All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on

Underneath it all
We feel so small
The heavens fall
But still we crawl

All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on
All I've undergone
I will keep on


Lyrics submitted by thewhitepony33

The Way Out Is Through Lyrics as written by Keith Hillebrandt Charlie Clouser

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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The Way Out Is Through song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment
    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.
    crashingheroon June 02, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    This song runs through my head whenever I think of September 11th.
    the wretchedon February 09, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    the layering in this song is incredibly well done.
    gobblyon January 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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.
    molokoon January 17, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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.
    TheWretchedOne NINon May 30, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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.
    LittleUrantiaGirlon July 03, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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.
    armin9162on December 07, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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.
    FaaipDeOaidon December 28, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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
    armin9162on January 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    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 ^^''.
    kaoru_ninon October 11, 2006   Link

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