Nine Inch Nails – The Wretched

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Just a reflection
Just a glimpse
Just a little reminder
Of all the what abouts
And all the might have
Could have beens
Another day
Some other way
But not another reason to continue
And now you're one of us
The wretched

The hopes and prays
The better days
The far aways
Forget it

It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, did it?
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, did it?

Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like
The clouds will part and the sky cracks open
And god himself will reach his fucking arm through
Just to push you down
Just to hold you down
Stuck in this hole with the shit and the piss
And it's hard to believe it could come down to this
Back at the beginning
Sinking
Spinning

And in the end
We still pretend
The time we spend
Not knowing when
You're finally free
And you could be
But it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out quite the way that you wanted it

Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like

You can try to stop it but it keeps on coming
You can try to stop it but

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Lyrics submitted by thewhitepony33

Track duration: 05:26

"The Wretched" as written by Trent Reznor

Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


The Wretched song meanings
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45 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:i think of my ex with this song
    Flag merc3deson May 11, 2011   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:This song means alot to me and my view of the song may be weird but i thought id share. Feel free to express your opinion. I know its about Trent's grandmother but to me I hear something different. When i hear this song I hear two voices fighting and trying to control of a persons mind. One voice is evil and the other is good. The evil voice is a demon and the other is like a guardian angel. I imagine a person who has just experienced a great tragedy and is in a very low place in his life and is alone and depressed. In his weak state an evil voice tries to take over his mind yet the good still inside him.

    I imagine this as a person sitting in a cold dark room mourning a loss and in a depressed state suffering from alcohol and drugs. The demon speaks pointing out all the bad that has happened and tries to drag this person down deeper telling him he is fallen and is now wretched.

    "just a reflection
    just a glimpse
    just a little reminder
    of all the what abouts
    and all the might have
    could have beens
    another day
    some other way
    but not another reason to continue
    and now you're one of us
    the wretched"

    Then the good voice speaks to him and speaks about hope and "the better days" and the places both emotionally and physically which are "the far aways"

    the hopes and prays
    the better days
    the far aways

    The demon then hears this and says "forget it" he reminds the person how it didn't turn out the way "you wanted it to".

    "forget it
    it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
    it didn't turn out the way you wanted it, did it?
    it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
    it didn't turn out the way you wanted it, did it?"

    The person, lost and confused, explodes in anger, breaks, and allows hatred and depravity into his mind. The demon laughing and smiling knowing he is dragging the person down, tells him now he knows what "it feels like" meaning what it feels like to be evil and depraved.

    "now you know
    this is what it feels like
    now you know
    this is what it feels like"

    The demon again having been victorious in capturing the person, speaks to the person declaring God is evil and is his enemy. The demon wants the person to think evil is his only friend.

    "the clouds will part and the sky cracks open
    and god himself will reach his fucking arm
    through
    just to push you down
    just to hold you down
    stuck in this hole with the shit and the piss
    and it's hard to believe it could come down to this
    back at the beginning
    sinking
    spinning"

    The angel speaks now and says ultimetly we pretend we are in control of our lives, "we still pretend", and we try to play God yet we are at the mercy of His will. The angel then says that you are free of this demon and this depression and mourning. He begins to tell the person you could be great yet the demon determined to drag the man down stops him

    "and in the end
    we still pretend
    the time we spend
    not knowing when
    you're finally free
    and you could be"

    The demon then reminds him that whatever he wanted didn't come true and tries to bring the evil back into his life.

    "but it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
    it didn't turn out quite the way that you wanted it"

    The person then turns to the demon declares him gone and now the demon having tried to drag another person into his misery realizes that he is alone in he is the one who is broken and pitiful.

    "now you know
    this is what it feels like
    now you know
    this is what if feels like"

    In his last attempt the demon cries to the man telling him you can try to stop me but I'm always coming back for you.

    "you can try to stop it but it keeps on coming
    you can try to stop it but"
    Flag mforsython April 07, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I feel that this songs starts out with the birth of life then travels to a darker place of how one feels held down by God. Even in death some believe that there is a higher power at work, but the song tells you that there is nothing more than what there now. MORE NOTHINGNESS!
    Flag erykahblisson March 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Feelings of disillusionment and disappointment coupled with enlightenment. "Now you know this is what it feels like" life experiences, drugs, are not always what they appear to be and it is only after going through them that you understand. The song is trance-like, with a driving rhythm evoking the hopelessness of the situation.
    Flag Pray4Iceon February 11, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song is definitely directed towards Marilyn Manson. The tone of the song feels gives the feeling of someone who is extremelty furious and enraged about someone and would like to pretty much lecture and rub it in their face. It feels like he is telling Manson that the grass isnt always greener on the other side...Now no one really knows what happened between Reznor and Manson, but one thing for sure is that is abundantly clear is that Manson wanted to break free from Reznor to be "The Man" on his own; hence the line "didnt turn out the way you wanted it did it"? Reznor is essence is ahead of his time, given that Manson is now not he performer he once was given the fact that he pretty much is sinking, hence the like "sinking, spinning" to describe his drop down back to reality. The words "Now you know this is what is feels like..." this can be interpeted in many ways, but it seems like that is something you would tell someone who screwed people over and now is back to square one along with everyone else...
    Flag nin4ever77on December 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:As usual, Trent uses vivid theological and biblical imagery concerning damnation and his fans personalize it as something else entirely. I think we should take him at his word. The song is a meditation, a reflection of the hopelessness felt in learning there is no hope for you, that you are among the wretched, those destined for damnation. These lyrics are not of unbelief, but anti-belief. The only hope, if such can be called hope, is for the dissolution, the annhilation, of being in the end and the obliteration of all consciousness.
    Flag Cionaodh57on September 09, 2009   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:ughh... this song hits too close.
    Flag DJgifon April 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think that this song is about someone who has been completely screwed over in life. They can try so hard to be the person they want to be but there are always arrogant assholes who stop them. Once there is nothing else that can be done you have become "one of us". Reznor goes on to describe how nothing else became what it was supposed to and the people now know how it feels to be dropped and become the epitamy of absolutely nothing.
    Flag LeavingHopeon March 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it's about your life not turning out the way you wanted it to. about not having enough money. knowing you could have tried harder but now you know what it's like to be like everyone else. and there is nothing you could have done to prevent the way your life turned out now because your in too deep.
    Flag QueenD3adon March 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I see this song as a prelude to "The Day the World Went Away" (See my comment on the song), because it shows the main character what will happen to him if he worships the idol (See "Somewhat Damaged" comment). It tells him that he will become one of the wretched, a group of lost souls who have nothing. The main character wants hope and happiness, but it is impossible in this horrible place.

    Life didn't turn out to be the dream life he wanted, now he knows what it feels like to be one of the wretched. After this the wretched say "God can't help you now. He will just push you down and kick you around."
    Flag HawkDesignson March 01, 2009   Link

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