The Hand That Feeds

for the record... this site is not about your opinions on trent reznor. if you didn't like the song, then don't buy the album.

now to get back on track. i think this song has maybe a political undertone? how we are basically zombies to our society and just do what we are told. a crusade? a war on oil? when asked if this was a political album trent replied " as in the definition: of or relating to your views about social relationships involving authority or power? then, yes it is."

i definitely feel that this is a political statement. "just how deep do you believe" is talking about how much trust you have in the american government. the next few lines are asking if you are going to stand up and fight against the propaganda being shoved in our throats.

"what if this whole crusade's a charade and behind it all there's a price to be paid for the blood on which we dine justified in the name of the holy and the divine" is talking about the war in iraq. all the blood shed in the name of oil, etc... justified in the name of the holy and the divine is about bush's christian bent. i would elaborate, but you know what i'm saying

I think song is about all the ignorant and blind people who follow the words, and trends, set by those in power today. George Bush, the media, the US, all of that shit. The same talk that's turning men into little emo wusses. Trent's mocking modern society's state and asking the blind if they are actually willing and able to get back up to start again. Think of Morpheus unplugging Neo.

I suppose I read too far into it when I assumed it was an attack outright, on society in general.

you're keeping in step in the line got your chin held high and you feel just fine because you do what you're told but inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold

You're following society's mass plan, you've gotten through highschool, you've gone to college, you're married, you have a job, kids, a house and you're proud of these accomplishments. Not because given a choice you'd have actually aspired to these things but because you've succeeded in the way you were told you were supposed to and gone through life in line without making a fuss. Except, deep inside, you realize that none of these superficial things mean anything and you're simply going through the motions without thinking and for that reason when you look inside you realize your soul, your heart, your whatever is completely empty.

'just how deep do you believe? will you bite the hand that feeds? will you chew until it bleeds? can you get up off your knees? are you brave enough to see? do you want to change it?'

Asking just how attatched are you to the illusion of order society has created. Will you bite the thing, will you dystroy the thing that feeds the very foundation of your world. Are you strong enough to stand up and remove yourself from the hold that it has over you. Are you brave enough to face the fact that it is all just an illusion and even if you do realize this do you want to change it? It would be alot easier to just keep going on in the same fashion you have been your entire life.

what if this whole crusade's a charade and behind it all there's a price to be paid for the blood on which we dine justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Along the same lines as the first paragraph except the question is termed in frames of religion.

so naive to keep holding on to what I want to believe i can see but i keep holding on and on and on and on

Once again its easier just to keep believing in the legitimacy of the society we have created and to keep holding on and on and on even though deep down we know that it's superficial and that its pointless.

Maybe I'm wrong but hey it's what I want to believe ;)

Doesn't surprise me that you said that. Everybody who visits this website thinks a song is about gay or anal sex.

I believe the song is about having everything given to you. Almost hand fed. Then realizing it's time to get up and go and do it yourself...

Brilliant song though

Nevermind Fluid's mini-review, he's just one of the cool fans that always hate any new CD any band releases and loves the old days.

People said they hated NIN's "The Fragile" when it came out.

You heard the song what? In an absolutely ass bad rip of it from the internet?

I've listened to "The Line Begins To Blur" and it's a great song. That's all I need to hear until the CD comes out...I'm not going to listen to a shitty quality radio rip and pass judgement on anything.

But hey, if you really think that way, go check out the song "Hooker With A Penis" from Tool...it kind of sums up you and subsequently what most people think of you.

fuck the disbelievers, trent is a god. he got more shit in 1999 for the fagile which to this day is one of the best albums of all fucking time. he was one of the few bright stars in the othewise darkskies that were the nineties. every truly great artist has to evolve otherwise they become stagnet and formulaic. after the success of downward spiral he changed. true fans need not doubt the album will be good. abd to the little fuck that said he listned to it once fuck man it a long time to get the full beauty of each nin song

People are dominated by social structure, culture and society. The Hand That Feeds questions whether you should follow the rules of society for a comfortable life and continue believing the lies which control our culture or rebel and live by your own means.

I genuinely believe the song is more about religion than politics. Look at all of the religious references in there ("Get up off your knees," "What if this whole crusade is a big charade," "Just how deep do you believe?", "Justified in the name of the holy and the divine,"). If it was political, I don't think it would reference stereotypical Christianity so much (unless he wished to portray politics as a religion).

That being said, I believe the song is about following a religion blindly (which the meaning of the word "blindly" can be spun off into an entirely new debate). Regardless of how you define it, the song is speaking to those who fall into step with their religion, put on their smile, but continue to remain broken and empty, placing responsibility for life and circumstance solely on the shoulders of a deity who claims to be in control of your life. The song is a challenge to those to see past their indoctrination and their blindness to question their belief system, and follow what they can see and know to be true.

Coming from somebody with a long history in Christianity, stepping away from that was the most frightening, challenging experiences of my life. But it is so worth it. I've taken responsibility for my own life, I choose happiness, and my life has been so much better because of it.

The meaning is pretty literal for this song. It is all about people following organized religion without questioning what they are following or why they are doing what they are doing.

My guess is that Trent wrote this song in lieu of the scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, asking its followers if they dare "bite the hand that feeds" and question their faith.