Trent Reznor: "No wonder people steal music" and the Fragile revisited

I caught this tidbit off of the NINHotline recently. Trent's last blogpost made it into a Digg article and attraced so much attention that the dudes (Alex Albrecht and Kevin Ross) over at Diggnation featured it in one of their podcasts. They do a fabulous job summing up Trent's views of music file sharing, his disapproval of how the record industry openly screw over fans, etc. Basically, the post backs up just how much Trent gets how this generation of music listeners function. Up yours, Lars! Poop on a stick indeed.

Like I've said so many times...TRENT LOVES US (and of course we love Trent too.) See, it's one big appreciation orgy.


Anyhow, this gives me a good excuse to post about a NIN album that came out in 1999. I've been wanting to revisit the Fragile for some time now. I can see all the NINers rolling their heavily made up eyes at me all in unison right now, but I have to say it is definitively my favorite NIN album of all time. I do love Downward Spiral but just 1st half in all honesty and I think heavy rotation of some of the songs on the radio while growing up causes me to not play TDS all that often at home. Sounding incredibly trite, I'll go ahead and say The Fragile has aged like a fine wine revelaing it's complexities with each listen. It's taken me several years to even bother with analysing the lyrics because music itself is so intricate. Add to that Trent's confessions of drug and alcohol abuse during the album and the liner notes suddenly take on a whole new meaning.

I'll admit, I'm kind of a heel when it comes to talking about Trent's lyrics. I think it has to do with the AAA or ABABABABA rhyming scheme and over use of the words: fade away, believe, echo, hands and knees, skin, deep(er), eye...you get the picture, but fundamentally he's better than most, so I'll shut the fuck up. Surprisingly when I did take a gander at the lyrics for the song "Even Deeper" (one of the best off of the massive 2 disc album) I found well written prose:

I woke up today
To find myself in the other place
With a trail of my footprints
From where I ran away
It seems everything Ive heard
Just might be true
And you know me
(well you think you do)
Sometimes, I have everything-
Yet I wish I felt something

Do you know how far this has gone?
Just how damaged have I become?
When I think I can overcome
It runs even deeper

In in a dream Im a different me
With a perfect you
We fit perfectly
And for once in my life I feel complete-
And I still want to ruin it
Afraid to look
As clear as day
This plan has long been underway

I hear them call
I cannot stay
The voice inviting me away

Do you know how far this has gone?
Just how damaged have I become?
When I think I can overcome
It runs even deeper
Everything that matters is gone
All the hands of hope have withdrawn
Could you try to help me hang on?
It runs...

Im straight
I wont crack
On my way
And I cant turn back
Im okay
Im on track
On my way
And I cant turn back
I stayed
On this track
Gone too far
And I cant come back
I stayed
On this track
Lost my way
Cant come back



In the spirit of sharing music, I've got a link to one of my favorite NIN songs off of one of the "rare" singles, We're in This Together Now pt. 3 which I believes goe for the low low price of $89.99 used on Amazon.com at the moment. It's a fucking sexy track with a groovy beat and heavy base. Hearing Trent harshly whisper "Give it to me..." makes me weak in the knees every single time, let me tell ya!

Listen to:
"Complications of the Flesh"
"Even Deeper"
"Just Like You Imagined"

Visit:
Nine Inch Nails Website
Digg Article
Trent's Blog
The NIN Hotline
Diggnation
Purchase The Fragile from Amazon