Trent Reznor appeared twice last night on Mtv — I tolerated the channel long enough to tape both performances, as well as any few Janeane Garofolo frames which popped up in between (hey, the tape was already in there) and the three or four Dreamcast commercials which aired.
The interview: Kurt Loder asked him about all of the background vocals on the album, and Trent explained that when they were working on the thing, at 12:00 at night, they’d just go across to the local bar and grab a bunch of drunk guys to yell and mumble into the microphones, creating an atonal mess.
“We assembled what I think is the most atonal group of females I’ve ever heard… I hope… they aren’t… they’re not watching this now, but they were… comically horrendous.”
David Bowie showed up, and gave quite a dignified speech. Janine Garofolo, as mentioned, was perpetually around. And the crowd was insane during Trent’s performance — just from the shouting, you’d think it’d be the Beatles playing. It was really kind of hard to hear the song, and the band weren’t entirely in sync, it seemed — like they only started practicing a week or two before. But all in all, it fell together pretty well.
The band, when they finally showed up, two and a half hours or so into the show, were introduced by Johnny Depp — though he didn’t give much of an intro. He was introduced by Chris Rock along with a mention of his appearance in the new Tim Burton movie. Immediately I guessed he was showing up to introduce nin — why else shove him out there? But all he did was stalk out on stage, say something to the effect of “here are nine inch nails,” and then immediately leave. huh.
Nin played what I presume to be “the fragile” — it didn’t sound too bad, from what I could tell. Trent seemed kinda’ nervous. Forgot the lyrics near the beginning and started laughing, but recovered, sorta’. Interesting setup, with large metal arms opening and closing around the band, zig-zags of flourescent lights affixed to their undersides. Lots of cellos and things in the background.
The Fragile (the song) is mostly a kinda’ quiet bit; about halfway through, at least in the live version, things started to get a bit tedious. I think Trent forgot the lyrics to a section altogether; he seemed to be getting a bit flustered; the music was getting softer, and the crowd was getting noisier. Plus it was an attempted live recreation — So it’s hard to tell.
These are the lyrics, to the best I can figure [and here are the correct ones]:
the fragile
she shines in a lair full of ugliness
se matters when everything is meaningless
the fragile -- she doesn't see her beauty
she tries to get away
sometimes it's just that nothing seems worth saving
I can't watch her slip away
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
she (wings the mat?) of all her people as they pass her by
(Open sea?), I can see
if I could fix myself, I'd... (turns and laughs as if he's made a mistake)
but it's too late -- for -- me!
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
I won't let you fall apart
I'll find the perfect place to go where we can run an hide...
we'll build a wall then we can keep them on the other side
but they keep waiting... and picking... and picking...
and picking... and picking... and picking... and picking...
(so can you after tell?) I won't let you fall apart
(I was fragile?) I won't let you fall apart
(everything else?) I won't let you fall apart
(I was fragile?) I won't let you fall apart