| Nine Inch Nails – Sanctified Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| @[punkedyou:43465] I think this is probably the most comprehensive and most "accurate" breakdown. The idea of addiction and how the mind justifies behavior from "the nicest parts of hell" despite your "higher self" knowing better. Good job. | |
| Nine Inch Nails – Sanctified Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| @[hi:43464] hi Totally defensible argument. It certainly could be this seeing as young Trent lived in a rural, Christian conservative area when he was young. I lean a bit more towards addiction with this particular song but loss of God and fall from spirituality is certainly a major theme in his early work and this could certainly be true. Im not 100% sure myself. | |
| Nine Inch Nails – Sanctified Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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Think about Trent's upbringing in rural Pennsylvania, the guy was a teenager / early 20 something in full on rebellion against a conservative rural America, he was journeying up to Ohio to play nightclubs in Cleveland (which had a better club/goth scene) and the song is likely reflecting his experience in that moment and scene. His psychology at the time seemed focused on self-destruction, pleasure, and the loss of God. This whole idea of transformation into something that suffers a "fall from grace", indulges in guilty pleasures and eventually self-destructs is a major theme in his work. Im sure there were plenty of "guilty pleasures" this song could relate to. "SHE" can be a number of things, heroin, cocaine, loose women, and the song is about anything you do to SELF-DESTRUCT and the hopeless feeling of being "owned" by something or someone external to your own better judgment, but also then how the mind tends to "justify" any behavior once you are "owned" by an addictive substance or behavior. Imagine any heroin addict breaking into a house to steal things so they can feed their addiction. It isnt "them" who are doing the evil act, but their addiction driving them to such behaviors. I think this is where "sanctified" draws it's inspiration. Especially if you think of how something like cocaine or heroin makes you feel. You are "justified" in that you are feeding your addiction, "purified" in that you are made whole once you snort/boot-up and your body feels better, and then "sanctified" in that you are flying and made to feel "high" or "supernatural" once you get your high. Listening to this again after quite a long time, I hear a song about addiction and rebellion. And how he is reborn, casting off his old shell of a self as he accepts the self-destructive life he has adopted. The verses are his "higher self" which is moral and knows he is walking down a dangerous path, but then the choruses are the confessions of absolute surrender to some controlling agent. He is not his own being, he is scared, and "in hell" but he becomes justified, purified, and sanctified once he allows this controlling agent to overtake and overpower him. And I think there is a "tongue in cheek" sarcasm in the words "sanctified, justified, purified". I think those lines are delivered half seriously, and half sarcasm or in mockery of himself. Again, I think of heroin addiction, cocaine addiction, or sexual promiscuity, but I can also see the angle of casting off spirituality and a loss of innocence. Regardless, music is YOURS to interpret how you see fit. We don't love songs because of what they meant to the writer, we love songs because of what they mean to US. Knowing the original intent is cool, but whatever this song means for YOU, that is what it's about... Period. And I'm sure pretty sure Reznor might happily agree with that. |
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