Only (Nine Inch Nails song)

"Only" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released as the second single from Nine Inch Nails' fourth album, With Teeth. "Only" reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, where it stayed for seven weeks. It is the second successful release that Nine Inch Nails has had in the UK, peaking at number 20.

Background

Singer Trent Reznor said the song is about the music business clashing with his artistic desires.

When you get on this path of trying to sell records it becomes about selling more records and playing bigger venues. ... It's like, 'Wait a minute!' The goal has to be about making the best music possible or else it becomes something that will make you implode. ... Should I say yes to that Microsoft commercial because I could use a new house? Or do I say no because this is something precious that would be tarnished if I did that? I find myself saying this to record labels and business manager guys, and they're like, 'You won't do what because of what?'

Recording and release

"Only" was the last song completed for With Teeth.

Like the previous single, "The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was only widely released in Europe. European releases include a CD, a DVD, and a 9" vinyl. The only United States release is a vinyl format—a remix record with mixes from Richard X and El-P.

Like "The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was released as a GarageBand multitrack file, as well as for DigiDesign Pro Tools, Ableton Live, and Sony ACID Pro. A fan remix community page was set up on MySpace.

Music

"Only" has been labeled as dance-rock, dance-punk, new wave revival and synth-pop.

Music video

The music video for "Only", directed by David Fincher and relying almost entirely on CGI created by Digital Domain, shows various objects in an executive's office, such as Pin Art, Newton's Cradle and laptop screen saver coming to life with the propulsion of the song and was released on July 12, 2005, at NIN.com.

The main focus is Trent Reznor's face in the pinscreen that sits on the desk, which is the only way he appears in the video. The only non-CGI components of the video are a person's hand (Fincher's, who owns the PowerBook in the video) and the cars in the background.

Track listing

Charts

See also

• 2005 in music

References

1. Nine Inch Nails
2. Closer (Nine Inch Nails song)
3. Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)
4. We're in This Together (Nine Inch Nails song)
5. Into the Void (Nine Inch Nails song)
6. List of Nine Inch Nails band members
7. Nine Inch Nails discography
8. Discipline (Nine Inch Nails song)
9. Deep (Nine Inch Nails song)
10. List of songs recorded by Nine Inch Nails
11. Broken (Nine Inch Nails EP)
12. List of Nine Inch Nails concert tours
13. Everything (Nine Inch Nails song)
14. Piggy (song)
15. Nine Inch Nails live performances
16. List of awards and nominations received by Nine Inch Nails
17. Survivalism (song)
18. The Slip (album)
19. The Downward Spiral
20. Only