The Fragile (song)

Album:The Fragile (Left)

Length:4:35

Tempo:{{{BPM}}} BPM

Versions:The Fragile
The Fragile (Version)
The Fragile (Still)

Live:Fragility through present

"The Fragile" is the sixth track—and the title track—on the Left disc of the 1999 double album The Fragile.

Interpretation

This song (with the possible exception of "We're In This Together," the track featured directly before it on The Fragile) may be the closest Trent Reznor has ever come to recording what could be considered a "love song," with lyrics referring to a frail and insecure female whom he is determined not to let "fall apart." He sees in her what he was himself, and wishes to shelter her from the outside world before she goes through what he has. Notably, the solo in the song resembles the first section of "The Frail", a previous track on The Fragile. This probably hints to the female's frail and insecure personality.

Appearances

Halos

• The Fragile (1999)
• And All That Could Have Been (Deluxe Edition CD; 2002)
• Still (2002)

Versions

The Fragile

This is the original album version as it appears on The Fragile.

The Fragile (Version)

This is a remix by Keith Hillebrandt which was featured as a website-only download for a limited time on NIN.com during The Fragile era, along with versions of "No, You Don't" and "La Mer." According to Reznor, its structure was the inspiration for "The Frail."

The Fragile (Still)

This stripped-down version is on Still, which was originally packaged with the Deluxe Edition CD of And All That Could Have Been and is curently available through NIN.com. It is performed mostly solo on an electric piano.

Song Credits

• Performance: Trent Reznor, Jerome Dillon
• Mix engineering: Alan Moulder
• Engineering: Alan Moulder
• Second Engineering: Leo Herrera
• Programming: Keith Hillebrandt

Live

When played during the Fragility tours and the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards, the song would remain very similar to the album version except somewhat louder. During the Performance 2007 tour, the Still version of the song was played.

Lyrics

    She shines
    In a world full of ugliness
    She matters
    When everything is meaningless
    
    Fragile
    She doesn’t see her beauty
    She tries to get away
    Sometimes
    It’s just that nothing seems worth saving
    I can’t watch her slip away
    
    I won’t let you fall apart
    
    She reads the minds of all the people as they pass her by
    Hoping someone can see
    If I could fix myself I’d—
    But it’s too late for me
    
    I won’t let you fall apart
    
    We’ll find the perfect place to go where we can run and hide
    I’ll build a wall and we can keep them on the other side
    …But they keep waiting
    …And picking…
    
    It’s something I have to do
    I was there, too
    Before everything else
    I was like you