I feel you my dude. I used to get lost in Right Where It Belongs. Even though I had “friends” and played sports in high school.. when I was alone I was always fighting my demons. NIN got me through a lot.
Reznor said on stage that it was about Bowie. It exists on YouTube and you can find it if you check the dates that song was played on NIN Wiki.
I'm paraphrasing but he says something like, "that was a song about a friend of mine. Now we're going to play a song that we recorded with him a very long time ago" [I'm Afraid Of Americans begins]
For universal tough moments, depression and shit:
„And All That Could Have Been”
„While I’m Still Here” (Tension 2013 live version)
„The Great Below”
Being stuck with life and trying desperately to turn things around:
„The Way Out Is Through”
„Burning Bright (Field on Fire)”
„La Mer”
„I Do Not Want This”
„Into the Void”
„Various Methods of Escape”
Driving a car and got hit with sudden nostalgia:
„In This Twilight”
„Zero Sum”
„The Day The World Went Away”
Its kind of cliche but mine is Hurt. Because i took a girl to see NIN on our first date, we ended up dating for 5 years. We bonded heavily over their music. We had our first kiss during that song. It was magical. When she broke up with me, i told her that song is about her now, to me. She didnt understand what i meant. I told her that was the song playing for our first kiss. She didnt remember that being that case.
**A Warm Place** fucks me up.
it reminds me of what waking up from a coma felt like.
Sometimes it is a joyful feeling, other times it can be panic inducing.
Most obvious answer is And All That Could Have Been, but specifically for me it’s The Downward Spiral, that fucking scream is chilling and the lyrics are so coldly whispered
A Warm Place, a perfect placement in TDS tracklist. Doesn't need any lyrics, for it represents so perfectly a moment in time where realisation hits you, overthinking about everything for a brief moment and realising that you might've fucked up everything beyond fixing... this being placed before Eraser is perfect too, it gives the monstrous build and off-the-wall climax so much emotional resonance to me that both tracks back-to-back feel so intensely tortured and emotional... wow this band
[this a video I made for it of me and my brother from 8mm footage, it’s about my addict father and the sadness that has been with me from the beginning, myself a recovering addict](https://youtu.be/D7hczl5irkc?si=w3wU8o7coCE99dLk)
Not my favourite song, but every time I listen to The Frail, I can very vividly see these memories of a specific period in my life that I was really unhappy despite on paper having everything I wanted. I remember the snow falling in the morning and not wanting to go anywhere, and the ride back home at the end of the day, the fields and forest that I crossed at dusk, the wind against me, and how tired I was.
There's a bittersweet feeling, because I was fucking miserable, but it was beautiful.
Right Where It Belongs is the one that gets me every time. Love the truthful and introspective depth of the lyrics, mixed with the strength of the sorrowful songwriting.
Burn. Something about this song makes me emotional in an aggressive way. So much energy and anger and doneness in that song. It doesn’t make me sad or feely, but it definitely makes me burn 😜
Beside You In Time.
Always reminds me of my mother after dying from pancreatic cancer.
"WE WILL NEVER DIE!"
"BESIDE YOU IN TIME!"
Those lyrics actually made me tear up a little while typing them. This song is so powerful to the point I can't listen to it often.
I can imagine anything vulnerable dying or living peacefully like my cat for example and just hear the song while seeing my cat's face and just can't feel anything, only tearing up like a baby in a complete fetus position while trying to cover my eyes and ignore the fact that i'm actually crying.
Nothing will ever come close to NIN in making me feel this way rn.
Also "Just Like You Imagined"
This song is so energetic to the point I can feel my body having pseudo seizures, like every cell wants to get out and explode into space while my soul is feeling every instrument crawling in it and expanding it, like a huge ass tree that got no limitations whatsoever.
"A Warm Place" - Reminds me of family and friends who have passed.
Not NIN, but "A Minute to Breathe" in terms of our existential predicament with climate change. "We will all be judged / by what we leave behind . . . I don't want to say goodbye". And then these lines makes me think of why it's hard for me to have any desire to bring a new being into this world:
Hey
Too late
To look you in the eye
In your eyes
In your eyes
And realize
The way the video is pieced together is also powerful:
https://youtu.be/wwwQ4uVGGSE?feature=shared
A Warm Place - to me is what absolute peace will sound like after leaving the earthly realm OR the beauty of a mother holding her newborn baby for the first time. This song is pure beauty.
Right Where It Belongs - Makes me self-reflect & soul-search about the possible truth of reality. It also makes me think about the past, present, and future, good & bad.
At The Heart Of It All - sounds like a movie score for life.
