Difference between revisions of "The Good Soldier"

Latest revision as of 20:50, 19 March 2025

Album:Year Zero

Length:3:23

Versions:The Good Soldier
The Good Soldier (Instrumental)
The Good Soldier: Sam Fog

Live:Performance 2007 through NIN 2013 Festival Tour
Europe + Asia 2018 through Cold And Black And Infinite Tour

"The Good Soldier" is the fourth track on the 2007 release Year Zero. The chorus of this song includes the line "I Am Trying To Believe." While this song appears on The Definitive NIN - The Singles, it was never released as a single or promo.

Alan Cross from 102.1 CFNYFM The Edge in Toronto had this song "mysteriously show up" in his office. His description of this song is "Moody, slower. Great grind-y bass synth groove. A natural pick for a single!"[1]

A similar drum sound set and beat were used in a live reworked performance of "Reptile" with Peter Murphy in Boston, Massachusetts on June 23, 2006.

Theories

In the album's alternate reality game, the "Good Soldier" could be the captain from the comic book portrayed at the website One Country At A Time.

Appearances

Halos

Year Zero
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D

Versions

The Good Soldier

This is the original album version. Both the drum loop and bass riff that begin the song remain steady throughout the song, though the drums drop out to leave the filtered bass riff as a bridge to the song's coda. Its melodically-sung verses are backed by a distorted guitar riff that contrasts musically with the chorus, which features airy synthesizer pads and a melody that follows the vocal, played on vibraphone. The ending adds a second bass riff on top of the first and a new guitar riff, also characterized by Trent Reznor's wordless background wailing. Most of the layers eventually stop together, leaving the drum loop to repeat for four measures and lead directly into "Vessel."

The Good Soldier (Instrumental)

Running Time: 3:34

This unmastered vocal-less mix was released by Reznor through his remix.nin.com account.

The Good Soldier—Sam Fog Mix (Friend Or Faux 001)

Running Time: 8:05

This remix is on the vinyl edition of Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D. A false intro begins this remix before the lyrics "And the bass goes/Bomb" formally start the track. At one point, it seems as though the song is brought a half-step higher in tone than on the Year Zero original. A three-minute outro ends the song, which finishes with percussion fading into the main riff, much like how the song started.

Live

"The Good Soldier" was played live for the first time on May 9, 2007 at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia, on the Performance 2007 tour, and continued as a regular for the rest of that tour.

On the Lights in the Sky Tour, "The Good Soldier" appeared as an encore in about half of the shows, appearing more regularly as the tour went on.

"The Good Soldier" appeared infrequently on the Wave Goodbye Tour, and was only played twice on the Hesitation Marks touring cycle. It also made a few appearances throughout 2018.

Lyrics

    Gun fire in the street
    Where we used to meet
    Echoes out a beat and the bass goes
    Bomb right over my head 
    Step over the dead 
    Remember what you said you know, the part about
    Life is just a waking dream 
    Well I know what you mean
    But that ain't how it seems right here and how
    How can all this be real
    I can barely feel 
    Anymore
    
    I am trying to see
    I am trying to believe 
    This is not where I should be 
    I am trying to believe 
    
    Blood hardens in the sand 
    Cold metal in my hand 
    Maybe help you understand
    The way that things will be
    There's nowhere left to hide 
    'Cause God is on our side 
    I keep telling myself
    
    I am trying to see 
    I am trying to believe 
    This is not where I should be 
    I am trying to believe
    
    No one's even sure
    What we're fighting for
    Or who we even are
    Anymore
    I feel
    So far away

Some changes were made in the final recorded lyrics:

The final stanza does not appear in the song at all.
The ninth line of the first verse saw a slight change:

    But that ain't how it seems right here right now

The third and fourth lines of the second verse were slightly reworded:

    Help you understand
    The way that things are gonna be

External Links

"The Good Soldier" (Instrumental) at archive.org

Previous track - "Survivalism"

Track 4 from Year Zero

Next track - "Vessel"

