NEW SINGLE: Came Back Haunted

[danebraddy]

3rd listen and now i fucking love it. And i had a thought (which is usually dangerous, but here goes anyway.)

These lyrics could be interpreted in any of a dozen ways, but it really hit me that it sounds like a soldier's feelings coming back from war.
That means that the arg...just kidding

But seriously, with everyone home from iraq and whatnot...most of my friends who served damn sure "came back haunted."

Real interpretation without the rest of the album would be impossible, but to me it's about returning to Nine Inch Nails, kind of a 'meta', but I think it fits:

"I said goodbye, but I had to try and I came back haunted"

[HurtinMinorKey]

If you want to go that route, Hesitation Marks comes out nineteen years and twenty halo numbers after TDS, where it's apparently getting a lot of its artistic motifs from.

The Great Below is also 5:17. I mixed them together and it sounds insane (cool, but in a random, non intentional way).

[jbeam4]

Don't worry man. Extensive touring in 2013 and 2014. That's just the first leg. Ive been going to see NIN on every tour since 94 (except the NIN/JA and Wave Goodbye,) and they've NEVER not played dallas...and they usually play dallas twice. i think we just might have to wait till next year. but for sure, no dallas or austin or OK for that matter plus "extensive 2013-14 touring" = many more shows to be announced.

I hope (& think) you're right. Not sure I want to make the godawful drive to Kansas City for a show.

[DigitalChaos]

I'm convinced anyone who is saying this is a simple song isn't listening carefully enough. Ignore the lyrics.

And for the conspiracy theorists out there:

...

Ninwiki Came back haunted, and you'll see that this song has a connection to la Mer.

???? http://www.ninwiki.com/Came_Back_Haunted i see no la mer

[jrdsctt]

The pictures on the cover are of teeth, roots of teeth, cavities, and inside teeth

Can't unsee...

[Oblong Cheese]

Obviously the song title is a reference to THIS VERY THREAD.

NIN has "come back haunted" from a hiatus to create a new song which sounds like an amalgamation of old songs. Ever observant, NIN's adoring fans were quick to point this out and make sure that Trent was aware of his previous musical transgressions, or his ghosts of music past, if you will.

[HurtinMinorKey]

???? http://www.ninwiki.com/Came_Back_Haunted i see no la mer

Sorry, i did the search before the Came Back Haunted was given it's own wiki page (48 hours ago?). It goes right to the song page now. Anyway, here is what i came up with.

Before playing "La Mer," Trent Reznor disclosed the song's origins:

"Can you hear me? About 10 years ago or so I locked myself away in a house on the ocean, and I tried to… I said I was trying to write music. Some of which wound up on The Fragile. But what I was really doing was trying to kill myself. And the whole time I was away by myself, I managed to write one song, which is this song. So when I play it I feel pretty weird about it, because it takes me back to a pretty dark and awful time in my life. It's weird to think how different things are now: I'm still alive, I haven't died yet. And I'm afraid to go back to that place because it feels kind of haunted to me, but I'm going to go back. I'm going to get married there."

source: [www.ninwiki.com]

[GibbonBlack]

I like it

[ten characters]

[steelnails95]

I feel like if someone else made this song, they would be criticized for a lot. People might not even give it a second listen or a full listen.

Nobody else would have made this song. It is strait up Trent Reznor sounding.

[Wretchedest]

Only in that formerly tongue in cheek style that was once so clever on Only. I really wish it had stayed that way. NIN doesn't sound like this on very many songs at all. I keep hearing that this is so Trent! and it's just like TDS! but I'm not seeing either of those things at all.

[ZeroSum]

After a day to let this song digest, I still have to say... I think it's fucking awesome. I also don't think it's going to be very indicative of how the album sounds as a whole at all.

I think a lot of the TDS references come because of the obvious guitar bit at the end, but also because the song feels layered in a very similar fashion to how TDS was layered... and the sounds making up those layers are more in line with PHM and bits of The Slip. I don't get the With Teeth comparisons at all.

[joplinpicasso]

I actually don't hear TDS much at all. I hear a mix of In Motion and Eventually We Find Our Way from TSN, but on complete overdrive and with (very TR) lyrics. Speaking of, the ninwiki entry needs to be corrected:

"Everywhere now *reminding* me"

I don't think I'm in complete love with it, but I'll be damned if I'm not listening to CBH on repeat. I hope the next song released is almost completely different.

[littlemonkey613]

I hear The Fragile (Please and Where is Everybody) mixed with Year Zero like production. Some PHM throwback sounds too.

[MikeDigs]

After about 100 listens, Im reminded of
The Slip percussion, The Fragile guitar riff and synths, TDS melodies, PHM baseline, WT/YZ delivery.
I'm reminded of NIN. Im excited to hear the "new direction" and this is just a preview for sure.

[billpulsipher]

PHM synths/WT guitar and YZ/Slip vocals.....I don't hear absolutely any TDS on this at all...

[MikeDigs]

PHM synths/WT guitar and YZ/Slip vocals.....I don't hear absolutely any TDS on this at all...

