The Downward Spiral song lyrics analysis

An analysis of the downward spiral

1. Ap Lyric Project
The
Downward
Spiral
by Nine Inch Nails
presented by James Martin

2. Trent Reznor founded Nine Inch Nails in 1988, with Atticus
Ross Joining as the only other official member in 2016

3. The Growth Of Nine Inch Nails
-Originating in Cleveland Ohio, Nine Inch Nails was initially the solo effort of Trent Reznor, who found no band that could
accurately convey what he aimed to. This led to him following in Prince’s footsteps and performing virtually all the music on
his own, be that acoustically or electronically.
-This was true for his first album, Pretty Hate Machine, in 1989. It’s industrial sound fell on virgin ears that were happy to
listen, as this sound was paired with a familia and tested structure that helped introduce industrial metal to the world, going
platinum despite it’s indie release.
-In 1992, eager to make another album and prove those that called his project “comercial” wrong, Reznor and his bandmates
unintentionally moved to the mansion where the Tate Murders by the Manson cult occured, and began work on Broken.
-The EP was released in 1992, which made it into the billboard top 10, boasting still a unique and aggressive sound and a
music video so offensive it was banned universally.
–1994 was the year that The Downward Spiral was released, an album Reznor described as “selfish.” With two enormous
successes under his belt he could afford to ignore his audience and maker an album solely for himself, unburdened by all
factors other than his need to express what was inside. This led to his personal artwork, so resonate that it would reach
number two in the charts and become the project’s best selling album in the united states to date. A rare convergence of
purity and commercial success that has changed millions of lives along with the music industry itself.

4. Tone:
Remorseful, numb,
hopeless
Theme:
The loss of
hope, the
necessity of
death, addiction,
self hatred

5. Themes and Motifs
The Loss of Hope

Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And 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 will keep myself
I would find a way


The present tense of “goes” shows that his abandonment is
ongoing, he didn’t say “went” because he knows if he gets
close again he’ll be abandoned, again. This is his hopelessness,
he doesn’t fear it’ll happen again he states it must. He points to
his “all,” his everything, who he is and his life’s work to be
nothing but dirt, leaving him assettless in the struggle to better
himself and unattractive to anyone who may have tried to get
closer, insuring neither of these will happen in his mind. He
continues his present and future tense as he says he “will”
make you hurt, certain he’ll only make things worse despite his
desire to do the opposite. He can’t change it, he can't stop it, it
“will” happen, inevitable.Finally, the last stanza which has
more hope than any other still declares his life a lost cause,
with only a fresh start he’ll never receive being capable of
righting his wrongs and saving himself. His current run, his
life, is lost. The great tragedy is that he would “keep” himself,
he could’ve been ok. But he blew it, he made too many mistakes
and spiraled too far, ruining his life by his own hand in a way he
“cannot repair,” even if a fresh start and a million miles of
distance offered only by death could make things alright.

6. Magic Triangle
Theme: The Necessity of Death
Device: Hypothetical
Evidence:
“If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way”
Analysis:
This hypothetical situation is shown as the only one that would bring relief and make things ok, it’s intangible. By showing that things could be better lends his
declaration that all hope is lost more credibility, because it shows the presence pf thought in his lament. He knows a solution, but it’s hypothetical. Further, this
hypothetical is impossible, without death. He can’t wipe his slate clean without making his ceiling dirty, therefore, death is a necessity if he ever hopes to feel peace
again, to find a way.

7. Connections
The Downward Spiral is very much one piece of art, with songs blurring into each other, the endings of some
happening in the first seconds of others. Lyrically, I Do Not Want This and The Becoming stand as some of the
most similar to Hurt. In the former, lines like “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” Show his loss of hope, and his calling out, crying for others,
that still is left unanswered. In both songs he has an audience, someone he’s trying his best to communicate
with but is still left alone, “sick” and “upon his liar's chair.” The entire song is an expression of tension, torture,
and struggle to “Do something that matters,” as said in the song. He’s essentially voicing the same problems
which he presents a solution for in Hurt, being suicide. The Becoming shares this lyrical connection with Hurt,
such as in the line “all pain disappears,” which is scarcely different from “The feelings disappear,” found in Hurt.
This again shows a similarity in ideas being expressed, just at different stages. In The Becoming, he says
“Goddamn this voice inside my head, it wants me dead,” which akes hurt all the more harrowing. In The
BEcoming he was only becoming hopeless, becoming a man with a gun to his head. But his old self remained,
relegating the thoughts as a voice inside his head, not his conscious itself. This is where he is in Hurt, now fully
consumed by the “voice” until it's all he is, left hopeless and without no other choice that doesn’t leave him
dead. The voice won, Reznor lost.

9. The Meaning of The Downward Spiral, Hurt
Hurt is an addressed, but unread suicide note. He has nothing, no one, and if he did
he’d only hurt the world further. He calls out to his sweetest friend, but gets nothing
back. He explains his situation and reasoning for why he has to die, and gets no help
or way out other than starting again, a million miles away. This was a last resort, a
final spilling of what’s on his mind before spilling his brains. This final pulse check is
the immediate precursor to his sucide, as the song ends with booming, dissonant,
and explosive chords. The Downward Spiral itself represents his fall, much like a
journal that’s kept until Hurt, a separate page. It shows where the previous thirteen
tracks, the contents of the journal left him- tortured to a self inflicted death. The
nature of the suicide note is apologetic, ad each warning is an acknowledgment of
past mistakes, and yet all his mistakes have hurt him more than anyone else. They
hurt others, but killed himself.