Samples In NIN Songs

Nine Inch Nails has sampled numerous parts of songs, movies, and other audio into its songs. This page will attempt to catalog each usage.

Pretty Hate Machine:

"Sanctified" samples:

• The film "Midnight Express", the talking that begins at about 3:20 and also the screaming that can be heard right before it segues into "Something I Can Never Have".

"Sin" samples:

• "Paid In Full" by Eric B. & Rakim (both songs could possibly share the same sample)

"Ringfinger" samples:

• "Alphabet St." by Prince
• "Had a Dad" by Jane's Addiction

"Head Like A Hole":

"Head Like A Hole (Copper)" samples:

• "Body Language" by Queen

"Head Like A Hole (Opal)" samples:

• "Tamborine" and "Release It" by Prince

Track 11 samples:

• "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails— woo, they're good!" cheered by Kelly Ripa

"Sin"

"Get Down, Make Love" samples:

• Moaning from Japanese pornography films
• "News of the World" by Queen
• The intro is an extract from 1962's "The Cabinet Of Caligari"

Broken

"Pinion" samples:

• "It's No Game" by David Bowie

"Physical" samples:

• Recordings of Trent Reznor's dog Maise barking
• "Ow!...fucker!" said by Sean Beavan after Maise bit him

Fixed

"Fist Fuck" samples:

• "I could feel that way too... I bet you will someday" from the film Showboat

The Downward Spiral

"Mr. Self Destruct" samples:

• Begins with a sample from the film THX 1138

"Closer" samples:

• "Nightclubbing" by Iggy Pop

"The Becoming" samples:

• Screams in the background from the film Robot Jox

"Reptile" samples:

• Intro machine sounds from the film Leviathan
• Looping female voice from the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

"The Downward Spiral"

• Watery noise at the beginning from the film Alien

Closer to God

"Memorabilia" samples:

• "What do your nipples look like?" taken from a phone conversation between Robin Finck and a female impersonator

Further Down the Spiral

"Self Destruction, Part Two" samples:

• "Time" by David Bowie

"Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" samples:

• "Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)" by The Fatback Band

"Heresy (Version)" samples:

• "In Suburbia" and "Television Believers" by Aron Ranen's Religion

The Fragile

"Starfuckers, Inc." samples:

• Fireworks and yelling at the end from "Shout It Out Loud" by Kiss (only in The Day The World Went Away)

Things Falling Apart

"Metal" samples:

• "UFO" by ESG

Ghosts I-IV

"11 Ghosts II" samples:

• "Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (also known as "Dream of a witches' Sabbath)" by Classical-Romantic composer Berlioz

"30 Ghosts IV" samples:

• "Saddam Hussein hitting the table in front of him during his Trial Verdict, on Nov 5 2006"