Down In It (song)

Down In It

Original Album:	Pretty Hate Machine
First Time Played Live:	Unknown
Last Time Played Live:	Feb 16th, 2007 - Bilbao, Spain

About

Down In It was the first single for the very first Nine Inch Nails album Pretty Hate Machine and the third track on the disc. It is said to be the first song that Trent ever wrote under the name Nine Inch Nails and is a rare treat to hear live. It was the first halo single as well as the first music video for the newly formed "band".

Appearances

Down In It appears in various versions on the follwing releases:

• Purest Feeling - non-official
• Purest Feeling II - non-official
• Down In It
• Pretty Hate Machine
• Head Like a Hole

Versions

• Down In It - appears on Purest Feeling as the last track, differing from its offical counterparts as that it has an extended intro with strange screams and odd static. It also includes about 1 minute and 8 seconds of distorted clippings of the song at the end as a finish to the album. Musically it's extremely close to the (Demo) version from the Head Like A Hole US single.

• Down In It (Demo) - appears on Head Like A Hole (US) as the last track, it's extremely similar to the Purest Feeling version, except that it lacks the long intro and all the extra layering of it's Purest Feeling counterpart as well as the distorted outro. Most likely it's the definitive "original version" of Trent Reznor's very first song as Nine Inch Nails.

• Down In It (Demo II) - appears on the Purest Feeling II bootleg. It's simply the (Skin) version from Pretty Hate Machine with an unadulterated version of the Terrible Lie intro tacked onto the end which fades out.

• Down In It (Demo III) - appears on the Purest Feeling II bootleg. Almost exactly the same as the Purest Feeling version, simply lacking the extra layering and sound effects as well as the distorted outtro, though it does retain the extended drumbeat intro and is probably the version the Purest Feeling version was based upon

• Down In It (Demo IV) - appears on the Purest Feeling II bootleg. It's an odd version with Trent whispering a good portion of his vocals an odd beat set compared to the others. It also includes faux-Oriental sounding synths which are noticably absent in any of the other versions of the song

• Down In It (Skin) - the mix from the Down In It single and later chosen to be the mix that appeared on Pretty Hate Machine

• Down In It (Shred) - a mix that appears on both the Down In It and Head Like A Hole singles. It's basically retains the original song with an extended intro and a long instrumental area that makes up the entire latter half of the song, considered the "extended single version" of the song by some.

• Down In It (Singe) - a mix that appears on both the Down In It and Head Like A Hole singles. It's a mostly instrumental "dub" mix of the song with minimal vocals and strange warping and mixing of the beats with heavy bass emphasis. It should be noted that this mix is actually 18 seconds longer on the Head Like A Hole (US) single than it was on the Down In It single. The reason for this is unknown, though it's probably due to the time constraints imposed on Vinyl singles compared to a full sized LP Maxi Single.

Lyrics

    (Now I'm Down In It)
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    Kinda like a cloud, I was up
    Way up, In the sky
    And I was feeling some feelings
    That you wouldn't believe
    Sometimes I don't believe in myself
    And I decided I was never coming down
    
    Just then, a tiny little dot caught my eye
    I was just about to fall asleep
    I watched it for way too long
    It was pulling me down
    
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    Now I'm Down In It
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    
    Shut up, So what?
    What does it matter now?
    I was swimming in the hate
    Now I crawl on the ground
    And everything I never liked about you
    Is kinda seeping into me
    I try to laugh about it now
    But isn't it funny
    How everything works out
    I guess the joke's on me
    
    (she said)
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    
    I used to be
    So big and strong
    I used to know
    My right from wrong
    I never used to be afraid
    (I used to be somebody)
    
    I used to have
    Something inside
    Now it's just this hole
    That's open wide
    I used to want it all
    (I used to be somebody)
    
    I'll cross my heart, I'll hope to die
    But the needle's already in my eye
    All the world's weight is one my back
    And I don't even know why
    What I used to think was me
    Is just a faded memory
    I looked him right in the eye
    And said "Goodbye"
    
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    Now I'm Down In It
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    (Now I'm Down In It)
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    Now I'm Down In It
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    
    (Rain, Rain, Go Away)
    (Come Again Some Other Day)
    (Rain, Rain, Go Away)
    (Come Again Some Other Day)
    (Rain, Rain, Go Away)
    (Come Again Some Other Day)
    
    I was up above it
    I was up above it
    Now I'm Down In It
    
    NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
    I was up above it

Performed Live

As of Fragility 2.0, Reznor had stated that he didn't like the song as much as he used to, but during the later legs of the With Teeth Tour, it seemed as if he's changed his mind song, playing it more as the tour progressed.