically puts him through hell.
In the album's final track "Ringfinger" the singer tells the object of his desire that "Well, you just leave me nailed here, Hanging like Jesus on this cross".
When I first heard these tracks around 1999, I thought the lyrics were a criticism of Christianity, possibly an atheist's rage against faith. Later, on closer inspection, and in a different place spiritually myself, I see the conflict in the album. The singer is seeking to focus on (the wrong person) and using sex to make him feel alive, but it's ultimately unsatisfying and while he seems to have lost his faith, he's actually still feeling lost and would if possible find a way for him to reconcile with God.
Type: Meta
Words: 697
Prompt: For the
genprompt_bingo prompt "loss of faith"Summary: A look at the album "Pretty Hate Machine" by Nine Inch Nails and in particular the track "Terrible Lie" and what it says about the singer's faith
Nine Inch Nails, often referred to as NIN, is an American industrial rock band, with Trent Reznor the most well known member.
The album "Pretty Hate Machine" was released in 1989. It includes the track "Terrible Lie" which has these lyrics
"(Hey God!)
Why are you doing this to me?
Am I not living up to what I'm supposed to be?
Why am I seething with this animosity?
(Hey God!)
I think you owe me a great big apology"
The chorus is "Terrible lie!" repeated over and over.
The singer is speaking to God, angry at what is going on in his life and wondering why he's being punished, if it's because he's not doing something he should be. He then thinks God owes him an apology for the hurt he's suffered despite his belief. The "terrible lie" could be that he feels everything he's been told in his religion was false.
He goes on to say that "Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams" but the bridge is a repetition of "Don't take it away from me, I need you to hold on to"; he's afraid of being without faith.
"I lost my ignorance, security, and pride
I'm all alone in a world you must despise
(Hey God!)
I believed your promises, your promises and lies"
The singer feels alone in a Godless, Godforsaken world, even though he once believed in God's teachings.
"How many you betray, you've taken everything
(Terrible lie!) My head is filled with disease, my skin is begging you please
(Terrible lie!) I'm on my hands and knees, I want so much to believe"
He know he's not the only one to lose faith but he's still hurting. He feels everything has been taken from him and despite this he's literally on his knees, begging to believe, to regain his faith.
The outro is a repetitive "I need someone to hold on to (I give you everything) I need someone to hold on to"; he needs someone, God, to hold onto and gives Him everything. It's a song of conflict from someone who feels they're losing/have lost their faith but is still seeking belief, needing someone to hold onto.
There are many other faith references in the album; another track, "Kinda I Want To" features religious imagery as the singer says "There's a devil sleeping in my bed" and "Well, maybe God will cover up his eyes" as he wants to do something that he knows isn't right:
"I know it's not the right thing
And I know it's not the good thing
But kinda I want to".
In "The Only Time" the singer, drunk and in love with a possibly unsuitable person says
"Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
While the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car"
and admits that "maybe I'm all messed up, Maybe I'm all messed up in you" but that "This is the only time I really feel alive", that sexual union, the physical world outweighs any spiritual concerns. Similarly in "Sanctified",
"I am justified
I am purified
I am sanctified
Inside you"
shows he's replaced faith with sex, going to say "Heaven's just a rumor she'll dispel,
As she walks me through the nicest parts of hell, I still dream of lips I never should have kissed". She's a poor replacement for God, someone he shouldn't be with, who metaphorically puts him through hell.
In the album's final track "Ringfinger" the singer tells the object of his desire that "Well, you just leave me nailed here, Hanging like Jesus on this cross".
When I first heard these tracks around 1999, I thought the lyrics were a criticism of Christianity, possibly an atheist's rage against faith. Later, on closer inspection, and in a different place spiritually myself, I see the conflict in the album. The singer is seeking to focus on (the wrong person) and using sex to make him feel alive, but it's ultimately unsatisfying and while he seems to have lost his faith, he's actually still feeling lost and would if possible find a way for him to reconcile with God.
