Piggy
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Piggy (Closure)
Piggy (And All That Could Have Been)
"Piggy" is the second track on the 1994 concept album The Downward Spiral. It is the first song to feature a live drum performance by Trent Reznor, and one of the many to include the phrase "Nothing Can Stop Me Now"
Contents
The Drum Solo
The drum solo featured in the last half of the song is actually Reznor himself. Initially it was a drum test being used as a placeholder in the song, but he liked it too much to replace it.
Song Credits
- Production: Flood and Trent Reznor
- Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder
Appearances
- The Downward Spiral
- Further Down The Spiral
- Closure
- And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)
Versions
Piggy
Characterized by its very simplistic structure, Piggy contains a simple drum beat (the exception being the final drum solo) with only bass accompaniment and a small piano line attached to the song's end. Though heavily debated, the album version of Piggy is the first of several songs on The Downward Spiral to incorporate the famous "Downward Spiral Motif." While this version of the motif does not contain the final "five note measure" found on other songs such as Closer and The Downward Spiral, the structure remains relatively the same. Played by the organs on the second verse, the notes to this short variation of the motif are as follows:
F# E E D
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
"Piggy" was remixed by Rick Rubin for both of the 1995 Remix albums Further Down The Spiral v1 and v2. It features Dave Navarro on guitar. This remix was also featured on 2004's 2nd CD of the Tenth Aniversary Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral. Played exclusively at the Dissonance tour, it is one of the only remixes ever played live.
Piggy (And All That Could Have Been)
A professionally recording live version appears in video and audio on And All That Could Have Been.
Live
Piggy has become a popular song in Nine Inch Nails live shows, though it is not played on a regular basis. During live shows Reznor will frequently venture into the crowd during this song with a microphone and invite fans to sing along to the song.
Bridge School Benefit
Reznor performed a new version of "Piggy" on piano with a string quartet at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert.
Lyrics
Hey pig,
Yeah you
Hey pig piggy pig pig pig
All of my fears came true
Black and blue and broken bones you left me here I’m all alone
My little piggy needed something new
Nothing can stop me now
I don’t care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
I just don’t care
Hey pig
Nothing’s turning out the way I planned
Hey pig
There’s a lot of things I hoped you could help me understand
What am I supposed to do I lost my shit because of you
Nothing can stop me now
I don’t care anymore
Nothing can stop me now
I just don’t care
Nothing can stop me now
You don’t need me anymore
The last two lines of the song can't be heard in the final album cut.