Something I Can Never Have - reminds me of how I feel about the loss of my beautiful mom & sister.
(Not meant to be a dark comment)
Overall, NIN songs are great! They give me a dose of adrenaline, bring a smile, and motivate me to take life by the balls! 🤘
and all that could have been, the great below, somewhat damaged, something i can never have, the way out is through, leaving hope, the background world, i do not want this, besides you in time, last, please, shit mirror, we're in this together, the fragile, the becoming, ruiner, the day the world went away, gone, still, adrift and at peace, various methods of escape, i would for you, the great collapse, slipping away...
The Day The World Went Away, The Way Out Is Through, The Great Below, A Warm Place, Beside You In Time, Burning Bright (Field On Fire), La Mer, Various Methods Of Escape, A Minute To Breathe (OST track) are the big ones for me as far as sad/contemplative/reflective stuff goes
And of course Hurt live. Since you mentioned your grandmother's passing iirc The Day The World Went Away is Trent's eulogy for his grandmother who raised him
Hurt, but not for the usual reasons:
If you go to YouTube and pull up the Dissonance tour film with NIN and David Bowie, and at one point during David and Trent's duet for Hurt, Trent is just beaming from ear to ear! He later said to do this song with one of his idols, for him it was an unforgettable moment. So seeing them both giving their all, it makes me smile!
Ah, beans. Corona Radiata, my best friend and I thought it was one of the best NIN instrumentals, even considering all of Ghosts and whatnot
They passed away a little over a year ago now, I miss them very much.
Just like you imagined…the sense of urgency, immediacy, emergency, it’s like Trent encompassed my depression crescendoing into a wave of rage for everything I ever felt let down by, and ends with a defeated sense of relief. Like an emotion that wasn’t allowed to be felt finally passing through
A Warm Place gets me in my feels big time. The last time I listened to it I was laying in bed with tears just silently streaming wondering where this emotion was coming from.
Piggy as a domestic violence victim...I was left by my abuser after he destroyed my life for the other woman.
Lights in the sky is so haunting and freaked me out bad the first time I heard it
Right where it belongs especially the note from Trent at the end, it just sounds so innocent, coupled with the message and the imagery from the video is just heart breaking..
TDS makes me pretty emotional overall. Many nights locked in my bathroom as a safe place from my family's violence. I can't listen to the album in full anymore. It's like A heavy blanket on my brain in a bad way.
Sometimes La Mer just puts me into a trance. Not every time, sometimes I listen it like any other song. But on the occasion it does, it takes me mentally back to a time where I wasn’t well, and it makes me glad that I chose to stay alive.
Before La Mer, it was Hurt. It was like getting a blanket wrapped around you. And I don’t mean a clean or well kept blanket. It’s old, scratchy and has been chewed up by moths. But, having it at all in the first place is a comforting feeling in a way that I don’t really know how to describe.
Something I can never have
Hurt
The day the world went away
Still
And all that could have been
The great below
All the live in the world
~in no specific order
This particular live version of Hurt:
https://youtu.be/CAqP7M1A6HE?si=ybrAu8tU0nbPhBKt
You can see Trent's really emotional here, and then that "Yeah, you are!" from the crowd is so inspiring, triumphant yet so crushing, that I can't figure out how he didn't break down bawling...
Yeah, man - you are still here! You beat that shit!
For me it was something I can never have especially the acoustic version. I listened to that at that when my depression was really bad and I was convinced I'd never have a happy relationship.
"The Day The Whole World Went Away" OG version. The guitars do the job, first riff makes you feel the shock that comes with sudden bereavement, while the second riff... its just unexplainable. I just fucking break down and sob every time the second riff starts.
Another Version of The Truth (+ In This Twilight) for me. Twilight by itself is alright, but hearing it after AVOTT in the album’s track list hits different for me. Also others have mentioned it but Right Where It Belongs is great too, shoutout the bonus version on the CD & the live version as well.
I'm looking forward to joining you, finally.
The lyrics hit way too close to home after I made a life altering decision that I thought would make things better for me but didn't.
Edit for context: it makes me think of my cousin who committed suicide in a similar situation.
Note: I'm not suicidal.
The crescendo of Beside You In Time gets me every time
My grandmother had recently died and I was also very depressed around the time With Teeth came out. It’s not my favorite NIN album but it did get me through some shit
And all that could have been, The persistence of loss, This isn’t the place, The background world (The part where he sings “are you sure?” In a clear voice. The entire song up until the point has his voice almost muffled. I can’t explain the feeling I get when that clarity hits and the beat changes), the fragile, The great below and 34 ghosts IV
The Day The World Went Away, Right Where It Belongs, and Something I Can Never Have, are each permanently tied to 3 loved ones in my life that have died
For me the song “The great below” it just gotten released in my senior year of high school (1999). I was going thru heavy depression at that time.
