nine inch nails: the downward spiral 1 mr self destruct 2 piggy 3 heresy 4 march of the pigs 5 closer 6 ruiner 7 the becoming 8 i do not want this 9 big man with a gun 10 a warm place 11 eraser 12 reptile 13 the downward spiral 14 hurt 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder texture generating guitars: adrian belew piggy hey pig yeah you hey pig piggy pig pig pig all of my fears came true black and blue and broken bones you left 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder 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 up a god and called it christianity your 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? production: trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder 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 that make you feel better? shove it up inside surprise! lies stains like the blood on your teeth bite chew suck away 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 can all sleep soundly and everything is all right production: trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder 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 that it brings you can have my absence of faith, you can have my everything help me tear down my reason, help me its' your sex i can smell help me you 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 the trees within my stomach, scraped off my knees i drink the honey inside your hive you are the reason i stay alive production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder special hi-hat programming: flood ruiner you had all of them on your side, didn't you? you believe 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 you get so long? you had to give them all a 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 so 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 you 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder 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 and 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 that 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder ring mod guitar: adrian belew arp 2600: flood 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 bleeding 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 i do not want this i do not want this i do not want this don't you tell me how i feel don't you tell me how i feel don't you tell me how i feel 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 i do not want this i do not want this i do not want this don't you tell me how i feel don't you tell me how i feel don't you tell me how i feel 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 production: trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder drum performance: stephen perkins drum treatments: flood and trent reznor 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 production: trent reznor mixing engineers: bill kennedy, sean beavan additional guitars: danny lohner steakhouse: tommy lee a warm place production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder reptile she spread 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 production: flood and trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder the downward spiral he couldn't believe how easy it was he put the gun into his face bang! (so much blood from such a tiny little hole) problems have solutions 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 production: trent reznor mixing engineer: alan moulder drums: andy kubiszewski 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 production and mix: trent reznor drums: chris vrenna nine inch nails: the downward spiral writing, arrangement and performance: trent reznor management: john a. malm, jr. for conservative assistance: chris vrenna, maise additional engineering: sean beavan, chris vrenna, alan moulder, bill kennedy brian pollak, john aguto additional sampling and sound design: chris vrenna studios: le pig of beverly hills, the record plant, a&m studios continuity: trent reznor, chris vrenna, charlie clouser mastering: tom baker at futuredisc all paintings: russell mills photography: david buckland package: gary talpas publicity: sioux zimmerman for formula booking: gerry gerrard for artists & assistance merchandise: jerry long road management: mark o'shea live audio engineering & coordination: sean beavan lighting/set design: jan pieter nipius, roy bennett live production management: kevin lyman, ray woodbury legal: michael s. toorock nothing records: tony ciulla adrian belew appears courtesy of caroline records stephen perkins appears courtesy of warner bros. records inc. nine inch nails live: robin finck, danny lohner, chris vrenna, james woolley thank you: interscope; jimmy iovine; silvia garcia; susie tallman; peter christopherson; rick rubin; missy worth; brian warner and marilyn manson; brian liesegang; the temporally displaced richard bugg; coco-puff; scott hasson; mark tindle; mike morongell; shelly yakus and a&m; cally, jamie specer, marc marot, chris blackwell and island uk; paul connolly; alex kochan; ian flooks; mark blasquez; sean wilhelmsen and nadine's; opcode systems; pat stolpz, martin arthurs and amek; josephine cultice; handy andy; marina chavez; walter cessna; tina montalbano; carol davis we miss you jeff ward (c)1994 leaving hope/tvt music, inc., ascap. all rights reserved. used by permission