Wish
Wish (Fixed)
Fist Fuck
Wish (Closure)
Wish (And All That Could Have Been)
Wish (Beside You In Time)
Wish is the second track on 1992's Broken EP, and displays that era's characteristic aggression and abrasive guitar attack. The song won a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance." It keeps with the general mood of the Broken EP and includes numerous angry and self-deprecating lyrical passages, but unlike other songs, also shows a desire for something more.
Contents
Song Credits
- Production: Flood, Trent Reznor
Appearances
Halos
- Broken
- Closure
- And All That Could Have Been (CD/DVD/VHS)
- Beside You In Time
Versions
Wish
This is the original album version.
Wish (Fixed)
This remix was created by J.G. Thirlwell, who currently writes the score for Adult Swim's The Venture Brothers.
Fist Fuck
This remix contains samples from the musical Showboat and what sounds like a psychiatry video.
Wish (Closure)
This live performance is featured on Closure.
Wish (And All That Could Have Been)
This version is very similar to the liver version on Closure.
Wish (Beside You In Time)
This live version's guitar outro is different in a few ways from past live versions
Music Video
In 1992 the video for "Wish" premiered. It was directed by Peter Christopherson, who also directed "March Of The Pigs" and the infamous Broken Movie.
The video features the band performing in a rather ornate cage. Outside of the cage is a mob that seems determined to get into the cage and attack the band. The finale of the video shows the mob accosting the band through the bars, grabbing at them and attempting to bind them. Ultimately, they break through the chain keeping the band locked inside and storm in, wielding baseball bats and other crude weapons. MTV felt that the ending scene was too violent and alternate footage was used for network airplay.
The video can also be found on the Broken Movie. The only major difference is that footage from the movie can be seen during the video's interlude.
A second video is a live video filmed by Simon Maxwell for Closure in 1995. The footage used is different from that used in the Closure performance.
Live
"Wish" has become a staple of the Nine Inch Nails live shows, performed at nearly every show, due to it's high energy and guitar-oriented structure.
Lyrics
This is the first day of my last days
I built it up now I take it apart climbed up real high now fall down real far
No need for me to stay the last thing left I just threw it away
I put my faith in God and my trust in you
Now there's nothing more fucked up I could do
Wish there was something real wish there was something true
Wish there was something real in this world full of you
I'm the one without a soul I'm the one with this big fucking hole
No new tale to tell twenty-six years on my way to Hell
Gotta listen to your big time hard line bad luck fist fuck
Don't think you're having all the fun
You know me I hate everyone
Wish there was something real wish there was something true
Wish there was something real in this world full of you
I want to but I can't turn back
But I want to