Tag: industrial rock

Song of the Moment CXXI: Nine Inch Nails’ “Wish”

Since the last few days of May, the newest favorite song from Foo Fighters (my favorite band), “Child Actor,” has been my constant soundtrack. I even swore last June 1 that it would be the only song I’d listen to.

But the next day, I had to break that oath because I saw a glimpse of hope. While it couldn’t light up the dark room I’m currently in the way I wanted to, it’s still a source of light. Then I remembered something an old friend told me: “Focus on the glimpses of hope.” So, I started taking better care of myself, stopped punishing myself by listening to only one song, and went back to something familiar: my daily playlist.

Aside from the Foos songs I truly loved, the song I listened to the most recently is “Wish,” my favorite song from industrial rock legends Nine Inch Nails. It’s perhaps the only aggressively loud song that could appropriately scream my recent disappointments and exasperations. Yes, I’ve been doing my best to focus on the smallest lights, but that doesn’t mean I can’t yell through the dark. I need that kind of catharsis, and for the past several weeks, “Wish” has given that.

The music video of Nine Inch Nails’ “Wish.”

How disappointed and exasperated am I? To quote the chorus:

Wish there was something real
Wish there was something true
Wish there was something real
In this world full of you

And that is why “Wish” by Nine Inch Nails is my Song of the Moment.

See you in the next post.

Header image: Adnan Bayot of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2026.

Song of the Moment CV: Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds”

I can honestly say that 2025 is one of the most memorable years of my life, and one reason is that I replaced a few of my New Year’s resolutions with some things better. One resolution was to delve into a different single music artist per week, and it proved to be difficult, especially since I have a day job and other interests I’d like to pursue after work. So, I replaced that music resolution with listening to a playlist of my favorite songs on Spotify. It turns out that listening to songs I truly love (whether I’m writing, walking, or just chilling) is more enjoyable than absorbing an entire discography in seven days. The latter sounds like a chore rather than entertainment.

With my favorite songs list comes a rekindled appreciation for the industrial rock pioneers, Nine Inch Nails. When I listened to the legendary band’s essential playlist curated by Spotify, I rediscovered the songs I remembered and loved years ago, and then I added them to my list. Since then, according to my Last.fm, my number of listens to the band spiked to 300+ times. That’s an incredible feat, and I believe the statistic will grow in the future because, at this point, I acknowledge (and embrace) both the light and the darkness, and Nine Inch Nails is known for their dark, heavy music.

So, you might ask what my favorite Nine Inch Nails song is as of late. It’s definitely “The Hand That Feeds”, the first single from the fourth studio album With Teeth. Based on my lyrical interpretation, the song is about questioning authority (while questioning oneself in the process), and that politically relevant message is wrapped in a heavy, defiant industrial rock sound that is so hypnotically danceable, and I don’t normally dance to Nine Inch Nails songs. Nowadays, every time I commute, I’d search “That Hand That Feeds” on my list, and then listen to it as I move my feet like I own the street.

The music video of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds”.

I think I have found my top favorite Nine Inch Nails song in “The Hand That Feeds” for its modern-day relevance and its hypnotizing, groovy industrial rock instrumentals. That’s why it’s my Song of the Moment.

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?

The chorus of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds”

Anyway, let me dance again to the song in my favorite cafe. It’s a good thing I’m the only customer here at the moment… oh, shit. People are approaching. I’ll just do an internal dance, if I could call it that.

Ω

Header image: Pedro Figueras of Pexels. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Updated on December 18, 2025.

Song of the Moment XCV: Nine Inch Nails’ “Every Day Is Exactly the Same”

I admit that Daft Punk’s “Around the World” (a previous Song of the Moment) is still on my rotation this week. I mean, come on, it’s one of my favorite electronic dance songs. But this week, I also decided to listen more to the pioneers of industrial rock, Nine Inch Nails. I started my binge-listening with the essential playlist curated by Spotify.

After listening to half of the playlist, the song that stuck with me is “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” (a single from the Nine Inch Nails studio album With Teeth). I remembered listening to it multiple times in 2019 (one of the darkest times in my life), but it’s only recently that I truly understand the song’s lyrics on the dark side of monotonous routine and blind conformity. (Well, that’s my interpretation anyway.)

Every day is exactly the same
Every day is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Every day is exactly the same

The chorus of Nine Inch Nails’ “Every Day Is Exactly the Same”

I’m a guy who loves listening to various music genres, so listening to “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” is a darkly refreshing break from the upbeat Daft Punk classic “Around the World”. That’s why it’s my Song of the Moment.

Nine Inch Nail’s “Every Day Is Exactly the Same”.

Now I’m going to try a different affogato tonight. See you in the next post.

Ω

Header image: Clock image by Phantom Reader of Pixabay. Edited in Adobe Photoshop 2025.

Updated on September 4, 2025.