Big Man With A Gun
Big Man With A Gun (The Downward Spiral DE)
"Big Man With A Gun" is the ninth track on The Downward Spiral.
In a 2024 article from Spin magazine, it was revealed that this track was recorded as an afterthought.[1] The song's lyrics were also the subject of controversy when they were cited by conservatives William Bennett and C. Delores Tucker during their crusade against explicit lyrics in rap and hip-hop, egregiously mislabeling Nine Inch Nails as one of these acts.
It is rumored that the sound effect at the beginning of the song is an adult film actress in the throes of passion. The sound was reportedly run through a program by Tommy Lee, who called the resulting sound "Steakhouse."
Contents
Song Credits
- Production: Trent Reznor
- Mixing engineers: Bill Kennedy, Sean Beavan
- Additional guitars: Danny Lohner
- Steakhouse: Tommy Lee
Meaning
In the March 1996 issue of Spin Magazine[2], Trent Reznor said the following about this song:
The record was nearing completion. I had written those lyrics pretty quickly and I didn't know if I was going to use them or not. To me, Downward Spiral builds to a certain degree of madness, then it changes. That would be the last stage of delirium. So the original point of "Big Man With A Gun" was madness. But it was also making fun of the whole misogynistic gangsta-rap bulls**t. ... I listen to a lot of it, and I enjoy it. But I could do without the degree of misogny and hatred of women and abuse. Then, my song got misinterpreted as exactly that. It was probably a lack of being able to write. I've been taken out of context, and it's ridiculous.
Appearances
Halos
- The Downward Spiral
- March Of The Pigs (UK version, pt.1 of 2 disc set)
Versions
Big Man With A Gun
This is the original version. Short, fast, violent, and energetic, this song contains many layers of different distorted guitar riffs, and features Reznor nearly speaking most of the lyrics with an equalizer filter on his voice. The drums before the final vocal refrain resemble the sound of semi-automatic gunshots.
Big Man With A Gun (The Downward Spiral DE)
In the 5.1 surround edition of the 2004 re-release of The Downward Spiral, the sample heard at the beginning is replaced with a lower-pitched, distant wail, which echoes around the speakers.
Live
"Big Man With A Gun" was played regularly on the Self Destruct Tour as the penultimate song of the main set. It had not been played live since then until its appearance at the Webster Hall and Hollywood Palladium full album performances of The Downward Spiral.
Rehearsal and live footage of the song appear in brief on the leaked Closure DVD appendage.
Lyrics
I am a big man
(Yes I am)
And I have a big gun
Got me a big old dick and I
I like to have fun
Held against your forehead
I'll make you suck it
Maybe I'll put a hole in your head
You know, just for the fuck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as fucking steel, and I've got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
Me and my fucking gun
Nothing can stop me now
Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
Me and my fucking gun
Me and my fucking gun
The third line was changed on the final album cut:
And I've got a big gun
External Links
- "Sympathy for the Devil" interview in Spin Magazine, March 1996
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