| Nine Inch Nails – Big Man with a Gun Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Like others have said, this song's meaning changes depending on whether it's taken on its own context or within the context of the whole album, with my favorite interpretation coming from when it's taken in the context of the album. By this point in the album the main character of the Downward Spiral has killed God (Heresy), celebrated his victory by mocking God as he stands over his corpse (Ruiner), realized the mechanical indifference and nihilism he's unleashed on the world (The Becoming), and realized this isn't what he wanted (I Do Not Want This...obviously). Big Man With A Gun is him trying to reestablish moral and social order through force, violence, and power, with the blatantly sexual lyrics illustrating the character's psychological linking of sex and power. In the end it simply doesn't work, with all the main character's yelling and shouting being literally drowned out by the mechanical buzzing of the nihilism he's trying to destroy before it all suddenly stops; he realizes all at once that world doesn't care enough to fear him and that it's no longer worth trying. His own efforts beforehand sabotaged his efforts to replace God with himself before they even began. Probably similar to a lot of the other interpretations posted here but I thought I'd throw it out there anyway. |
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