35 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Where Is Everybody? Lyrics
Did you happen to catch
Or did it happen so fast
What you thought would always last
Has passed you by
Is everything speeding up
Or am I slowing down
I'm just spinning around
And I don't know why
All the pieces don't fit
Thought I really didn't give a shit
I never wanted to be like you
But for all I aspire
I am really a liar
And I'm running out of things I can do
I'd like to stay
But every day
Everything pushes me farther away
If you could show
Help me to know
How it's supposed to be
Where did it go?
Pleading and
Needing and
Bleeding and
Breeding.
Feeding,
Exceeding
Where is everybody?
Trying and lying,
Defying, denying,
Crying and dying?
Where is everybody?
Well okay, enough,
You've had your fun
But come on there has to be someone
That hasn't yet become
So numb and succumb
And god damn I am so tired of pretending
Of wishing I was ending
When all I'm really doing is trying to hide
And keep it inside
And fill it with lies
Open my eyes
Maybe I wish I could try
Pleading and needing
And bleeding and breeding
And feeding exceeding
Where is everybody?
Trying and lying
Defying, denying
Crying and dying
Where is everybody?
Or did it happen so fast
What you thought would always last
Has passed you by
Is everything speeding up
Or am I slowing down
I'm just spinning around
And I don't know why
All the pieces don't fit
Thought I really didn't give a shit
I never wanted to be like you
But for all I aspire
I am really a liar
And I'm running out of things I can do
But every day
Everything pushes me farther away
If you could show
Help me to know
How it's supposed to be
Where did it go?
Needing and
Bleeding and
Breeding.
Feeding,
Exceeding
Where is everybody?
Trying and lying,
Defying, denying,
Crying and dying?
Where is everybody?
You've had your fun
But come on there has to be someone
That hasn't yet become
So numb and succumb
And god damn I am so tired of pretending
Of wishing I was ending
When all I'm really doing is trying to hide
And keep it inside
And fill it with lies
Open my eyes
Maybe I wish I could try
And bleeding and breeding
And feeding exceeding
Where is everybody?
Trying and lying
Defying, denying
Crying and dying
Where is everybody?
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I think this song is about someone who wants to conform to society, but can't. He wants to believe that there are other people like him, who can't conform and are therfore different from the rest of society. "Where is Everybody?" implies that he is searching for these people, but can't find them. Its a conformist's anti-conformist song, if you know what i mean, and an excuse for being different.
I always wondered whether this song was named after the Twilight Zone episode of the same name, and now that Trent's called a song 'The Four of Us Are Dying' (another Twilight Zone episode) on The Slip, it seems more likely.
The episode 'Where Is Everybody?' is about...
spoilers
A guy in a US Military uniform walking round a small US town with nobody in it apart from himself. It's a lot like the "We're In This Together" video actually. Anyway, he keeps wandering around, having no idea how he got there, who he is, or what he's supposed to be doing, and gradually freaks out more and more. Eventually at the end of the episode he completely cracks and keeps pushing a traffic light button sobbing and crying out for someone to help him. Then the twist is that he was actually a volunteer for a US Space Program who was in an isolation tank to experiment on trying to send man to the moon (the episode was written / filmed in the late fifties). He dreamed the whole town up in his own mind from lonliness and sensory deprivation.
I think Yer Ma is on the right track, as far as the Twilight Episode goes.
I think Yer Ma is on the right track, as far as the Twilight Episode goes.
It actually makes a lot of sense, if you think about the character from the episode asking the question when he is walking around the abandoned town, "Where is everybody?" and then Reznor replying with the ensuing lyrics. Also, the lyrics
It actually makes a lot of sense, if you think about the character from the episode asking the question when he is walking around the abandoned town, "Where is everybody?" and then Reznor replying with the ensuing lyrics. Also, the lyrics
"did you happen to catch or did it happen so fast what you thought would always last has passed you by is everything speeding up or am I slowing down just spinning around"
"did you happen to catch or did it happen so fast what you thought would always last has passed you by is everything speeding up or am I slowing down just spinning around"
and
and
"well okay, enough you've had your...
"well okay, enough you've had your fun but come on there has got to be someone"
really match up with what was going on in the episode: he kept find traces of people, such burning cigarettes in ashtrays, and if I remember at one point he saw a mannequin he believed was a woman... it started driving him nuts because it was as though he was being teased with the idea of finding another human. The theme of the Twilight Zone episode was "loneliness", and I think that applies really well to what's going on in Reznor's lyrics. Only Reznor isn't singing specifically about the episode, he just taking the question asked and applying it to his reality: Experiencing the loneliness of being the only human left in a world of inhuman wantons.
these are some of reznor's most revealing and self deprecating lyrics. in all his music, though there is a certain self loathing, never does reznor question his own purpose or integrity. this he does in where is everybody. reznor goes so far as to call himself a liar, probably the lowest insult an artist can get. it means his work is all a piece of crap, and his work is his life. in a way, then this could be the most depressing nails song ever written. but it isn't. it balances the self loathing with ego building hatred of everybody else. verses are balanced between the "you" and the "i," and the chous taunts everybody else. this is a truly great [and, as i get the impression, underrated] song, and is a hidden gem in the beauty of the fragile.
is trent possibly looking for the real people out there? all trent wants, i think, is someone who doesnt try to be someone they are not. i find this in the song "the fragile" as well...its pure beauty i think
Well I find these lyrics quite optimistic. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds pretty simple to me - first verses say how miserable his life is/was and then after chorus he says, "come on, there has GOT to be someone.." It's like about he's coming back to life - "Maybe I wish I could try!" He's just tired of that "being depressed" stuff. He just wakes up and says "Come on, where is everybody!" Maybe I'm wrong, but I find it very optimistic, like I said, waking up and coming back to life.
The Fragile carries a theme of abandonement, and this continues that. It stems from the opening track, "Somewhat Damaged". He had a breakdown, his "head fell apart", and he feels as though everyone has left him because of it. He's all alone and he hates these people for leaving him - but, as we all know, when you hate everyone else you're really just hating yourself too.
i couldnt agree with crashinghero more.... what a powerful song
Trent feels abandoned and betrayed by "everyone" (obviously his friends or family, or the people who promised to be there and weren't). In other words, there's many people who are along for the ride of fame and fortune and such, but when Trent needs a shoulder to cry on or something to hold him, no one is there.
"I'm so tired of pretending of wishing I was ending" ---he's tired of pretending he's suicidal and depressed when all he really wants is someone to be there for him. . . and not have to 'live up' to other's expectations. He wants to be himself.
What LittleUrantiaGirl said about "I'm so tired of pretending of wishing I was ending" I totally agree with, hence "there has got to be someone".
So far, I think everyone who has posted above is right on a level. This is one of my favorite songs, and as good as the version on The Fragile is, the Halo 16 version of this is amazing. Almost all of Halo 16 as the distinct essence of some kind of... like digital water.