'''"March Of The Pigs"''' is the fourth track on 1994's ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]].'' It has one of the most unique metres of any song to enjoy popular radio play, alternating three measures of 7/8 time with one measure of 4/4 time in the verses (in effect, a 29/8 time signature). The chorus is in the common 4/4 time signature. As a result, with eighth notes getting the count, the song has a BPM rate of 269.
Lyrically, the song could be about society or NIN's fans, but [[Trent Reznor]] has stated in the interview titled Disturbed that the "pigs" in this song refer mainly to "anywhere from the media to people he thought were friends around him." Furthermore, he said, "The issue I was addressing was... when we attained a certain level of success, it was surprising to see the legion of people starting to fuck with you, can't wait to see you fail, hoping that you'll fuck up, ripping you off, trying to use you... The fact that American media, in 'underground world,' you go from being the darling to 'well, we accidentally started selling some records,' so they have to turn their backs on us." He also affectionately refers occasionally referred to fans as 'pigs' at live performances.
According to the Filter biography on their official website, former live guitarist [[Richard Patrick]] reportedly received the nickname "Piggy" while in Nine Inch Nails. As well, "Piggies" is a song on The Beatles' 1968 self-titled (or 'white') album, a noted influence on Charles Manson, who scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the front door of the Sharon Tate mansion wherein he and his 'Family' killed Tate and several others on August 8, 1969. The mansion was also where Reznor recorded ''The Downward Spiral'' in 1993-4. Whether or not Patrick or the Tate murders are directly related to this song is unknown, though Reznor kept the Tate door when he moved to [[Nothing Studios]] in New Orleans.