Besides the obvious TDS melody near the end, it took a while to pick up on the subtle TDS influence layered in. It's very subtle tho.

[Jinsai]

After about 100 listens

are you insane?

You listened to a song a hundred or so times?! Do you realize how much music you could have discovered while you were jacking off over the new NIN single? What the fuck is wrong with you?

[GavinCollins420]

are you insane?

You listened to a song a hundred or so times?! Do you realize how much music you could have discovered while you were jacking off over the new NIN single? What the fuck is wrong with you?

But, this is NIN, man...

[Q-NeilL]

are you insane?

You listened to a song a hundred or so times?! Do you realize how much music you could have discovered while you were jacking off over the new NIN single? What the fuck is wrong with you?

I listened "came back haunted" about 100times too. What's wrong with that? I just like this song..

[Jinsai]

I listened "came back haunted" about 100times too. What's wrong with that? I just like this song..

There's nothing "wrong" with it, as much as it marks you as someone who doesn't really like music.

[Zipfinator]

There's nothing "wrong" with it, as much as it marks you as someone who doesn't really like music.

You've eaten a hundred cookies? Do you realize how much more baked goods you could have discovered while you were jacking off all over those cookies? What the fuck is wrong with you?

I'm marking you as someone who doesn't really like baked goods.

[Jinsai]

You've eaten a hundred cookies? Do you realize how much more baked goods you could have discovered while you were jacking off all over those cookies? What the fuck is wrong with you?

I'm marking you as someone who doesn't really like baked goods.

I probably haven't eaten a hundred cookies to be honest, but if I ate a hundred cookies within 48 hours, I'd think it's fair to declare that I have a problem with cookies, and I'd wonder what the fuck is wrong with me.

[MikeDigs]

100.listens is easy. Also had time to run through TDS twice. Gotta love repeat NIN while working 8 hrs. Fragile is also a great repeater album for sure.

[Zipfinator]

I probably haven't eaten a hundred cookies to be honest, but if I ate a hundred cookies within 48 hours, I'd think it's fair to declare that I have a problem with cookies, and I'd wonder what the fuck is wrong with me.

I've eaten 32 cookies in 48 hours and wondered what the fuck is wrong with me. I just had to do something with that setup. You were still kind of a butt to those guys though.

[MikeDigs]

NIN song compared to cookies. I love ETS. And also cookies.

[Emil Dorbell]

are you insane?

You listened to a song a hundred or so times?! Do you realize how much music you could have discovered while you were jacking off over the new NIN single? What the fuck is wrong with you?

On a related note I caught myself being a crazy person yesterday. I told my wife "I've listened to the new NIN single maybe 20 times today. I'm not sure I like it..."

Why then did I listen to it 20 times!?

[GrayscaleRain]

Yeah, its been brought up a couple of times before but it falls in line with the whole TDS theme. The artwork (ie: The teeth at the bottom of the tour page, Mills working on album cover again, the TDS font) and the sounds we're picking up within this track and too closely related for it to be a coincidence. Someone (their name is escaping me at this moment) brought up the idea that this album's theme might be along the lines of climbing up out of a downward spiral but who knows. All I know is that it's going to be exciting to see what else happens between now and September.

I always felt like The Fragile was the remaining and fragmented thoughts of "Mr. Self Destruct" in TDS, and did a pretty epic job at that.

Well, considering the title (Hesitation Marks) perhaps Mr. Self-Destruct tried to kill himself, but... didn't manage it. People have shot themselves before and lived, wouldn't that be a horrible experience? With the Fragile being broken dreams and memories and thoughts... perhaps now he's awake again and has to face what he's done to himself.

Of course, that's all just conjecture, but still, interesting thoughts.

[jmtd]

the server only has 1Gb?

640K should be enough for anyone!

[sentient02970]

Took me a few listening to really dig this track. I think I spent the first in lyric focus. Was thrown a bit by his repeat of "hawnted" but I get it..it's Trent. The music is superb and he layers the vocals nicely (as usual) over and around them. A wonderful teaser for a surprise album for us. So looking forward to more.

[Hula]

I'd like to think that if Trent actually attempted suicide (by cutting) he'd be a bit more subtle than to use a phrase like 'Hesitation Marks' as an album title. I mean, TDS kind of conjures some dark imagery as a title and it's just the tiniest bit more subtle than an out-and-out reference to self-harm which can't be mistaken for anything else.

Which leads me to believe it has nothing to do with a suicide attempt and that Trent just decided on a whim to use something incredibly triggering and problematic as a metaphor for something entirely different. Only problem is, 'hesitation marks' can only really refer to one thing. So.

Anyway, on the subject of the song: I hated it at first but it has grown on me a lot. Even the lazy, sloppy synths that come in around 1:38 (and the other synthy stuff that sounds more HTDA than NIN littered throughout the song) don't bother me as much now. The real selling point is Trent's ability to come up with catchy hooks and choruses. As much as Trent paints himself as a bitter, jaded musician with no respect for the music industry, he sure knows how to come up with a winning song formula.