NEW SINGLE: Came Back Haunted

[elevenism]

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"

I think that's a pretty damn good, and more interesting, interpretation. I can't wait to see what this record has in common with tds.
For those of you who didn't like the track at first, suggest giving it another whirl.

"Play twice before listening."-Koen Poolman (regarding Boards of Canada)

[shagg_187]

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.

Yeah, that makes more sense in a fun way. The Downward Spiral leading to suicide. The Fragile being the moments he was presumed 'dead' and life flashing before him, and Hesitation Marks when he eventually came back to life and is now coping with it.

[Christo]

Yeah, that makes more sense in a fun way. The Downward Spiral leading to suicide. The Fragile being the moments he was presumed 'dead' and life flashing before him, and Hesitation Marks when he eventually came back to life and is now coping with it.

Nah, it's just an edgy gothic title

[BipolarMike]

Well, it's not bad. I think I'll like it more in context with the rest of the album. I'll listen a few more times to see if it *clicks* though.

Great quote by the way elevenism!

"Play twice before listening."-Koen Poolman (regarding Boards of Canada)

[BenAkenobi]

Yeah, that makes more sense in a fun way. The Downward Spiral leading to suicide. The Fragile being the moments he was presumed 'dead' and life flashing before him, and Hesitation Marks when he eventually came back to life and is now coping with it.

and all of that was started with The Slip

[mfte]

Do you people realy think that Trent is conciously contructing a narrative that somehow link the albums?




This song has grown on me. I only really like the chorus so i find myself listening to the song just to hear it 3 times.

[Xvostya]

*listening to flac on studio monitors*

OMFG SO MANY LAYERS!
and completely different experience even from monitor headphones

[ItsJustDave]

Do you people realy think that Trent is conciously contructing a narrative that somehow link the albums?

This ARG has been running for nearly 25 years. Where have you been?

[Ruttiger]

*listening to flac on studio monitors*

OMFG SO MANY LAYERS!
and completely different experience even from monitor headphones

This is why I cant agree with any comparisons to THTF.

[Scarlet Siren]

*listening to flac on studio monitors*

OMFG SO MANY LAYERS!
and completely different experience even from monitor headphones

This. I listened to this all day at work with regular Sennheiser earphones, they're pretty decent and loved it. Finally got home, downloaded it and played it on the sound system and was blown away at the intricacies and nuances, the layering and detailing is outstanding. I've invested a fair bit of money in speakers for this reason, I want to hear the music as it was intended or as close to what the artist intended.

A few pages back someone made a remark about why anyone would want to listen to a song 100 times. THIS is why I listen to one song 100s times over because I zone in on certain parts, I break things down, dissect and absorb each layer. Now, if anyone wants to put a song on and play it in the background and let it be then that's cool and I'm capable of that too (I generally think that how most people listen to music), but the thing with me, with Trent's music in particular, I get a lot out of listening to music this way and getting right in to it's construction. Did anyone get Trent's interview in The New Yorker for iPad a few months back where there was a deconstruction of Only, I was such a happy girl when I found that! I long for the multitracks for Came BacK Haunted... can you imagine!?!

And as above, I don't get the comparisons to THTF. I don't get it at all.

[cashpiles (closed)]

I've only listened to this song a handful of times, but it has completely infiltrated my brain. The song keeps playing in my head all day, and I keep wanting to sing out, "I came back, came back haunted". This is one of the defining marks of a pop hit: you can't get it out of your brain.... it's catchy as hell.

[DigitalChaos]

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.

It's more likely that Trent has been inspired by Star Wars and is writing a first person narrative of Boba Fett. "Came Back Haunted" is clearly about Boba Fett's thoughts after climbing out of the Sarlacc pit. "Hesitation Scars" are of course a reference to the injuries he sustained as a result of Han Solo knocking him into the pit due to his minor hesitation to quickly take out the Rebels. It's track #3 so the first 2 are probably about his time in the pit. I am curious where the album will end though. Will it cover the time when Fett becomes Mandalore? Will it cover him leading the Mandalorians in the Yuuzhan Vong War? Will it go all the way to the nanovirus that prevented Fett from ever returning to his home planet?

[GavinCollins420]

It's more likely that Trent has been inspired by Star Wars and is writing a first person narrative of Boba Fett. "Came Back Haunted" is clearly about Boba Fett's thoughts after climbing out of the Sarlacc pit. "Hesitation Scars" are of course a reference to the injuries he sustained as a result of Han Solo knocking him into the pit due to his minor hesitation to quickly take out the Rebels. It's track #3 so the first 2 are probably about his time in the pit. I am curious where the album will end though. Will it cover the time when Fett becomes Mandalore? Will it cover him leading the Mandalorians in the Yuuzhan Vong War? Will it go all the way to the nanovirus that prevented Fett from ever returning to his home planet?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

[thelastdisciple]

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

Wow aha......

Aren't you the end all be all...........

That comment was bullshit man.

