How do you interpret The Fragile?

[Sesquipedalism]

I'm always scared to start new threads, for fear of moderator Redundant/Stupid Thread Smackdown. But I figured I'd make an exception here since it'd be cool if this became its own conversation.

I was talking with my wife tonight and something came out of my mouth that was rather unexpected which, in itself, is a bit unexpected outside of Being John Malkovitch.Most double albums have a "Disc 1" and a "Disc 2" (or and A/B)—I can only think of Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie right now—and you listen to Disc 1 first because 1 comes before 2. (I remember some of the posts from the "'Everything' Debuts on Zane Lowe" thread and this news may apparently shock some people on ETS right now). I've always only played The Fragile,as Left then Right. I was never instructed to do this; when it arrived on my doorstep, I was woefully out of the NIN loop, too busy chasing blow to be bothered with music news. That's just how I played the discs, and it occurs to me now that that's because I'm American and assume everything goes from left to right, since I read that way. I tried a run through the other way, Right then Left, and you can certainly read/interpret it as a story, albeit a significantly different one.

So, my question: Did Reznor ever specifically state that the "Left" disc thematically comes before the "Right" disc?

*(Possible) Evidence that the traditional reading—Left is "supposed to" be before Right—is the "correct" one.
-The '99 blog posts about changing the end of "Somewhat Damaged" to be more confrontational to open the album.
-I don't know for sure, but I assume the cassette edition was a double cassette, and there's a chance that it's divided differently. NINWiki hasn't been loading for me today, so I can't currently check myself.
-I also don't know what the vinyls were called, nor do I recall if it was a 3xLP or a 4xLP. If they're, say A/B, C/D, E/F, & H/G, this whole idea is pretty much buggered.

I've got some other thoughts on this whole issue that I'll post below, so as not to turn a simple question into a text wall, for those reading on mobiles.

*And even if he did, for the other critical theory geeks who fall into the "once it's out in the world, the text belongs at least partially to the reader" school, does it matter?

[Sesquipedalism]

The Autobiographical Reading
Several songs chronicle the death of Trent's grandmother.
(For Example: "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally," "The Day the World Went Away")

Several songs chronicle the departure of a romantic love.
(For Example: "We're in This Together," "The Fragile")

Several songs chronicle the betrayal of an emotionally marooning friend.
(For Example: "Somewhat Damaged," "No, You Don't," "10 Miles High")

If this is indeed a sequel to Spiral, several songs chronicle how all of this is turning the "Trent" of Spiral back into a human being (instead of the machine he became in "The Becoming").
(For Example: "The New Flesh," "Please")

I've never been one to read things strictly as autobiography and, in this case, I think it's less appropriate since Trent has repeatedly said that he only became like the character from Spiral after the writing of the album. But one could even argue that that doesn't matter.

More to come; just wanted to get something in here so that mods can see this maybe isn't a totally inane conversation to propose.

[Sesquipedalism]

[scene missing]


I still think this could be an interesting conversation.

[Amaro]

The Left definitely comes before the Right.

In some ways, The Fragile is a response to The Downward Spiral. Reznor compared the lyrical content of the two albums:

I wanted this album to sound like there was something inherently flawed in the situation, like someone struggling to put the pieces together. The Downward Spiral was about peeling off layers and arriving at a naked, ugly end. This album starts at the end, then attempts to create order from chaos, but never reaches the goal. It’s probably a bleaker album because it arrives back where it starts — (with) the same emotion. The album begins "Somewhat Damaged" and ends "Ripe (With Decay)".

http://www.ransomfellowship.org/arti...eel, Jr.&TID=4

So...you could start with Right.

Or...

Perhaps the thread title should be changed to "How do YOU interpret the storyline of "The Fragile."

I still think this could be an interesting conversation.

http://www.ninwiki.com/The_Fragile_(halo)

\\

I have nothing really personal to add at this time, but I always dig talk of The Fragile.

[Sesquipedalism]

So...you could start with Right.

Or...





http://www.ninwiki.com/The_Fragile_(halo)

\\

I have nothing really personal to add at this time, but I always dig talk of The Fragile.

Magrão, I was thinking about these when I was writing that. What the fuck would it mean to have "Pilgrimage" at the end of the album? I know he said somewhere that the song is supposed to be the sound of an invading army, but that sort of fits rather awkwardly with the general interpretations of the record.

