March Of The Pigs (song)

Album:The Downward Spiral

Length:2:58

Tempo:{{{BPM}}} BPM

Versions:March Of The Pigs
March Of The Pigs (Clean version)
All The Pigs, All Lined Up
March Of The Pigs (And All That Could Have Been)
March Of The Pigs (Beside You In Time)

Live:Self Destruct Warm-up through present

"March of the Pigs" is the fourth track on 1994's 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.

The song is presumably about society or NIN's fans.

Song Credits

• Production: Trent Reznor
• Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder

Appearances

Halos

• March Of The Pigs
• The Downward Spiral
• Closure
• And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)
• Beside You In Time

Seeds

• Collected
• The Definitive NIN - The Singles

Video Games

• Rock Band (available for download)

Versions

March Of The Pigs

This Is the original album version.

March Of The Pigs (clean)

The radio edit deletes the word "fuck," making it safe to air on American radio stations.

All The Pigs, All Lined Up

This version is entirely in 4/4 and has en extended ending that incorporates the lyric "Don't you feel a whole lot better?"

March Of The Pigs (And All That Could Have Been)

This live version incorporates an extended ending, based on that of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up."

March Of The Pigs (Beside You In Time)

Like the version that appears on And All That Could Have Been, this live version incorporates the ending of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up." The major differences are that the introduction in this version is shorter and Reznor changes some of the vocal stylings.

Music Video

A music video was made for this song, directed by Peter Christopherson ("Wish" and the Broken Movie) and released in March of 1994. The video features the band performing the song live in front of a white wall backdrop. Reportedly, around a dozen takes were done, and the final video take was the one that "did not suck." It's filmed in one shot, a rare occurrence for music videos. This video was the last video to be played on MTV2's Increase the Beat, on Memorial Day weekend 2002. At 269 BPM, it had the fastest tempo of the 400+ videos that were played that weekend.

A previous version of the video was partially shot but abandoned, and is included on the Closure DVD. The band performs the song in a red cave-like set with water at their feet (some speculate that it could have been a stomach), and a troll-like midget appears.

Live

Being a staple NIN song with its high energy segued by two piano breakdowns, there is a live performance video of "March of the Pigs" on each of their live releases: Closure, And All That Could Have Been, and Beside You in Time. In the live set, the band extends the song by including an amped up version of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up" at the end of every performance.

In most performances in the pre-With Teeth eras, the songs starts with the same high pitched squeal it does in the performance video for the song. Since the start of the With Teeth Tour, the song now starts with a synth line that matches the one played behind the second set of measures for the song originally. (This section now completely omitted from the song, the guitars coming in completely along with they synth after the first drum run through.)

Lyrics

    Step right up march push
    Crawl right up on your knees
    Please greed feed (no time to hesitate)
    I want a little bit I want a piece of it I think he's losing it
    I want to watch it come down
    Don't like the look of it don't like the taste of it don't like the smell of it
    I want to watch it come down
    
    All the pigs are all lined up
    I give you all that you want
    Take the skin and peel it back
    Now doesn't that make you feel better?
    
    Shove it up inside surprise! Lies
    Stains like blood on your teeth
    Bite chew suck away the tender parts
    I want to break it up I want to smash it up I want to fuck it up
    I want to watch it come down
    Maybe afraid of it let's discredit it let's pick away at it
    I want to watch it come down
    
    All the pigs are all lined up
    I give you all that you want
    Take the skin and peel it back
    Now doesn't that make you feel better?
    The pigs have won tonight
    Now they can all sleep soundly
    And everything is all right

Live lyrics

• and all you miserable muddy fuck heads... are alright (woodstock '94)
• and every little fucking pig... is alright (numerous shows)
• At Manchester 25Feb07 during the second piano breakdown, Reznor stopped and let the audience sing "And everything is alright" before continuing and singing "And everything, is definitely not, alright"

External Links

"March Of The Pigs" (uncensored music video)

Previous track - "Heresy" Track 4 from The Downward Spiral Next track - "Closer"