Gave Up
Gave Up (remixed by Coil, Danny Hyde)
About
Gave Up is the 6th track off the 1992 Broken EP. It continues the EP's musical themes of being loud and aggressive, as well as showing themes of nihilism, self-loathing, and chaos in the lyrics.
Appears On
Gave up appears in some form on the following albums:
Versions
There are only two versions of this song.
Song Credits
- Production: Flood, Trent Reznor
Music Video
There are two videos for "Gave Up:" a performance video directed by Jon Reiss ("Happiness In Slavery"), and the finale to the Broken Movie, directed by Peter Christopherson.
The video directed by Reiss, as stated earlier, is a performance video. It features the band (Reznor, Richard Patrick, Chris Vrenna, and James Woolley) along with Marilyn Manson performing the song in a studio at the notorious Tate Mansion.
The video directed by Christopherson is the finale to the Broken Movie. The victim is strung up to the ceiling and burned and beaten. He is then taken down and tied to a board, where the killer takes a chainsaw to the victim's appendages. The killer unmasks himself, revealing his identity in the victim's final moments. After having his way with the dying victim, the killer cuts out the victim's heart and eats it. All the while, Reznor can be seen on the television singing the song. Intercut with the violence is footage of various body parts in freezers and the fridge, a police officer (played by either Patrick or Robert Patrick) coming into the crime scene, and a crowd of rubbernecking bystanders.
Performed Live
Gave Up has seen regular playing time in live shows since it's debut in 1994. When performed live, the high pitched "smashed-up" chorus is pre-recorded with the band members lightly whispering over it.
Lyrics
Perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most
Forgot how it feels well almost
No one to blame always the same
Open my eyes wake up in flames
It took you to make me realize
It took you to make me realize
It took you to make me realize
It took you to make me see the light
Smashed up my sanity
Smashed up integrity
Smashed up what I believed in
Smashed up what’s left of me
Smashed up my everything
Smashed up all that was true
Gonna smash myself to pieces
I don’t know what else to do
Covered in hope and Vaseline
Still cannot fix this broken machine
Watching the hole it used to be mine
Just watching it burn in my steady systematic decline
Of the trust I will betray
Give it to me I throw it away
After everything I’ve done I hate myself for what I’ve become
I tried
I gave up
Throw it away