[butter_hole]

Magrão, I was thinking about these when I was writing that. What the fuck would it mean to have "Pilgrimage" at the end of the album? I know he said somewhere that the song is supposed to be the sound of an invading army, but that sort of fits rather awkwardly with the general interpretations of the record.

I think these ideas would probably sound a lot better with earlier, non sequenced versions of the tracks?

Did we ever find out what Rotation was? I know Anomaly is now "TWOIT" and Stained is apparently "Underneath it All"?

[Sesquipedalism]

I think these ideas would probably sound a lot better with earlier, non sequenced versions of the tracks?

Did we ever find out what Rotation was? I know Anomaly is now "TWOIT" and Stained is apparently "Underneath it All"?

This is why I take it to be a more abstract, less linear story than Spiral. I mean, for the love of god, he had to fly in a whole other person who wasn't him, who was outside of his head, who couldn't possibly grasp the intention behind each track as thoroughly as Trent himself, and let that guy put it in order. It's bound to be abstract! A collage, not a chapter book.

Departure?

Maybe not the best word? But if you consider "The Great Below" and "Underneath It All" as speaking about/to an ex-lover, he or she has clearly left. The "you and me, make it through" on "Somewhat Damaged" becomes a pretty obvious reference to the "you and me" who are in things together in, uh, "We're in This Together." And that song is exceedingly desperate. Like he knows things aren't going to last. Someone on ETS once suggested an unplugged version of the track. I argued and said that would change the entire mood. I was rebutted and suddenly saw the song in a different light. I'd never considered how hopeless that vocal sounds. Like when your relationship is clearly dying, and all of a sudden you start saying "I love you" every eight minutes.

...you could listen to the whole thing backwards, from RWD to SD.

When the reverse was suggested above, this was the first thing I thought of. I've never tried that. It doesn't work out well in my head. But who knows. I'm wrong a lot; maybe this is one of those times.

[Sesquipedalism]

Huh.

That's interesting you view WITT as exceedingly desperate. I've always heard that song as not just the most defiant on the Fragile, but perhaps in his entire catalogue (until that 'Everything' abomination came along ). That was the first song he ever did where I thought "Oh man, homeboy might actually "make it through somehow" after all..."

That was sort of my original take on it, too. Then I had that conversation. And I started thinking about the piano coda that introduces the "La Mer" melody and I began to take it the way some people are taking "Black Noise"—the plucking throughout the most contented song Trent's ever put together begins to degrade and become buried by the fuzzed out guitars that are lacking through most of the LP, but were all over Spiral and Fragi. Slipping into the "La Mer" melody really sells the hopelessness of the narrator's situation for me.

It might work.

Think of the movie 'Momento': start with the album at its ugly end, and work your way backwards in time to see how the protagonist came to be 'Ripe With Decay'

That only works if you read the LP as that teleological thing I mentioned, each song being a temporally progressive chapter. I don't care for that approach to The Fragile. I can't say it's the wrong approach, but I don't love it.

[StockAvuryah]

Huh.

That's interesting you view WITT as exceedingly desperate. I've always heard that song as not just the most defiant on the Fragile, but perhaps in his entire catalogue (until that 'Everything' abomination came along ). That was the first song he ever did where I thought "Oh man, homeboy might actually "make it through somehow" after all..."

I was reading this thread, and it's really good, lots of interesting interpretations of The Fragile, but Everything is beautiful. It's a great song. That's it.

I always found it interesting that both sides of the fragile (pretty much) end with "I can still feel you"

I'd add, now that Deviations 1 has come out, that the only lyrics on Deviations 1 are "I can still feel you", on Underneath It All.

[Lastentrance]

So...you could start with Right.

Or...





http://www.ninwiki.com/The_Fragile_(halo)

\\

I have nothing really personal to add at this time, but I always dig talk of The Fragile.

The thought of La Mer as track 2 is craziness!

[butter_hole]

Unrelated but semi-related: "I'm Looking Forward..." is a cool replacement for the opening track. Very immediate, but mellow; unexpected. Try it out in a playlist.

[eversonpoe]

one time i tried listening to right and then left, and it felt extremely odd, simply because i was so used to going from left to right.

that said, the end of ripe (with decay) goes into somewhat damaged pretty perfectly, and the great below as the final track is fantastic.

also, to answer part of your original question, the vinyl sides are labeled a-f. but that still doesn't mean one HAS to listen to it in that order.

