Difference between revisions of "The Only Time"

Latest revision as of 22:50, 23 January 2025

Album:Pretty Hate Machine

Length:4:47

Tempo:94 BPM

Versions:The Only Time
The Only Time (Purest Feeling)
The Only Time (Closure)

Live:VIVIsectVI Tour through Further Down The Spiral Tour

"The Only Time" is the ninth track on the 1989 release Pretty Hate Machine.

The song references "Down In It" in its use of the same recognizable melodic synth voice.

Appearances

Halos

Pretty Hate Machine
Closure

Video Games

Rock Band 3 (available for download)

Other

Purest Feeling

Versions

The Only Time

This is the final album version. The track begins with Reznor's vocal and a bass line that sounds like a keyboard slap bass preset. As the verse moves along, a minimal and sleek-sounding drum track gradually comes in. Near the end of the first verse, there is a very brief appearance of sampled background vocals recorded for "So Alive" by Love And Rockets (a track also produced by John Fryer.) As the chorus kicks in, the bass switches to a more picked bass guitar sound, the drum track becomes much louder and more aggressive and the low-pitched "Down In It" synth voice comes in, playing an ascending melody. During the second half of the chorus, the instrumentation of the verse returns, and the high-pitched "Down In It" synth voice comes in. The song continues on in much the same pattern, with minor variances. A distorted guitar overdub in the instrumental end of the song segues directly into "Ringfinger."

The Only Time (Purest Feeling)

An early version of the song found on Purest Feeling.

The Only Time (Closure)

This live version begins with Reznor explaining that "this is a song about fucking." This version features a heavy guitar riff added during the second verse, as well as an aggressive bridge section with more heavy guitar and a descending synth melody.

Live

The song was performed faithfully to the album version during most of the Pretty Hate Machine Tour. Starting with the Lollapalooza Tour, new guitar and synth riffs were added to the song's final section. Last performed during the Further Down The Spiral Tour, the song has pushed its way back to the surface in brief, its melody being used for an interpolation/breakdown during the final verse of "Closer" on the Live: With Teeth tour and continuing to this day.

Lyrics

    I'm drunk
    And right now I'm so in love with you
    And I don't want to think too much about what we should or shouldn't do
    Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
    While the Devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car
    Nothing quite like the feel of something new
    
    Maybe I'm all messed up
    Maybe I'm all messed up in you
    
    But this is the only time I really feel alive
    This is the only time I really feel alive
    
    I swear
    I just found everything I need
    The sweat in your eyes the blood in your veins are listening to me
    Well I want to drink it up and swim in it until I drown
    My moral standing is lying down
    Nothing quite like the feel of something new
    
    Maybe I'm all messed up
    Maybe I'm all messed up in you
    
    But this is the only time I really feel alive
    This is the only time I really feel alive
    
    I can't help thinking Christ never had it like this

The final line appears only in the liner notes.

In the final album cut, the line

    Well I want to drink it up and swim in it until I drown

is changed to

    Well I want to rip it up and swim in it until I drown

Previous track - "That's What I Get"

Track 9 from Pretty Hate Machine

Next track - "Ringfinger"

