March Of The Pigs (Clean version)
All The Pigs, All Lined Up
March Of The Pigs (And All That Could Have Been)
March Of The Pigs (Beside You In Time)
"March of the Pigs" is the fourth track on 1994's The Downward Spiral. It has one of the most unique metres of any song to enjoy popular radio play, alternating three measures of 7/8 time with one measure of 4/4 time in the verses (in effect, a 29/8 time signature). The chorus is in the common 4/4 time signature. As a result, with eighth notes getting the count, the song has a BPM rate of 269.
Lyrically, the song could be about society or NIN's fans, but Trent Reznor has stated in the interview titled Disturbed that the "pigs" in this song refer mainly to "anywhere from the media to people he thought were friends around him." Furthermore, he said, "The issue I was addressing was... when we attained a certain level of success, it was surprising to see the legion of people starting to fuck with you, can't wait to see you fail, hoping that you'll fuck up, ripping you off, trying to use you... The fact that American media, in 'underground world,' you go from being the darling to 'well, we accidentally started selling some records,' so they have to turn their backs on us."
The chorus of this song shares its chord progression with the bridge of "Wish."
Song Credits
- Production: Trent Reznor
- Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder
Appearances
Halos
- March Of The Pigs
- The Downward Spiral
- Closure
- And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)
- Beside You In Time
Seeds
Video Games
- Rock Band (available for download)
Versions
March Of The Pigs
This Is the original album version.
March Of The Pigs (clean)
The radio edit deletes the word "fuck," making it safe to air on American radio stations.
All The Pigs, All Lined Up
This version is entirely in 4/4 and has en extended ending that incorporates the lyric "Don't you feel a whole lot better?"
March Of The Pigs (And All That Could Have Been)
This live version incorporates an extended ending, based on that of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up."
March Of The Pigs (Beside You In Time)
Like the version that appears on And All That Could Have Been, this live version incorporates the ending of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up." The major differences are that the introduction in this version is shorter and Reznor changes some of the vocal stylings.
Music Video
A music video was made for this song, directed by Peter Christopherson ("Wish" and the Broken Movie) and released in March of 1994. The video features the band performing the song live in front of a white wall backdrop. Reportedly, around a dozen takes were done, and the final video take was the one that "did not suck." It's filmed in one shot, a rare occurrence for music videos. This video was the last video to be played on MTV2's Increase the Beat, on Memorial Day weekend 2002. At 269 BPM, it had the fastest tempo of the 400+ videos that were played that weekend.
A previous version of the video was partially shot but abandoned, and is included on the Closure DVD. The band performs the song in a red cave-like set with water at their feet (some speculate that it could have been a stomach), and a troll-like midget appears.
Live
Being a staple NIN song with its high energy segued by two piano breakdowns, there is a live performance video of "March of the Pigs" on each of their live releases: Closure, And All That Could Have Been, and Beside You in Time. In the live set, the band extends the song by including an amped up version of "All The Pigs, All Lined Up" at the end of every performance.
In most performances in the pre-With Teeth eras, the songs starts with the same high pitched squeal it does in the performance video for the song. Since the start of the With Teeth Tour, the song now starts with a synth line that matches the one played behind the second set of measures for the song originally. (This section now completely omitted from the song, the guitars coming in completely along with they synth after the first drum run through.)
Trent typically starts the song with the spoken lyrics "C'mon you pigs... march!".
Lyrics
Step right up march push
Crawl right up on your knees
Please greed feed (no time to hesitate)
I want a little bit I want a piece of it I think he's losing it
I want to watch it come down
Don't like the look of it don't like the taste of it don't like the smell of it
I want to watch it come down
All the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn't that make you feel better?
Shove it up inside surprise! Lies
Stains like blood on your teeth
Bite chew suck away the tender parts
I want to break it up I want to smash it up I want to fuck it up
I want to watch it come down
Maybe afraid of it let's discredit it let's pick away at it
I want to watch it come down
All the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn't that make you feel better?
The pigs have won tonight
Now they can all sleep soundly
And everything is all right
External Links
- "March Of The Pigs" (uncensored music video)
- "March Of The Pigs" live from Beside You In Time
- Direct link to Disturbed interview audio
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