[jesus]

well the note that the tracklist begins with "somewhat damaged" then the right side starting with "the way out is throught" is down after "the great below"... so is left first

[Sesquipedalism]

Hmm. I can't seem to do it myself. Can a mod please change the name of this thread to 'How do you interpret "The Fragile"?' Please and thank you.

[eversonpoe]

ani difranco - reckoning/reveling / reveling/reckoning

double disc album with physically symmetrical packaging that makes absolutely NO attempt to inform you of which disc comes first. (also a fantastic album)

[mfte]

I always found it interesting that both sides of the fragile (pretty much) end with "I can still feel you"

[Ryan]

I always found it interesting that both sides of the fragile (pretty much) end with "I can still feel you"

I didn't realize that until now.

[goingincirclez]

Ah foo, I go to bed early/sick and wake up to find a very interesting and heavy discussion, worthy of more time than I have right now (long day at work/home ahead). I adore this album like no other and have a few ideas I want to contribute, and comments for those above, so I hope I have time to revisit this later. But I've enjoyed what I read thus far.


One somewhat stupid yet quickly-shared idea I had in the past re: "Left" and "Right" was to view the names as puns based on their synonymous meanings. In other words, perhaps "left" is the past tense form of leaving, and "right" is the present-tense verb, to "correct" the past mistake of the "left". If the discs are viewed as separate related acts (which they are, IMHO) then the past sets up the present. It's not a very eloquent theory, I admit, so quickly abandoned the idea, but as long as we're discussing things I'll just leave it here.

Hopefully I can come back to this later. But thanks for this topic and discussion nonetheless!

[InvitingmeAway]

Yeah when 10 miles high goes into the buried part....like the direct opposite of The Downward Spiral title track.

[Sesquipedalism]

One somewhat stupid yet quickly-shared idea I had in the past re: "Left" and "Right" was to view the names as puns based on their synonymous meanings. In other words, perhaps "left" is the past tense form of leaving, and "right" is the present-tense verb, to "correct" the past mistake of the "left". If the discs are viewed as separate related acts (which they are, IMHO) then the past sets up the present. It's not a very eloquent theory, I admit, so quickly abandoned the idea, but as long as we're discussing things I'll just leave it here.

Okay, I don't think I agree with that, but that's the sort of thinking I love. I can't tell you how much more interesting books, movies, and albums become when you find completely new and sometimes very unlikely lenses through which to examine them. Cool.

this is part of the theme: The Fragile is a collection of the fragments, ordered in different ways, mostly following some kind of dream logic, or just no logic at all. it doesn't matter which order you listen in; it doesn't even matter if you listen to any songs in order

I wonder if we're in the majority or minority, when it comes to the (admittedly huge minority of people who've spent this much time thinking about one LP from fifteen years ago) idea that The Fragile is more of a collage than a timeline.

since it furthers the theme by having fragments of other songs at the beginnings and endings of each track.

This actually drives me fucking nuts. I would murder for a copy of The Fragile with no crossfading; with everything neatly spliced. The crossfades, to me, actually speak a little more to an implied order, but only in those places where they occur. For example, "Starfuckers" doesn't have to necessarily follow "Please," but "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" absolutely follows "Complication"—unless you have the vinyl, of course, where it follows "The New Flesh". Which raises the question of things like "Even Deeper" and "Pilgrimag," which don't crossfade at all on the vinyl, because they end and begin a side, respectively.

And speaking of "Pilgrimage," anyone else find it really surprising that the song is/was considered important enough by Trent to end the album in both single-disc versions? I love the track, but not only do I not see it as that integral to the album, I find it to be one of the more almost out of place songs in the collection. It fits, yes, but it's always felt more awkward to me than, say, "Please" (which clearly belongs with its other song buddies).

Funny story:
When i bought "The Fragile" for the first time a long time ago i used to own a multi disc stereo (you could store up to 5 discs at the time, pretty groundbreaking stuff, lol)

Anyhoo when i was about to listen to the album: i stored the two discs in my stereo, but i took them out so quickly i didn't noticed that i placed the "RIGHT" disc in tray 1 and "LEFT" in tray 2.
When i started to read the lyrics i knew i wasn't listening to "Somewhat Damaged", yet i heard the whole album this way! (First RIGHT then LEFT...)

Well, that's an obvious indication which side is intended to come first: "Somewhat Damaged" definitely comes first in the liner notes. Fuck me. I haven't had a physical copy of the album in over a decade (still waiting on that always imminent reissue of the vinyl...), and so that never even crossed my mind. Well. Pretending I don't feel like a total moron right now, let's just say I'm glad the conversation got started.