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | album =''[[Pretty Hate Machine]]''
 | length =4:47
-| versions =The Only Time<br>The Only Time ('Demo)<br>The Only Time (''[[Closure]]'')
+| BPM = 94
-| live =Pre-[[Hate Tour|Hate]] (1988) through [[Self Destruct Tour|Self-Destruct]] (1994) <br> Retired, but parts are used in the breakdown during "[[Closer]]" on the [[Live: With Teeth]] tour
+| versions =The Only Time<br>The Only Time (''[[Purest Feeling (halo)|Purest Feeling]]'')<br>The Only Time (''[[Closure]]'')
-}}'''"The Only Time"''' is the ninth track on the 1989 release ''[[Pretty Hate Machine]].'' It's a rather dancable track about new experiences and indulging in the dirty side of life.
+| live =[[VIVIsectVI Tour]] through [[Further Down The Spiral Tour]]
+}}'''"The Only Time"''' is the ninth track on the 1989 release ''[[Pretty Hate Machine]].''
+The song references "[[Down In It (song)|Down In It]]" in its use of the same recognizable melodic synth voice.
 ===Song Credits===
 *Production: [[Trent Reznor]], [[Keith LeBlanc]], [[John Fryer]]
-*Engineering: John Fryer, Keith LeBlanc, [[Kennan Keating]], [[Ken Quartarone]]
+*Engineering: John Fryer, Keith LeBlanc, Kennan Keating, Ken Quartarone
 *Mix: Keith LeBlanc
@@ Line 16: / Line 19: @@
 *''[[Pretty Hate Machine]]''
 *''[[Closure]]''
+===Video Games===
+*''[[Rock Band|Rock Band 3]]'' (available for download)
 ===Other===
-*''[[Purest Feeling]]''
+*''[[Purest Feeling (halo)|Purest Feeling]]''
 ==Versions==
 ===The Only Time===
-This is the final album version.
+This is the final album version. The track begins with Reznor's vocal and a bass line that sounds like a keyboard slap bass preset. As the verse moves along, a minimal and sleek-sounding drum track gradually comes in. Near the end of the first verse, there is a very brief appearance of [[samples|sampled]] background vocals recorded for "So Alive" by Love And Rockets (a track also produced by John Fryer.) As the chorus kicks in, the bass switches to a more picked bass guitar sound, the drum track becomes much louder and more aggressive and the low-pitched "Down In It" synth voice comes in, playing an ascending melody. During the second half of the chorus, the instrumentation of the verse returns, and the high-pitched "Down In It" synth voice comes in. The song continues on in much the same pattern, with minor variances. A distorted guitar overdub in the instrumental end of the song segues directly into "[[Ringfinger]]."
-===The Only Time (Demo)===
+===The Only Time (''Purest Feeling'')===
-An early version of the song found on [[Purest Feeling]].
+An early version of the song found on ''Purest Feeling''.
 ===The Only Time (''Closure'')===
-This live version begins with Reznor explaining that "this is a song about fucking."
+This live version begins with Reznor explaining that "this is a song about fucking." This version features a heavy guitar riff added during the second verse, as well as an aggressive bridge section with more heavy guitar and a descending synth melody.
 ==Live==
-Last performed during the [[Self-Destruct Tour]], the song has pushed its way back to the surface, the melody being used for an interpolation/breakdown during the final verse of "[[Closer]]" on the [[Live: With Teeth]] tour. It is unclear if it will be played live again, though.
+The song was performed faithfully to the album version during most of the [[Pretty Hate Machine Tour]]. Starting with the [[Lollapalooza Tour]], new guitar and synth riffs were added to the song's final section. Last performed during the [[Further Down The Spiral Tour]], the song has pushed its way back to the surface in brief, its melody being used for an interpolation/breakdown during the final verse of "[[Closer]]" on the [[Live: With Teeth]] tour and continuing to this day.
 ==Lyrics==
-      I’m drunk
+      I'm drunk
-      And right now I’m so in love with you
+      And right now I'm so in love with you
-      And I don’t want to think too much about what we should or shouldn’t do
+      And I don't want to think too much about what we should or shouldn't do
       Lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
       While the Devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car
       Nothing quite like the feel of something new
-      Maybe I’m all messed up
+      Maybe I'm all messed up
-      Maybe I’m all messed up in you
+      Maybe I'm all messed up in you
       But this is the only time I really feel alive
@@ Line 54: / Line 60: @@
       Nothing quite like the feel of something new
-      Maybe I’m all messed up
+      Maybe I'm all messed up
-      Maybe I’m all messed up in you
+      Maybe I'm all messed up in you
       But this is the only time I really feel alive
       This is the only time I really feel alive
-      I can’t help thinking Christ never had it like this
+      I can't help thinking Christ never had it like this
+The final line appears only in the liner notes.
-[[Category:NIN Songs]]
+In the final album cut, the line
+     Well I want to drink it up and swim in it until I drown
+is changed to
+     Well I want to rip it up and swim in it until I drown
+<BR>
+{{succession box
+| title=[[Pretty Hate Machine#Track Listing|Pretty Hate Machine]]
+| before= [[That's What I Get]]
+| after= [[Ringfinger]]
+| track= 9
+}}
+[[Category:NIN Songs]][[Category:Songs With Unused Lyrics]]