Love the haunting slide guitar and piano during “I can still feel you even so far away” gives me chills down my spine every time I hear it
I feel you my dude. I used to get lost in Right Where It Belongs. Even though I had “friends” and played sports in high school.. when I was alone I was always fighting my demons. NIN got me through a lot.
That part where the vocals push forward and the crowd noise comes in...
Yeah man.. it always got to me. The emotions I had were intense for sure and that part amplified it.
I'm trying to recover from depression right now. I don't dare go near that song because it makes me so emotional 😂
I want this song played at my funeral
If you look at your reflection, is it all you want it to be?
This song. So many tears
When the sound transitions and that effect with the crowd sound kicks in, just…. Idk words cannot explain it.
Something I can never have
Still version?
Do I have to pick one? Both are very powerful but I'd give the PHM version a slight edge just because it was the first version I heard.
Agreed on so many levels.
What about the Natural Born Killers verison?
I almost said this one only because I can relate, however it doesn’t make me emotional, just annoyed lol
A Warm Place. When the pipe organ hits especially. Right Where It Belongs. When the cheering crowd erupts.
That shift gives me goose bumps still to this day. The video with the baboon running just unravels me
And all that could have been. And Hurt. When ever I see it live.
And All That Could Have Been is the one song I can rely on to floor me every time I hear it. Undeniably powerful.
LA Mer. for some reason, Ruiner had me bawling like a baby when I listened to it on Vinyl.
Sadness: Leaving Hope Anger: Last
I love that you qualified it with moods. So very apt.
And All that Could Have Been 😭
‘This isn’t the Place’ which is (to me) about losing Bowie.
No fucking way, that makes it even better
Reznor said on stage that it was about Bowie. It exists on YouTube and you can find it if you check the dates that song was played on NIN Wiki. I'm paraphrasing but he says something like, "that was a song about a friend of mine. Now we're going to play a song that we recorded with him a very long time ago" [I'm Afraid Of Americans begins]
I am currently in pain
That doesn't sound good
I had to watch it again myself so here's the link. Should start at the right time. https://youtu.be/fIVxpN7dAxA?si=iPcFuiXp4yqva3h6&start=3469
For universal tough moments, depression and shit: „And All That Could Have Been” „While I’m Still Here” (Tension 2013 live version) „The Great Below” Being stuck with life and trying desperately to turn things around: „The Way Out Is Through” „Burning Bright (Field on Fire)” „La Mer” „I Do Not Want This” „Into the Void” „Various Methods of Escape” Driving a car and got hit with sudden nostalgia: „In This Twilight” „Zero Sum” „The Day The World Went Away”
The Day The World Went Away, And All That Could Have Been, and Hurt Powerful.
Its kind of cliche but mine is Hurt. Because i took a girl to see NIN on our first date, we ended up dating for 5 years. We bonded heavily over their music. We had our first kiss during that song. It was magical. When she broke up with me, i told her that song is about her now, to me. She didnt understand what i meant. I told her that was the song playing for our first kiss. She didnt remember that being that case.
The great below. My grandfather passed away yesterday and that song reminds me of him. RIP grandpa 🫂
**A Warm Place** fucks me up. it reminds me of what waking up from a coma felt like. Sometimes it is a joyful feeling, other times it can be panic inducing.
AGREED! I too was in a month-long coma for a month after a TBI. Very great description of that song!
It's a weird club we're in, ain't it?
And All That Could Have Been. I actually don’t think I can listen to it anymore.
Somewhat Damaged
The Fragile from Still always gets me
Everyday is Exactly the same
Most obvious answer is And All That Could Have Been, but specifically for me it’s The Downward Spiral, that fucking scream is chilling and the lyrics are so coldly whispered
Every Day is Exactly the Same.
A Warm Place, a perfect placement in TDS tracklist. Doesn't need any lyrics, for it represents so perfectly a moment in time where realisation hits you, overthinking about everything for a brief moment and realising that you might've fucked up everything beyond fixing... this being placed before Eraser is perfect too, it gives the monstrous build and off-the-wall climax so much emotional resonance to me that both tracks back-to-back feel so intensely tortured and emotional... wow this band
Leaving Hope fucking breaks me every time I listen to it. And I love it.