Heh.

[soft whistling]

I have often wondered if there was a chance that perhaps the Left and the Right could've also been a reference to the traits of left and right sides of the brain, and how they can go wrong, and get turned against him. I've always seen the Left as the first part of The Fragile too. I guess you say that listening to Left side first has also helped do that to me.

Another thing I've never really considered, but which it seems like a lot of ETSers have. Everyone (including Trent in some interview? am I remembering that correctly?) has always said that the Right side is more experimental and abstract, while the Left is more of a traditional album creature. That would certainly fit with the Left/Right brain interpretation. I'm going to have to listen to it with this in mind to see what I think.

@Sesquipedalism - And yes, this is definitely an awesome topic indeed. I certainly give you mad props for it via thumbs up.

Thanks! Glad so many people felt like nerding out with me. I'm only sorry that I started it before two days away from my computer (a day out of town and a solid day at work).

[seasonsinthesky]

I wonder if we're in the majority or minority, when it comes to the (admittedly huge minority of people who've spent this much time thinking about one LP from fifteen years ago) idea that The Fragile is more of a collage than a timeline.

it doesn't make sense if read in a linear fashion without relying on majorly shaky interpretations — as in, the kinds unsupported by the source text. the thing just isn't arranged logically and can't be followed as such if one is attempting to make any kind of sense from it. how could it be? the songs were placed according to an external brain disconnected from the meanings of the words and statements.

[Songs having bits of other songs at the start and end] actually drives me fucking nuts. I would murder for a copy of The Fragile with no crossfading; with everything neatly spliced. The crossfades, to me, actually speak a little more to an implied order, but only in those places where they occur. For example, "Starfuckers" doesn't have to necessarily follow "Please," but "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" absolutely follows "Complication"—unless you have the vinyl, of course, where it follows "The New Flesh". Which raises the question of things like "Even Deeper" and "Pilgrimage," which don't crossfade at all on the vinyl, because they end and begin a side, respectively.

TNF and ILFTJYF are across sides as well, so they're separated like ED and "Pilgrimage." and i agree; kinda wish they'd put out multitracks or at least instrumentals like with TDS so we can have a peek anyway. i've taken the time to 'crop out' all the songs and while some are easily done ("The Fragile" easily splits away from WITT, as does the end of "The Wretched"), some have to be edited enough that you start to wonder if it's really equal to hearing the song pre-sequencing.

And speaking of "Pilgrimage," anyone else find it really surprising that the song is/was considered important enough by Trent to end the album in both single-disc versions? I love the track, but not only do I not see it as that integral to the album, I find it to be one of the more almost out of place songs in the collection. It fits, yes, but it's always felt more awkward to me than, say, "Please" (which clearly belongs with its other song buddies).

i was surprised too when i first saw it. evidently the track has an important perspective on the work as a whole; to be honest, it took me about a decade to even like the piece, so i've been thinking for a long time that TR must have had serious intentions behind including it but not including "10 Miles High," which is easily one of my top 10 favourite NIN songs. it's clearly more important as a statement... but what that statement says, i'm unsure. it's interesting, however, the way that it begins with distorted guitar and this grand machinery building and collapsing, then falls into this completely out-of-place and bizarre marching band (makes me think of the Sigur Rós song "Sé Lest" live, wherein the marching band at the end of that song walks right across the stage as they perform the music). the familiar NIN sound falls into total, dark absurdity — sounds like all of The Fragile to me, in a way that lingers.

Everyone (including Trent in some interview? am I remembering that correctly?) has always said that the Right side is more experimental and abstract, while the Left is more of a traditional album creature. That would certainly fit with the Left/Right brain interpretation.

never really thought about that, but you're right, the Left disc is structured quite a lot like a traditional album (though TDTWWA obviously fucks with the way the dynamic is 'supposed' to work, where the second song is usually an energetic single, and that song is... well, it's an un-song, really — funny that the Right disc actually performs this same sequencing function 'properly' but is considered the weird disc!) while the Right disc has a stranger feeling. however, i find the 'otherness' of that side is sourced in the way it relates to the Left; there is a sort of mirroring in the way they begin, with SD and TWOIT having a similar build-and-release linearity, but then the discs veer off in vastly differing directions. if TR had released the discs separately like Radiohead did, how would the Right disc have been judged differently? with distance between the releases, would the tracklisting of Right have changed, or included 10MH and TNF? what would it have been titled if Left would presumably have kept The Fragile title?

