This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
The sky is not the same shade of blue
Every single thing I believe isn't true
Missing in the maze of monochrome
How did I get here, how can I go home
The echoes in my eyes, of all they used to see
Burning down the world, the ashes and debris
And all that's left to me, non-entityâ?¦
Try to stand the line, try to obey
The ghost of what I was keep getting in the way
Staring at the sun, I'm blinded by the light
Now I'm afraid I'm fading out of sight
The echoes in my eyes, of all they used to see
Burning down the world, the ashes and debris
And all that's left of you, and all that's left of me
All have washed away, non-entity...
Every single thing I believe isn't true
Missing in the maze of monochrome
How did I get here, how can I go home
The echoes in my eyes, of all they used to see
Burning down the world, the ashes and debris
And all that's left to me, non-entityâ?¦
Try to stand the line, try to obey
The ghost of what I was keep getting in the way
Staring at the sun, I'm blinded by the light
Now I'm afraid I'm fading out of sight
The echoes in my eyes, of all they used to see
Burning down the world, the ashes and debris
And all that's left of you, and all that's left of me
All have washed away, non-entity...
Lyrics submitted by Twisted-gamer
Non-Entity Lyrics as written by Trent Reznor
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is amazing. I hope that the performance for the relief show is a sign of things to come that are more in the same vein as "Still." That remains one of my all time favorite albums, and I'd love if Trent would rework some more tunes like that material, and create songs like this. It's very intimate and emotional. It almost could fit somewhere on The Fragile (left) right around The Great Below. Content-wise it seems oriented between the latter part of the left Fragile and much of With Teeth.
For those of you still harping on NIN for WT, does this satisfy you?
I remember years ago reading a interview with Trent where he talked about his first tour and not wanting to go out on stage by himself and a tape recorder and that is why he people to play his songs with him. I just find it funny that that is exactly what he did when he played it live.
I think it's a great song.
amazing song. Trent has managed to completely blow me away in this last year with his ability to mature, while at the same time keeping it edgy. very catchy, haunting when taken in the context of the New Orleans disaster. it sounds like it could very easily translate to a louder guitar ballad type song. guess we'll all just have to wait for the next album to find out. hope it won't be another 5-6 year wait.
we can expect a follow up in the likes of "fixed" "further down the spiral" or "things falling apart"... i wouldn't be surprized to find this song on that (hopefully) eventual halo :)
this song is a great deconstructed song in the vien of the still album. The great news is that there will be an entire album of songs like this. Trent Reznor is going to release a solo album, with nothing but piano and synth effects. I know, Nine Inch Nails is basicall a Trent Reznor solo project, but the difference lies in that NIN is meant for a band to play, while his solo album will be just him and a piano and synth effects. On a seperate note, there will be no remix disc, like further down the spiral or things falling apart, for with teeth. But, there will be a new album before the end of 2007. It will contain a few new songs and leftovers from with teeth. This song will not be on it, because it is part of his impending solo work.
These great songs are so hard to find! Amazing piano.
I find the beat amusing, coming from a common CD player. Beautiful work, especially with video - just a man and his piano on stage, all alone, singing straight from the heart.
I haven't seen anyone really get into what the song is about. What I get out of it is that he is still putting the pieces back together of his life being in disarray from his problems and it's kind of like "Okay where do I go now?" Continuing the theme of with teeth.
Has anyone heard the live version with the full band playing? It's really great and I can't really decide which version is better... :p
I definatly think that the live version with the band is better. Is this strictly live? Has anyone heard of an actual studio recording of this song?