Nine Inch Nails Lyrics


~ The Downward Spiral ~

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral was the second full-length album released by Nine Inch Nails. It was released in 1994, after Trent was safely established inside his own Nothing label. The Downward Spiral is often regarded as Trent's masterpiece, producing three singles: March of the Pigs, Hurt, and the incredibly famous Closer.

Lyrics transcribed by Zoe429. Thanks! =)



Song - Mr Self-Destruct

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


Song - Piggy

hey pig
yeah you
hey piggy pig pig pig
all of my fears came true
black and blue and broken bones you left here 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


Song - 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 a god up and called it christianity

you 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?


Song - 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 it make you feel better?

shove it up inside surprise! lies
stains like blood on your teeth
bite chew suck away all the tender parts
i want to break it up i want to smash it up i want to fuck 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 all sleep soundly
and everything is all right


Song - 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 fuck you like an animal
i want to feel you from the inside
i want to fuck 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 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 make me perfect, help me become somebody else
i want to fuck you like an animal
i want to feel you from the inside
i want to fuck you like an animal
my whole existence is flawed
you get me closer to god

through every forest, above all the trees
within my stomach, scraped off my knees
i drink the honey inside you hive,
you are the reason i stay alive


Song - Ruiner

you had all them on your side, didn't you?
you believed 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 fucking 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 it get so long?
you had to give them all the 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 fucked me up 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 it 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


Song - 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 that you know had some second thoughts
he's covered with scabs he is broken and sore
the me that you know 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 there's no escape from this my new consciousness
the me that you know 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 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
goddamn this noise inside my head


Song - 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 blessing 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 [4x]
don't you tell me how i feel [3x]
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 [4x]
don't you tell me how i feel [3x]
you don't know just how i feel

i want to know everything
i want to be everywhere
i want to fuck everyone in the world
i want to do something that matters


Song - 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 fuck of it
i can reduce you if i want
i can devour
i'm hard as fucking steel, and i've got the power
i'm every inch a man, and i'll show you somehow
me and my fucking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
i'm going to come all over you
me and my fucking gun
me and my fucking gun


Song - Eraser

need you
dream you
find you
taste you
fuck you
use you
scar you
break you
lose me
hate me
smash me
erase me
[kill me] [8x]


Song - Reptile

she spreads 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


Song - The Downward Spiral

he couldn't believe how easy it was
he put the gun into his face
bang!
(so much blood for such a little hole)

problems [do] have solutions [you know]
a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash

everything's blue
in this world
the deepest shade of mushroom blue
all fuzzy
spilling out of my head


Song - 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 my 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


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