Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Reconsidering Nine Inch Nails; Again

I went to a Nine Inch Nails concert when I was in junior high. I even bought a tee shirt! Yeah, I was a huge fan when I was young. At the ripe old age of fourteen I particularly connected with the song Closer with its most memorable line, “I want to f--- you like an animal.” I am not sure what it was, perhaps it was my teenage angst, or just the idea of having sex as a fourteen-year-old boy was…well always on my mind! But like many things I grew out of that phase. I didn’t exactly rebel against that kind of music, just moved on to different things.

Then I became pretty serious about my faith while in college. Unlike many of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ I did not have a secular CD breaking party. But I must say that my music sensibilities were refined with my new focus on Jesus and those sensibilities were appalled by such lines as “I want to f--- you like an animal.” How could I have ever been into such music? I was disgusted with myself for having gone to a Nine Inch Nails concert. And how did I ever convince my parents to drop me off and pick me up?

Well, fast-forward again to just two weeks ago. Whenever I heard that song Closer come on the radio I usually changed it but for some reason this time I did not. Suddenly I started listening to that song and I saw it and Trent Reznor (the artist) in a whole new light. That night, just an hour before, I had high school youth group and I was leading a small group of guys in discussion. The topic of sex came up and all of them thought it was ridiculous to not have had sex at their age (15-17). Sex was what made them real men, it is natural, and it must be done as much as possible. Having that conversation, along with listening to the song Closer something clicked.

Look at these lyrics from the song, and better yet listen to the song while reading the lyrics. Reznor says,

I want to f--- you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god
You can have my isolation, you can have the hate that it brings
You can have my absence of faith, you can have my everything
Help me tear down my reason, help me its' your sex I can smell
Help me you make me perfect, help me become somebody else

Suddenly I saw this song as the thoughts of a man crying out for help. It is a song about a man searching for something more then himself. A man admitting he is broken. And the only place our society believes a man can be “healed” is between a woman’s legs. That is Reznor’s answer. This is his (and many others) religion. Healing and perfection can only be attainted while between the sheets.

The problem is that this healing is only superficial. And you get addicted to it. You feel perfect for a few moments but then you are pulled back to reality. You become willing to do anything to get that moment of perfection back, anything. This is what my youth group guys don’t get and what I wish I could have them hear. Reznor writes in the song our beliefs about sex. In the church we have a different belief but I am glad I listened to this song again because it helped me see what my guys are going through and how they think. It is always interesting to me where one can find the Lord speaking, especially in places that God is not supposed to be.

2 comments:

The Destroyed said...

Hmmm... I suppose you can always leave it to Christians to put a religious spin on things.

I had to laugh when you wrote that you were ashamed about going to a Nine Inch Nails concert. Dude, maybe you should stick to Celine Dion!

P.W.Blakesley said...

When one writes lyrics like, "You get me closer to god" I think there is already a religious spin. Yes, Reznor might not have a Christian religious perspective but he does have a religious perspective.

I do admit that for a time I could not believe I had gone to a NIN concert but in telling that story I had hoped to express my personal journey of musical tastes. Alas I cannot say that Celine Dion has ever been a part of that journey! Anyway, thank you for your thoughts the destroyed!