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 | title = The Good Soldier
 | album = ''[[Year Zero]]''
-| length = N/A
+| length = 3:23
-| versions = N/A
+| BPM = 87
-| live = N/A
+| versions =The Good Soldier<br>The Good Soldier (Instrumental)<br>The Good Soldier: Sam Fog
-}}
+| live =[[Performance 2007]] through [[NIN 2013 Festival Tour]]<br>[[Europe + Asia 2018]] through [[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour]]
+}}'''"The Good Soldier"''' is the fourth track on the 2007 release ''[[Year Zero]]''. The chorus of this song includes the line "[[I Am Trying To Believe]]." While this song appears on ''[[The Definitive NIN - The Singles]]'', it was never released as a single or promo.
-"'''The Good Soldier'''" is the fourth track on the 2007 release ''[[Year Zero]]''. The chorus of this song includes the lyrics "I Am Trying To Believe."
+Alan Cross from 102.1 CFNYFM The Edge in Toronto had this song "mysteriously show up" in his office. His description of this song is "Moody, slower. Great grind-y bass synth groove. A natural pick for a single!"[http://www.edge102.com/station/blog_ongoing_history_of_new_music.cfm?bid=8236]
-Alan Cross from 102.1 CFNYFM The Edge in Toronto had this song "mysteriously show up" in his office. His description of this song is "Moody, slower. Great grind-y bass synth groove. A natural pick for a single!"[http://www.edge102.com/station/blog_ongoing_history_of_new_music.cfm?bid=8236]
+A similar drum sound set and beat were used in a live reworked performance of "[[Reptile#Live|Reptile]]" with [[Peter Murphy]] in Boston, Massachusetts on [[2006/06/23 Boston, MA (Radio show)|June 23, 2006]].
-===Trivia===
+==Theories==
-A "Good Soldier" is another term for a samovar (a decorative metal tea dispensing device that resembles a keg and is traditionally used in Russia).
+In the album's [[Year_Zero#Alternate_Reality_Game|alternate reality game]], the "Good Soldier" could be the captain from the comic book portrayed at the website [[One Country At A Time]].
 ==Appearances==
 ===Halos===
 * ''Year Zero''
+*''[[Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D]]''
 ==Versions==
 ===The Good Soldier===
-This is the only known version at the present moment.
+This is the original album version. Both the drum loop and bass riff that begin the song remain steady throughout the song, though the drums drop out to leave the filtered bass riff as a bridge to the song's coda. Its melodically-sung verses are backed by a distorted guitar riff that contrasts musically with the chorus, which features airy synthesizer pads and a melody that follows the vocal, played on vibraphone. The ending adds a second bass riff on top of the first and a new guitar riff, also characterized by [[Trent Reznor]]'s wordless background wailing. Most of the layers eventually stop together, leaving the drum loop to repeat for four measures and lead directly into "[[Vessel]]."
+===The Good Soldier (Instrumental)===
+'''''Running Time: 3:34'''''
+This unmastered vocal-less mix was released by Reznor through his [[remix.nin.com]] account.
+===The Good Soldier—Sam Fog Mix (Friend Or Faux 001)===
+'''''Running Time: 8:05'''''
+This remix is on the vinyl edition of ''Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D.'' A false intro begins this remix before the lyrics "And the bass goes/Bomb" formally start the track. At one point, it seems as though the song is brought a half-step higher in tone than on the ''Year Zero'' original. A three-minute outro ends the song, which finishes with percussion fading into the main riff, much like how the song started.
 ==Live==
-"The Good Soldier" has yet to be performed live.
+"The Good Soldier" was played live for the first time on [[2007/05/09 Sydney, Australia|May 9, 2007]] at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia, on the [[Performance 2007]] tour, and continued as a regular for the rest of that tour.
+On the [[Lights in the Sky Tour]], "The Good Soldier" appeared as an encore in about half of the shows, appearing more regularly as the tour went on.
+"The Good Soldier" appeared infrequently on the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], and was only played twice on the [[NIN 2013-2014|''Hesitation Marks'' touring cycle]]. It also made a few appearances throughout 2018.
 ==Lyrics==
-      Gunfire in the street
+      Gun fire in the street
       Where we used to meet
-      Echoes out a beat
+      Echoes out a beat and the bass goes
-     When the bass goes "bomb"
+      Bomb right over my head
-      Right over my head
       Step over the dead
-      Remember what you said
+      Remember what you said you know, the part about
-     You know the part about life
+      Life is just a waking dream
-      Is just a waking dream
+      Well I know what you mean
-      Well I know what you mean
+      But that ain't how it seems right here and how
-      But that ain't how it seems
+      How can all this be real
-     Right here, right now
-      How can this be real
       I can barely feel
       Anymore
@@ Line 48: / Line 61: @@
       Blood hardens in the sand
-      Cool metal in my hand
+      Cold metal in my hand
-      Hope you understand the way that things are gonna be
+      Maybe help you understand
+     The way that things will be
       There's nowhere left to hide
       'Cause God is on our side
       I keep telling myself
       I am trying to see
       I am trying to believe
       This is not where I should be
       I am trying to believe
+     No one's even sure
+     What we're fighting for
+     Or who we even are
+     Anymore
+     I feel
+     So far away
+Some changes were made in the final recorded lyrics:
+*The final stanza does not appear in the song at all.
+*The ninth line of the first verse saw a slight change:
+     But that ain't how it seems right here right now
+*The third and fourth lines of the second verse were slightly reworded:
+     Help you understand
+     The way that things are gonna be
+==External Links==
+*[https://archive.org/details/remix-nin-com-audio-00093 "The Good Soldier" (Instrumental) at archive.org]
-[[Category:NIN Songs]][[Category:NIN Songs Never Played Live]]
+<BR>
+{{succession box
+| title=[[Year Zero#Track Listing|Year Zero]]
+| before= [[Survivalism (song)|Survivalism]]
+| after= [[Vessel]]
+| track= 4
+}}
+[[Category:NIN Songs]]
+[[Category:NIN Songs Released as Multitracks]]
+[[Category:Songs With Unused Lyrics]]