[Sesquipedalism]

it doesn't make sense if read in a linear fashion without relying on majorly shaky interpretations — as in, the kinds unsupported by the source text. the thing just isn't arranged logically and can't be followed as such if one is attempting to make any kind of sense from it. how could it be? the songs were placed according to an external brain disconnected from the meanings of the words and statements.

I agree, but I have, on occasion in the world of literature, seen people cobble together explanations that, after they pile the horseshit high enough, start to seem supported by the source text and are actually kind of cool.

TNF and ILFTJYF are across sides as well

I love ETS' acronyms. That seven-letter sequence should not make any sense, but I didn't even hesitate when I looked at it.

i've taken the time to 'crop out' all the songs and while some are easily done ("The Fragile" easily splits away from WITT, as does the end of "The Wretched"), some have to be edited enough that you start to wonder if it's really equal to hearing the song pre-sequencing.

You did? I'd love to hear that. "Pilgrimage" coming out of "Even Deeper" drives me crazy. But, as "Somewhat Damaged" is my favorite song, "The Day the World Went Away" growing out of it feels like the audio equivalent of a wart. Which, considering how much I like "The Day the World Went Away," is saying something for my irrational love of "Damaged" and my possibly rational loathing of crossfades.

"10 Miles High," which is easily one of my top 10 favourite NIN songs.

I've never gotten the appeal of this one, to be honest. I like that it's not a normally sequenced song. I like the ambiance. But I think, if I divide the catalogue in half, this one falls in the lower bracket. "The New Flesh," on the other hand, well, it boggles my fucking mind how that didn't make it on the supposedly definitive CD tracklisting. I can't imagine what could have been more important to the work as a whole, or what could have been a cooler sonic experiment/innovation. Once again, I'm looking angrily at you, "Starfuckers."

it's clearly more important as a statement... but what that statement says, i'm unsure. it's interesting, however, the way that it begins with distorted guitar and this grand machinery building and collapsing, then falls into this completely out-of-place and bizarre marching band (makes me think of the Sigur Rós song "Sé Lest" live, wherein the marching band at the end of that song walks right across the stage as they perform the music). the familiar NIN sound falls into total, dark absurdity — sounds like all of The Fragile to me, in a way that lingers.

That's not inappropriate, if I recall correctly. I'll have to see if I can find the interview or whatever where Trent actually comments on the song. It sounds something like what you just said. The phrase "conquering army" or "invading army" is used. Which made me feel more solid about my interpretation of the track (The Phantom Menace had just come out, so the song felt very much like some sort of perverse, Emperor Palpatine celebratory parade), and less sure about how it related to the album as a whole.

[chroipahtz]

I always assumed Left and Right referred to the physical locations in the packaging (which are only obvious when symmetrical due to obvious Front and Back panels). A much less interesting interpretation.

And I always wondered if there was any significance to the Left disc art having significantly less color / more white than the Right disc.

[BenAkenobi]

I own a bootleg mp3 CD with this album among albums by different bands. And, i shit you not, they didn't include numbers in filenames!
Songs play in alphabetic order. Fortunately, i found a better source soon enough.

BTW, thanks for the cool story about Tool's H.

[frothy_ham]

I have pondered the choice of referring to the album's halves as "Left" and "Right" as opposed to "1" and "2", but to be honest, I've only ever listened to it as "Left" being the first half and finishing with "Right".

I'm also a chronic "album-listener" in that I have difficulty in just listening to a song here or there on an album (or even using shuffle at all) meaning I always tend to start at the beginning of anything and listen as far as I can until I need to stop. Then, depending on the amount of time that has gone by, I'll either start again from where I left off, or if the imaginary, undefinable time limit has run out, I'll start it over (having a little internal battle with myself) beginning the cycle anew.

The only exception of course being when I have the need to slam-dance out some stress to "The Big Comedown" after a long day of work.

[eversonpoe]

I'm also a chronic "album-listener" in that I have difficulty in just listening to a song here or there on an album (or even using shuffle at all) meaning I always tend to start at the beginning of anything and listen as far as I can until I need to stop. Then, depending on the amount of time that has gone by, I'll either start again from where I left off, or if the imaginary, undefinable time limit has run out, I'll start it over (having a little internal battle with myself) beginning the cycle anew.