[BenAkenobi]

The important part seems to be missing. Where's “nothing can stop me now”, i ask ye.

[Jinsai]

Wow aha......

Aren't you the end all be all...........

That comment was bullshit man.

Sure. But I'm not being completely serious here. We've already moved on to talk about musical appreciation in cookie terms.

[Jon]

[frankie teardrop]

yeah in all fairness to the cookie/play count analogy- don't you guys worry about overdoing it? how many have said here that they got incredibly sick of 'survivalism'/'hand that feeds' etc. when they dropped after 200 consecutive listens? go outside and play!

i dig the new single too, but have only listened twice. way too much music out there to enjoy in moderation instead of overdosing like that.

fortunately this song won't give you diabetes.

[Sutekh]

It's good, starts off a bit phm, has an echoplex ish little lead break, generally has a bouncy year zero feel

[thefragile_jake]

To me, the electronics and synths in the song have a very TDS almost "Heresy" feel to them. I can see why people are getting the bouncy Year Zero idea but to me, one of the things I never really liked about YZ was how the drums sounded a bit "Garageband" like to me. They didn't feel as heavy on some songs as they did with others, plus the certain drum ticks and noises came back on a lot of the same songs. It makes sense since it was a concept record and themes/motifs appearing again is common with NIN ("La Mer/Into the Void") but overall, I just don't feel as connected to YZ as I do with some of the other albums.

This song however has that electronic bounce but to me, it sounds beefier. Everything sounds amplified as much as it can get and the song's beat hits you all over. The more I'm listening to this song, the more I'm loving it. It's just as good as any other NIN single "Discipline"/"THTF" and has a playful tone to it...but still feels like a welcomed addition to the NIN catalog.

[Kamelion]

Wonderful song. That bassline, just swaggering about the place, catchy verse structure, fun lyrics. Classic single material. Great stuff. Complete sentences? Me? Too blown away .

[BRoswell]

Random thought: it'd be cool if they got some female backup singers for the tour. I just imagine them harmonizing with Trent and it sounding amazing, especially with this track.

[DigitalChaos]

Random thought: it'd be cool if they got some female backup singers for the tour. I just imagine them harmonizing with Trent and it sounding amazing, especially with this track.

so... Mariqueen?

freakout with hints of misogyny below this line
________________________________

[laz001]

I personally hope it's NOT a downward spiral part two. Trent is a 40 year old man married with kids, it would feel kinda immature for him to revisit something that was his life from 20 years ago. I hope this song is about someone else, a conceptual character like a soldier, or even something like a character from YZ who's been abducted by the 'presence'...YZ part two...we can only hope!!

[snaapz]

Over 1,000,000 listens already!!! (VEVO & Sound Cloud combined)

I work in a typical office (communications); I've had a couple people randomly bring up & comment on "the new Nine Inch Nails song"... good comments of course. CBH is generating a lot of buzz.

[eversonpoe]

I personally hope it's NOT a downward spiral part two. Trent is a 40 year old man married with kids, it would feel kinda immature for him to revisit something that was his life from 20 years ago. I hope this song is about someone else, a conceptual character like a soldier, or even something like a character from YZ who's been abducted by the 'presence'...YZ part two...we can only hope!!

*48-year-old

also, please, no. let's just let it be what it is without theorizing too much before we have the full album.

[jesus]

it's more likely that trent has been inspired by star wars and is writing a first person narrative of boba fett. "came back haunted" is clearly about boba fett's thoughts after climbing out of the sarlacc pit. "hesitation scars" are of course a reference to the injuries he sustained as a result of han solo knocking him into the pit due to his minor hesitation to quickly take out the rebels. It's track #3 so the first 2 are probably about his time in the pit. I am curious where the album will end though. Will it cover the time when fett becomes mandalore? Will it cover him leading the mandalorians in the yuuzhan vong war? Will it go all the way to the nanovirus that prevented fett from ever returning to his home planet?

hahahahahahahhaha lmao

[Wolfkiller]

I personally hope it's NOT a downward spiral part two. Trent is a 40 year old man married with kids, it would feel kinda immature for him to revisit something that was his life from 20 years ago.

Yeah... because only angsty youngsters deal with depression and suicide. Being a married adult with kids disqualifies you from all that.

[BRoswell]

Not to mention that Trent has said multiple times that it was only after he made The Downward Spiral that he actually became the person in the narrative of the album. It's acting. Why does everything Trent makes have to be relevant to his current life? Why does he have to be miserable in order to sing about being miserable? You think when he sings Hurt that he's singing from the same place where he wrote it? He certainly draws from that when he performs, but so do actors when they're playing an emotional role. It's all an act.

[Maximilian]

I've only listened to this song a handful of times, but it has completely infiltrated my brain. The song keeps playing in my head all day, and I keep wanting to sing out, "I came back, came back haunted". This is one of the defining marks of a pop hit: you can't get it out of your brain.... it's catchy as hell.

Either you're NIN or you're OUT!