The Way Out Is Through Lyrics
this song is about faith. after la mer, which is about a woman killing herself, the man she leaves behind remorses [the great below]. the second disc is about his effort to recover from the loss. the way out is through is the start of the second disc. the narrator makes a blanket resolution, determinedly stating that he's going to make it. when the song reaches its climax, however, there is a lashing out. the narrator screams exasperatedly "underneath it all/we feel so small/the heavens fall/but still we crawl." the imagery here is of god. we are underneath god, small in comparison, he resides in heaven. but, with the death of the girl, faith looses its footing. the heavens fall, because god has let down the narrator. but he continues to live in god's shadow, like job, hoping that it will pay off in the end. thus the original resolution repeats after the climax.
this is all my opinion, and i do not suggest any of it as fact. it's just a way of looking at it.
Wow, this is an incredibly powerful interpretation. I love how it makes you think of Job- you must have some biblical knowledge. That's amazing. If I can ask this...are you a Christian by any chance? I am, and Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. It'd be spiff to know there's someone else who can sometimes find their own spiritual meanings behind NIN's music.
Wow, this is an incredibly powerful interpretation. I love how it makes you think of Job- you must have some biblical knowledge. That's amazing. If I can ask this...are you a Christian by any chance? I am, and Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. It'd be spiff to know there's someone else who can sometimes find their own spiritual meanings behind NIN's music.
Of course one finds spiritual meaning in NIN's song. He is a 7 after all.
Of course one finds spiritual meaning in NIN's song. He is a 7 after all.
@crashinghero Where did you read or hear about the meaning behind "La Mer" and "The Great Below"?
@crashinghero Where did you read or hear about the meaning behind "La Mer" and "The Great Below"?
This song runs through my head whenever I think of September 11th.
the layering in this song is incredibly well done.
I feel that this song is about living on after something bad in life. I think the lyrics of "all I've undergone, I will keep on" express that clearly. I think the title of the song also shows this meaning...that saying the only way out of a dark time in life is to go through it and move past it.
i think this song means whatever happens to us, we can keep on. "the heavens fall, but still we crawl" that means that we can keep on.
The ocean is often used as a metaphorical point of a female suicide. In "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure, Robert Smith talks about the obvious suicide of the girl he loved, and he uses the metaphore "drowned her deep inside of me". The fragile is much like that in this sense. The woman he loved died, and he's determined to keep on going long after her death, because he knows that's what she would have wanted.
I don't know how you get female out of the ocean, I think it's gender neutral.
I don't know how you get female out of the ocean, I think it's gender neutral.
This is a moment of realization. People live thier everyday lives with no real happiness and no reward except death. When the author realizes how life really is, he loses god, faith and hope all in one shot. He must continue, and will continue....there is no alternative but suicide.
What an excellent way to open up The Right Side of The Fragile. Just wonderful! Just like the Day the World Went Away, this song has little lyrics and awesome instrumentals. HOOAH.
I agree, the Fragile has to be experienced in its entirety. I believe the Fragile is one of the most important music pieces that has come along in a long time. It has changed me in a way that I could never explain, and should never try to explain again as I did above. My interpretation of Mr Reznors art is way to personal, as I am sure so many other fans feel the same. I am forever silent.
Thank you NIN,
Mike
I know what you mean, Mike. It's truly amazing.
I know what you mean, Mike. It's truly amazing.
One of my favourite songs of the fragile. I remember the first time I heard it, still a bit "fragile" from La Mer and The Great Below, and I really felt a small feeling of peace of mind, of liberation. It was simply amazing, I can't describe what was going thru my head at that time. Again, I'm like armin9162, Nine Inch Nails was the only band that really got into me, and my way of thinking, living, and changed everything. These years of nin die-hard fanship have been perfect, a trip of emotions, a trip back and forth your head, meh.. I won't go on, speeches are not my thing ^^''.