The only exception of course being when I have the need to slam-dance out some stress to "The Big Comedown" after a long day of work.

ditto! (maybe not the big comedown part )

[henryeatscereal]

Funny story:
When i bought "The Fragile" for the first time a long time ago i used to own a multi disc stereo (you could store up to 5 discs at the time, pretty groundbreaking stuff, lol)

Anyhoo when i was about to listen to the album: i stored the two discs in my stereo, but i took them out so quickly i didn't noticed that i placed the "RIGHT" disc in tray 1 and "LEFT" in tray 2.
When i started to read the lyrics i knew i wasn't listening to "Somewhat Damaged", yet i heard the whole album this way! (First RIGHT then LEFT...).

I still don't know if my judgment was changed because it was my first time listening The Fragile, but i like it more in this order ...even to this day!!!

In a way the disc makes more "sense" to me this way... (Interpretations aside, just like it more as a listening experience...)

[Halo Infinity]

I have often wondered if there was a chance that perhaps the Left and the Right could've also been a reference to the traits of left and right sides of the brain, and how they can go wrong, and get turned against him. I've always seen the Left as the first part of The Fragile too. I guess you can say that listening to Left side first has also helped do that to me.

As a sequel to The Downward Spiral, if it was about him finally cracking under pressure, then perhaps, as The Fragile says, it continues with him being broken up in two. I wonder if that was to also tie in with Now I'm Nothing, seeing how Now I'm Nothing happened as the Broken era was about to arrive. And if Broken really does have some connection, he was broken, and breaking further into a "downward spiral". And all that he could do, is break himself "in two", hence the two discs. Gave Up also suggests a suicide attempt way before The Downward Spiral and Hurt too. And when thinking about it, it really makes the title Hesitation Marks far more interesting, along with In Two being an actual song title from it. And as The Fragile being the lowest point, it would have to be the aftermath of all the destruction beforehand.

And as Trent said, wasn't The Fragile supposed to be about him trying to move on and picking up the pieces? And speaking of that, I find it interesting that he mentioned "having to pick up the pieces" and "not as much fun by himself" in The Perfect Drug. Fast-forward to Somewhat Damaged, and he's all alone, left to pick up the pieces and figure it all out all over again. It's also like Piggy all over again, but much worse. (As far as getting betrayed and abandoned being expressed in a song goes.)

And now I'm also wondering if Everything can also be taken that way. He feels complete, but still wants to ruin it. It isn't meant to last but it's for right now. For all he aspires he's really a liar, and he's running out of things left to do... all after surviving everything.

I went a whole lot longer than I expected myself to go on, and I in no way, shape, or form, am trying to say that's what they all mean. This is all pure speculation. And of course, I could be dead wrong too. I only got this from listening to NIN far too many times.

@Sesquipedalism - And yes, this is definitely an awesome topic indeed. I certainly give you mad props for it via thumbs up.

Oh yeah, and I also noticed that The Fragile seems to deal with more loss and despair than self-loathing and anger. Which could make sense in a way, because if it continued from The Downward Spiral, Hurt would have to be him realizing the power of loss. The Fragile would be his further plunge into a sense of loss, combined with some of the bitterness, anger, apprehension, depression and other burdens he has carried along with him.

[frothy_ham]

Something I never really noticed before until this thread got me in a ponderin' mood.

What purpose does the definite article of "The" serve by being in front of "Fragile" in the record's title as opposed to its absence in regards to "Broken"? With "Broken" it's easy of course to ascertain that the title is self-descriptive and singular. Here we have the broken down and enraged words of one man, thrashing out against the world (and Steve Gottlieb).

However, perhaps the "The" of "The Fragile" expounds upon the concept that the album is not just about this singular entity, yet that it is indicative of multiple entities. This is most apparent in songs such as "WiTT" and the title track. It is perhaps a means to voice the words of an entire group of people...the so declared "fragile" of our society. Or perhaps as @Kris mentioned above, the plurality could be a reference to the left and right side of our protagonist's brain. Or even dissociative identity disorder.

[botley]

There was quite an interesting interpretation posted on the Hotline ages ago.

I don't think The Fragile can be interpreted as having an INTENDED linear order. After all, Reznor didn't even pick the final order for the CD, Bob Ezrin did (provider of "final continuity and flow" is how he's credited in the liner notes). This order was then spread out over six sequential sides in the vinyl edition, with the additional two songs placed in act three. I've started looking at the CD's track order as a left-brained/right-brained attempt to organize two views of the same scenario... but for me it was always "first left, then right" (which is how my brain works in real life, too). It's impossible for me to imagine the record opening with anything other than "Somewhat Damaged".