Piggy
Piggy (Instrumental)
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Piggy (Closure)
Piggy (And All That Could Have Been)
"Piggy" is the second track from the 1994 album The Downward Spiral. It is one of the many songs to include the phrase "Nothing Can Stop Me Now." The drum solo featured in the last half of the song is actually performed by Trent 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.
Contents
Meaning
According to the Filter biography on their official website, former live guitarist Richard Patrick reportedly received the nickname "Piggy" while in Nine Inch Nails. According to Patrick's Filter bandmate Brian Liesegang, Reznor was very upset when Patrick left the band and wrote the song "Piggy" about it shortly thereafter[1]. Patrick gave the story behind his nickname in a 2013 interview[2]:
"One evening the day before some studio time with Trent I took a girlfriend to a Skinny Puppy gig. I was watching the sound check and Ogre was on the mic shouting 'WHITE PIGGY' over and over, I found it really funny. When I got back to the studio and we were setting up, I keep doing an impersonation of Ogre and after a few minutes Trent shouted to me 'Hey Piggy, shut up and play some chords man!', and the name stuck after that".
As well, "Piggies" is a song on The Beatles' 1968 self-titled (or 'white') album, a noted influence on Charles Manson, who scrawled the word "pig" in blood on the front door of the Sharon Tate mansion wherein he and his 'Family' killed Tate and several others on August 8, 1969. The mansion was also where Reznor recorded The Downward Spiral in 1993-4 and Reznor kept the Tate door when he moved to Nothing Studios in New Orleans. However, Reznor debunked rumors of song connections to the Tate murders in an interview[3]:
"I had 'Piggy' written long before it was ever known that I would be in that house. 'March of the Pigs' has nothing to do with the Tate murders or anything like that, I’m not going to say what it is about, but it’s not about that. Yeah, the name of the studio being 'Pig', that was a definite bad taste joke. It was written on the front door at one time, I’ll admit to that."
Song Credits
- Production: Flood and Trent Reznor
- Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder
Appearances
Halos
- The Downward Spiral
- Further Down The Spiral
- Closure
- And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)
Seeds
Versions
Piggy
Characterized by its very simplistic structure, "Piggy" contains a simple set of drum and other percussion loops with only bass and organ accompaniment, joined by piano and noise loops in the latter half. 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:
Piggy (Instrumental)
Running Time: 4:30
Released by Reznor through his remix.nin.com account, this is a vocalless, unmastered version of the album recording. Its ending is also extended by several repetitions of noise loops and the bass riff after the loud drums have faded out.
Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Running Time: 4:02
"Piggy" was remixed by Rick Rubin for the 1995 remix album Further Down The Spiral. It features Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction on guitar and samples "Put Your Love in My Tender Care" by the Fatback Band. This remix was also featured on 2004's 2nd CD of the 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral. Featured first on the Dissonance tour, it is one of the only remixes ever played live, and was revived for the NIN|JA 2009 tour.
Song Credits
- Produced by Rick Rubin
- Engineered by David Sardy & David Schiffman
- Guitar: Dave Navarro
- Beats: Kim Bullard
Piggy (Closure)
Recorded in bootleg-like quality, this live performance video is featured on the first disc of Closure.
Piggy (And All That Could Have Been)
A professionally recorded live version appears in video and audio on And All That Could Have Been. Reznor gives the microphone away to audience members to sing the "nothing can stop me now" refrain in the latter half of the song, and his ending piano solo segues directly into the performance of "The Frail."
Live
"Piggy" has become a popular song in Nine Inch Nails live shows, played seemingly on a nearly regular basis. During live shows Reznor will frequently venture into the crowd during this song with a microphone and invite fans to sing along.
Reznor performed a new version of "Piggy" on piano with a string quartet at Neil Young's 2006 Bridge School Benefit concert. This was most likely the inspiration for the "Ghosts Piggy" arrangement that was used in 2008's Lights In The Sky Tour. It features Justin Meldal-Johnsen on upright bass and Reznor on tambourine and marimba, usually segueing directly from "19 Ghosts III" via Reznor's tambourine playing as it slows from the quicker tempo to match that of "Ghosts Piggy." Its title is sourced from tour setlists.
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 line of the song is not sung in the final album cut.
External Links
- Official Filter biography, which mentions Patrick's nickname
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