Nine Inch Nails

Pretty Hate Machine - 1989

1. Head Like A Hole
2. Terrible Lie
3. Down It All
4. Sanctified
5. Something I Can Never Have
6. Kinda I Want To
7. Sin
8. Thatīs What I Get
9. The Only Time
10. Ringfinger



1. Head Like A Hole


god money iīll do anything for you
god money just tell me what you want me to
god money nail me up against the wall
god money donīt want everything he wants it all

no you canīt take it
no you canīt take it
no you canīt take that away from me
no you canīt take it
no you canīt take it
no you canīt take that away from me

head like a hole
black as your soul
iīd rather die than give you control
head like a hole
black as your soul
iīd rather die than give you control

bow down before the one you serve
youīre going to get what you deserve
bow down before the one you serve
youīre going to get what you deserve

god moneyīs not looking for the cure
god moneyīs not concerned with the sick amongst the pure
god money letīs go dancing on the backs of the bruised
god moneyīs not one to choose

you know who you are



2. Terrible Lie


hey God, why are you doing this to me?
am i not living up to what iīm supposed to be?
why am i seething with this animosity?
hey God, i think you owe me a great big apology

terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie
terrible lie

hey God, i really donīt know what you mean
seems like salvation comes only in our dreams
i feel my hatred grow all the more extreme
hey God, can this world really be as sad as it seems

donīt take it away from me
i need someone to hold on to
donīt take it away from me
i need someone to hold on to

hey God, thereīs nothing left for me to hide
i lost my ignorance, security and pride
iīm all alone in a world you must despise
hey God, i believed that promises, your promises and lies

you made me throw it all away
my morals left to decay
how many you betray
youīve taken everything

my head is filled with disease
my skin is begging you please
iīm on my hands and knees
i want so much to believe

i give you everything
my sweet everything
hey God, i really donīt know who i am
in this world of piss



3. Down It All


kinda like a cloud i was up way up in the sky and i was feeling some feelings
you wouldnīt believe sometimes i donīt believe them myself and i decided i was
never coming down just then a tiny little dot caught my eye it was just about
too small to see but i watched it way too long and that dot was pulling me
down

i was up about it
i was up above it
now iīm down in it
i was up above it
i was up above it
now iīm down in it

well shut up so what what does it matter now i was swimming in the haze now i
crawl on the ground and everything i never liked about you is kind of seeping
into me try to laugh about it now but isnīt it funny how everything works
out ("I guess the jokes on me" she said)

i used to be so big and strong
i used to know my right from wrong
i used to never be afraid
i used to be somebody

i used to have something inside
now just this hole thatīs open wide
i used to want it all
i used to be somebody

iīll cross my heart and hope to die but the needleīs
already in my eye and
all the worldīs weight is on my back and i donīt even know why
and what i used to think was me is just a fading memory
i looked him right in the eye and said "goodbye"



4. Sanctified


itīs still getting worse after everything i tried
what if i found a way to wash it all aside
what if she touches with those fingertips
as the words spill out like fire from her lips

if she says come inside iīll come inside for her
if she says five it all iīll give everything to her
i am justified
i am purified
i am sanctified
inside you

Heavenīs just a rumor sheīll dispel
as she walks me through the nicest parts of hell
i still dream of lips i never should have never kissed
well she knows exactly what i canīt resist

iīm just caught up in another of her spells
sheīs turning me into someone else
everyday i hope and pray this will end
but when i can i do it all again

as surely as the blades course is run
maybe my kingdomīs finally come



5. Something I Can Never Have


i still recall the taste of my tears
echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears
my favorite dreams of you still wash ashore
scraping through my head ītill i donīt want to sleep anymore

come on tell me
make this all go away
you make this all go away
iīm down to just to thing
and iīm starting to scare myself
make this all go away
you make this all go way

i just want something
i just want something i can never have
you always were the one to show me how
back then i couldnīt do the things that i can do now
this is slowly take me apart
grey would be the color if i had a heart
i just want something i can never have
in this place it seems like such a same
though it all looks different now,
i know itīs still the same
everywhere i look youīre all i see
just a fading fucking reminder of who i used to be

i just want something
i just want something i can never have
i just want something i can never have
think i know what you meant
that night on my bed
still picking at this scab
i wish you were dead
you sweet and perry ellis
just stains on my sheets



6. Kinda I Want To


i canīt shake this feeling from my head
thereīs a devil sleeping in my bed
heīs watching you from across the way
i cannot make this feeling go away

i know itīs not the right thing
and I know itīs not the good think
but kinda i want to

iīm not sure of what i should do
when everything iīm think of is you
all of my excuses turn to lies
maybe God will cover up his eyes

maybe just for tonight
we can pretend itīs alright
whatīs the price i pay
i donīt care what they say
i want to
i want to (iīll take my chance tonight)



7. Sin


you give me the reason
you give me control
i gave you my Purity
my Purity you stole
did you think i wouldnīt recognize this compromise
am i just too stupid to realize
stale incense old sweat and lies lies lies

it comes down to this
your kiss
your fist
and your strain
it getīs under my skin
within
take in the extent of my sin

you give me the anger
you give me the nerve
carry out the sentence
i get what i deserve
iīm just an effigy to be defaced
to be disgraced
your need for me has been replaced
and if i canīt have everything well then just give me a taste



8. Thatīs What I Get


just when everything was making sense
you took away all my self-confidence
now all that iīve been hearing must be true
i guess iīm not the only boy for you

but thatīs what i get
thatīs what i get
thatīs what i get
thatīs what i get

how could you turn us into this?
after you just taught me how to kiss you
I told you iīd never say goodbye
now iīm slipping on the tears you made me cry

why does it come as a surprise
to think that i was so naive
maybe didnīt mean so much
but it meant everything to me



9. The Only Time


iīm drunk
and right now iīm so in love with you
and i donīt want to think too much about what we should or shouldnīt do
lay my hands on Heaven and the sun and the moon and the stars
while the devil wants to fuck me in the back of his car


nothing quite like the feel of something new
maybe iīm all messed up
maybe iīm all messed up
maybe iīm all messed up in you
maybe iīm all messed up
maybe iīm all messed up
maybe iīm all messed up
maybe iīm all messed up in you
maybe iīm all messed up
this is the only time i really feel alive
this is the only time i really feel alive

i swear
i just found everything i need
the sweat in your eyes the blood in your veins are listening to me
well i want to drink it up and swim in it until i drown
my moral standing is lying down



10. Ringfinger


well youīve got me working so heard lately
working my hands until they bleed
if i was twice the man i could be
iīd still be half of what you need
still you lead me and i follow
anything you ask you know iīll do
but this one act of consecration is what i ask of you

ringfinger
promise carved in stone
deeper than the sea
ringfinger
sever flesh and bon
and offer it to me

you just left me nailed here
hanging like Jesus on the cross
iīll be dying for your sins
and aiding to the cause

wrap my eyes in bandages
confessions i see through
i get everything i want
when i get part of you

ringfinger
promise carved in stone
deeper than the sea
ringfinger
devilīs flesh and bone
do something for me


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