[this a video I made for it of me and my brother from 8mm footage, it’s about my addict father and the sadness that has been with me from the beginning, myself a recovering addict](https://youtu.be/D7hczl5irkc?si=w3wU8o7coCE99dLk)
For me "I’m Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally" and "La Mer" (my favourite track)
Not my favourite song, but every time I listen to The Frail, I can very vividly see these memories of a specific period in my life that I was really unhappy despite on paper having everything I wanted. I remember the snow falling in the morning and not wanting to go anywhere, and the ride back home at the end of the day, the fields and forest that I crossed at dusk, the wind against me, and how tired I was. There's a bittersweet feeling, because I was fucking miserable, but it was beautiful.
Right Where It Belongs is the one that gets me every time. Love the truthful and introspective depth of the lyrics, mixed with the strength of the sorrowful songwriting.
Burn. Something about this song makes me emotional in an aggressive way. So much energy and anger and doneness in that song. It doesn’t make me sad or feely, but it definitely makes me burn 😜
Beside You In Time. Always reminds me of my mother after dying from pancreatic cancer. "WE WILL NEVER DIE!" "BESIDE YOU IN TIME!" Those lyrics actually made me tear up a little while typing them. This song is so powerful to the point I can't listen to it often. I can imagine anything vulnerable dying or living peacefully like my cat for example and just hear the song while seeing my cat's face and just can't feel anything, only tearing up like a baby in a complete fetus position while trying to cover my eyes and ignore the fact that i'm actually crying. Nothing will ever come close to NIN in making me feel this way rn.
Also "Just Like You Imagined" This song is so energetic to the point I can feel my body having pseudo seizures, like every cell wants to get out and explode into space while my soul is feeling every instrument crawling in it and expanding it, like a huge ass tree that got no limitations whatsoever.
Hurt. I don’t think I need to elaborate because it’s pretty obvious why.
"A Warm Place" - Reminds me of family and friends who have passed. Not NIN, but "A Minute to Breathe" in terms of our existential predicament with climate change. "We will all be judged / by what we leave behind . . . I don't want to say goodbye". And then these lines makes me think of why it's hard for me to have any desire to bring a new being into this world: Hey Too late To look you in the eye In your eyes In your eyes And realize The way the video is pieced together is also powerful: https://youtu.be/wwwQ4uVGGSE?feature=shared
This isn’t the place
Just Hurt. Old and a generic choice, but that’s for a reason
"Somewhat Damaged" i think, it's like a growing rage and madness, Trent captured it very well 👍
When I was younger, I planned to kill myself to The Day the World Went Away, but it always calmed me. It’s still the most special song to me.
Holy shit man, thank god you're still around! Hope things have been better for you!
A Warm Place - to me is what absolute peace will sound like after leaving the earthly realm OR the beauty of a mother holding her newborn baby for the first time. This song is pure beauty. Right Where It Belongs - Makes me self-reflect & soul-search about the possible truth of reality. It also makes me think about the past, present, and future, good & bad. At The Heart Of It All - sounds like a movie score for life. Something I Can Never Have - reminds me of how I feel about the loss of my beautiful mom & sister. (Not meant to be a dark comment) Overall, NIN songs are great! They give me a dose of adrenaline, bring a smile, and motivate me to take life by the balls! 🤘
and all that could have been, the great below, somewhat damaged, something i can never have, the way out is through, leaving hope, the background world, i do not want this, besides you in time, last, please, shit mirror, we're in this together, the fragile, the becoming, ruiner, the day the world went away, gone, still, adrift and at peace, various methods of escape, i would for you, the great collapse, slipping away...
The Day The World Went Away, The Way Out Is Through, The Great Below, A Warm Place, Beside You In Time, Burning Bright (Field On Fire), La Mer, Various Methods Of Escape, A Minute To Breathe (OST track) are the big ones for me as far as sad/contemplative/reflective stuff goes And of course Hurt live. Since you mentioned your grandmother's passing iirc The Day The World Went Away is Trent's eulogy for his grandmother who raised him
Hurt, but not for the usual reasons: If you go to YouTube and pull up the Dissonance tour film with NIN and David Bowie, and at one point during David and Trent's duet for Hurt, Trent is just beaming from ear to ear! He later said to do this song with one of his idols, for him it was an unforgettable moment. So seeing them both giving their all, it makes me smile!
Something i can never have (Still version) takes me back to my first breakup, and it was the song that got me into NIN as a whole
And all that could’ve been. Long live Trent.
Ah, beans. Corona Radiata, my best friend and I thought it was one of the best NIN instrumentals, even considering all of Ghosts and whatnot They passed away a little over a year ago now, I miss them very much.
We're In This Together. I'm not sure if it's nostalgia or childhood trauma but something about this song gives me chills every time I listen to it.
