Suck

Album:Broken

Length:5:07

Tempo:91 BPM

Versions:Suck
Throw This Away
Suck (Pigface version)
Suck (Live)
Suck (Pigface Glitch DVD version)
Suck (And All That Could Have Been)

Live:Hate Tour through NIN 2013 Festival Tour,
Cold And Black And Infinite Tour through present

"Suck" is the second hidden track on 1992's Broken EP. Originally packaged with "Physical" on a Mini CD sold with the EP, it was later incorporated onto the EP as a hidden track after allegations that some music stores were removing the Mini CD and selling it separately. "Suck" is track 99 on Broken while "Physical" is track 98.

Song Credits

• Writing: Trent Reznor, Pigface
• ©1991 Thumbless music, Leaving Hope and TVT Music, Inc.
• Production: Trent Reznor

About

"Suck" was originally written and performed by Pigface, a band lead by Martin Atkins and featuring Trent Reznor as well as many other notable industrial musicians. Other notable singers of the song within Pigface include Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy, who even shared the song as a duet with Reznor. Since 1994, it has become one of the regular songs played by Nine Inch Nails.

NIN recorded a new version of the track, as Reznor was unhappy with the original and felt that it was unfinished and too minimal.[1] The multitracks for the original Pigface version of the song were released for a remix contest. While this song appears on The Definitive NIN - The Singles, it was never released as a single or promo.

Appearances

Halos

• Broken
• Fixed
• And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)

Seeds

• The Definitive NIN - The Singles
• The Definitive NIN - Heavy Tracks

Other

• Pigface, The Best of Pigface, Gub, Truth Will Out (live version), Glitch DVD (live version w/ Trent Reznor)

Versions

Suck

This is the version found on the Broken EP. A loud and guitar-driven, screamed chorus contrasts with a danceable and funky verse throughout the song, mediated by a quiet, bass-led bridge that eventually builds into a loud synthesizer solo before the final chorus. Afterward, the song returns to the funky verse, but remains instrumental. The beat stops, then is cut up and spliced as Reznor whispers the final lyrics, ending the song.

Throw This Away

Running Time: 4:13

This minimalist remix, on Fixed, contains elements from both "Last" and "Suck." Opening with bubbling synthesizer loops, it mostly consists of the bass riff from the middle of "Suck," which is repeated throughout the track. Layered below it are various quiet vocal samples from both songs. Eventually, the drum beat featured at the very end of the original bridge in "Suck" is looped and fades in, eventually segueing directly into the ending of Butch Vig's mix of "Last."

Song Credits

• Remixed by Trent Reznor and Chris Vrenna (section A), Butch Vig (section B)

Suck (Pigface version)

This original recording features Reznor on guest vocals. Musically, the song is nothing like the Nine Inch Nails recordings of the song, characterized instead by drums and bass. Its multitracks were those released for a remix contest by Pigface.

Suck (Live)

This live soundboard recording is from a Nine Inch Nails performance at an unknown date, likely from the Sin or Hate tours. It was originally released on the TVT Sampler Summer 1991 cassette, but as that was a promo with limited distribution, it was popularized in the NIN fanbase by its inclusion on the Halo 00 and, later, Demos and Remixes bootlegs.

Suck (Pigface Glitch DVD version)

Another live recording, this one comes from the April 25, 1991 Pigface show in Pittsburg, PA, and can be found on Pigface's Glitch DVD. Trent Reznor is featured on guest vocals. It opens with a bass riff, has a different ending, and the recording is overall closer in sound to the Nine Inch Nails version, rather than the Pigface studio version.

Suck (And All That Could Have Been)

This live version is similar to the album version, but the ending is shortened, with Reznor shouting "Suck!" repeatedly rather than singing the song's final lyrics or returning to the verse beat and bassline. Also, the line "I'm Jesus Christ on ecstasy", Trent changes to "I'm Jesus fuck on ecstasy".

Live

"Suck" made its live debut on May 22, 1990. It was played regularly at headlining, non-festival dates during the Pretty Hate Machine era, and became a live staple in the set through the Wave Goodbye Tour. Since then, it has only been played sporadically.

During the Pretty Hate Machine Tour, it was played with a song structure that closely mirrored the album version, although the middle "I am so dirty..." bridge featured beats and an ascending guitar riff instead. Since the Self Destruct Tour, it had been played like the album version, but ending after the last "Suck" chant and omitting the quieter outro.

Lyrics

    There is no god up in the sky tonight
    No sign of Heaven anywhere in sight
    All that was true is left behind
    Once I could see now I am blind
    Don't want the dreams you try to sell
    This disease I give to myself
    
    How does it feel?
    Suck suck suck
    
    She makes it sweeter than the sun
    I get too tight I come undone
    I bow my head to confess
    Her temple walls are made of flesh
    Runs up my arm till I'm on track
    Itches the skin right off my back
    I'll heal your wounds
    I'll set you free
    I'm Jesus Christ on ecstasy
    
    How does it feel?
    Suck suck suck
    
    I am so dirty on the inside
    I am so dirty on the inside
    
    How does it feel?
    Suck suck suck
    
    A thousand lips
    A thousand tongues
    A thousand throats
    A thousand lungs
    A thousand ways to make it true
    I want to do terrible things to you

Links

• Pigface's "Suck" multi-tracks
• "Suck" live with Pigface

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