Nine Inch Nails "Only"

I've been a fan of Trent Reznor for quite some time (what modern rock DJ in the 1990's wasn't right?) yet I haven't picked up anything since The Perfect Drug CD single came out (I've got everything from The Downward Spiral and back however). Last week I was watching some music videos on Washington's MHz network and saw the amazing new video for "Only" and was just blown away. The video was very well done, featuring the images of Trent singing through one of those pinhead boxes. As if the video wasn't enough, the song itself sucked me in as soon as that driving bassline kicked in (about 26 seconds into the song) followed by a dark, sustained pad fill in the lower register that just haunts the track even more. This track brings me back to the attitude of "Head Like A Hole" without revisting the days of "Pretty Hate Machine."

Naturally, I grabbed the import CD5 and have been blasting it in my car for the last 24 hours. Reznor always does an amazing job of capturing the anger, despair, and repression of everyday life, that most people keep burried inside or choose to ignore. While singers like Joy Division's Ian Curtis would dwell more on ending it all (and he did when he hanged himself) Reznor takes that pent up anger and depression and uses it to liberate himself. In the song "Only," he's clearly been hurt by someone he was close to, so he decides that the person never existed in the first place, just a figment he made up to cause pain. "I made you up, to hurt myself..." and "There is no you, there is only me." He's not debating suicide, he's moving on.

The original version of the song is the best, but here is a cool remix to enjoy: Only "Sasa Savic Mix" (Nine Inch Nails)

NOTE: If you don't like the "F" word, consider this a warning ;)

Paul....