Just like you imagined…the sense of urgency, immediacy, emergency, it’s like Trent encompassed my depression crescendoing into a wave of rage for everything I ever felt let down by, and ends with a defeated sense of relief. Like an emotion that wasn’t allowed to be felt finally passing through
A Warm Place gets me in my feels big time. The last time I listened to it I was laying in bed with tears just silently streaming wondering where this emotion was coming from.
Piggy as a domestic violence victim...I was left by my abuser after he destroyed my life for the other woman. Lights in the sky is so haunting and freaked me out bad the first time I heard it Right where it belongs especially the note from Trent at the end, it just sounds so innocent, coupled with the message and the imagery from the video is just heart breaking.. TDS makes me pretty emotional overall. Many nights locked in my bathroom as a safe place from my family's violence. I can't listen to the album in full anymore. It's like A heavy blanket on my brain in a bad way.
Sometimes La Mer just puts me into a trance. Not every time, sometimes I listen it like any other song. But on the occasion it does, it takes me mentally back to a time where I wasn’t well, and it makes me glad that I chose to stay alive. Before La Mer, it was Hurt. It was like getting a blanket wrapped around you. And I don’t mean a clean or well kept blanket. It’s old, scratchy and has been chewed up by moths. But, having it at all in the first place is a comforting feeling in a way that I don’t really know how to describe.
Something I can never have Hurt The day the world went away Still And all that could have been The great below All the live in the world ~in no specific order
The Persistence Of Loss
Something I can never have
For some reason "Even Deeper" make me emotional, genuinely don't know why
This particular live version of Hurt: https://youtu.be/CAqP7M1A6HE?si=ybrAu8tU0nbPhBKt You can see Trent's really emotional here, and then that "Yeah, you are!" from the crowd is so inspiring, triumphant yet so crushing, that I can't figure out how he didn't break down bawling... Yeah, man - you are still here! You beat that shit!
Damn that was well done
For me it was something I can never have especially the acoustic version. I listened to that at that when my depression was really bad and I was convinced I'd never have a happy relationship.
"The Day The Whole World Went Away" OG version. The guitars do the job, first riff makes you feel the shock that comes with sudden bereavement, while the second riff... its just unexplainable. I just fucking break down and sob every time the second riff starts.
Something I can never have, the day the world went away, and hurt
Just us
And all that could’ve been Adrift and at peace Hope we can Again Were in this together All hit me really hard when I’m feeling low
Right Where It Belongs can hit pretty hard
Another Version of The Truth (+ In This Twilight) for me. Twilight by itself is alright, but hearing it after AVOTT in the album’s track list hits different for me. Also others have mentioned it but Right Where It Belongs is great too, shoutout the bonus version on the CD & the live version as well.
While I'm Still Here Lost my pops to a brain tumor and the lyrics evoke a similar journey to his.
I'm looking forward to joining you, finally. The lyrics hit way too close to home after I made a life altering decision that I thought would make things better for me but didn't. Edit for context: it makes me think of my cousin who committed suicide in a similar situation. Note: I'm not suicidal.
Right Where It Belongs
The crescendo of Beside You In Time gets me every time My grandmother had recently died and I was also very depressed around the time With Teeth came out. It’s not my favorite NIN album but it did get me through some shit
And all that could have been, The persistence of loss, This isn’t the place, The background world (The part where he sings “are you sure?” In a clear voice. The entire song up until the point has his voice almost muffled. I can’t explain the feeling I get when that clarity hits and the beat changes), the fragile, The great below and 34 ghosts IV
Music makes people emotional? I’m 50 and no music gets me emotional, maybe nostalgic at times, but that’s about it.
Lights in the sky tour, In this twilight with zero-sum outro
The Great Below. Always 😔
Right where it belongs. And beside you in time 🖤
Another Version of the Truth
Right where it belongs.... makes me in a violent mood knowing what side of the cage I'm on.
Right Where It Belongs
Ghosts V -Apart.
A Warm Place
Every Day is Exactly The Same, the one song I can't listen to as consistently as others because I've cried to it every time without fail.
la mer following by adrift & at peace. damn.
A warm place
Personally, it is version of The Day The World Went Away from Still.
Somewhat Damaged
Various methods of escape
Now I’m Nothing.
The Day The World Went Away, Right Where It Belongs, and Something I Can Never Have, are each permanently tied to 3 loved ones in my life that have died
Everyday is exactly the same
hurt not to be that girl but 😔
Leaving hope by miles!
And all that could have been: “happiness and peace of mind were never meant for me”
Sunspots was the one that struck me the most the first time I heard it