The Warning (Year Zero song)
The Warning (Instrumental)
The Warning: Real World
"The Warning" is the ninth track on the 2007 release Year Zero. This song is widely believed to be about The Presence. At the end of the album version of the song is the static noise that was included at the end of the leaked version of "My Violent Heart," which revealed The Presence when ran through a spectrogram.
Appearances
Halos
- Year Zero
- Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
Other
The song title appears on the With Teeth poster but is not featured on the album. It is possible, though exceptionally unlikely, that the song was recorded during the With Teeth sessions.
Versions
The Warning
This is the original album version. Beginning with a glitchy drum beat atypical of Year Zero, the guitar, synth and bass follow with a danceable melody followed subsequently by Trent Reznor's vocals above the music. After Reznor declares "Your time is tick-tick-ticking away" for the first time in the song, the guitar plays a more distorted and 'industrial' sounding riff than the main riff. Reznor's final lyrical declaration continues repetitiously until the end, where he whispers "ticking away" faintly only for the music to be replaced by a short, quiet burst of static which ultimately leads into the following song, "God Given".
The Warning (Instrumental)
This unmastered vocal-less mix was released by Reznor through his remix.nin.com account.
The Warning: Real World
Running Time: 3:43
This remix featuring African drummer Doudou N'Diaye Rose is on Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D. It starts with a piano melody that is joined by drum elements. The verse features the vocals over a drum beat accompanied by a droning synth. Due to the multitracks being censored, the lyric "You piss it all away" was also censored on this mix. The new synths and the drums create an even more foreboding atmosphere than what is heard in the Year Zero original. At the end a sound element similar to the guitar in the original is heard under the fading synths.
Song Credits
- Remix by Stefan Goodchild (Featuring Doudou N'Diaye Rose)
Live
"The Warning" made its live debut on July 19, 2008, and was played at most shows on the Lights In The Sky Tour. "The Warning" was played before the "Ghosts" section of the setlist, played alongside (or replaced with) "Vessel", "Me, I'm Not", or "The Great Destroyer".
"The Warning" appeared once on the Wave Goodbye Tour, performed at the final show with Atticus Ross and Dave Navarro guesting.
On the Hesitation Marks touring cycle, "The Warning" was played at about half the dates on the 2013 festival leg, and a majority of shows on the 2014 Europe/UK leg, but has not been performed since July 27, 2014.
Lyrics
Some say it was a warning
Some say it's a sign
I was standing right there
When it came down from the sky
The way it spoke to us
You felt it from inside
Said it was up to us
Up to us to decide
"You've become a virus
Killing off his host
We been watching you with all of our eyes
And what you seem to value most
So much potential
Or so we used to say
Your greed, self-importance and your arrogance
You piss it all away
We heard her cry
We have come to intervene
You will change your ways and you will make amends
Or we will wipe this place clean"
Your time is ticking away
The second line is said as follows in the actual recording:
Some say it was a sign
That last line of the song is said as follows in the actual recording:
Your time is tick-tick-ticking away
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