Nine Inch Nails – Closer

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  General Comment:This song definitely is not just a sex anthem. There is a much darker and sinsister meaning. It is actually very sad and depressing. The character in the song is so broken down and so empty that sex is the only things that still makes him feel alive. Also, as a side note, I personally make a connection to religion, in that, especially in Hinduism as well as other Eastern religions, sex is in fact viewed as a spiritual connection with another person and God. Sex is sacred, not profane, as it is viewed by modern Christianity and society as well. In the video as well the part that has the monkey on the cross, I relate to something I saw on an early "Faces of Death" movie, where people where gathered at a table and took turns hitting a monkey in the head with a small hammer until it was dead and then eating its brain. This was done because it was believed that eating the monkey's brain would bring them closer to god. I think the S&M bondage style sex that is referenced is also a reflection of the psychological nature of being sadistic/masochistic, which is considered as a disorder, and is refering to the reasons why you can become this way, i.e. through being beaten down mentally and emotionally until you are virtually broken and empty until you find a way to regain power over yourself through sadistic/masochistic behavior, this behavior, of course, only deepens the wound leaving you desensitized in an extreme way so that you become regretful, suicidal, delusional?, etc.. The reason sex is glorified in this song is because it is the only thing the main character has left,therefore it in a way is his god, it controls him, it gives his life meaning and purpose as miserable of an existence as that sounds, that is the message being conveyed in this song as well as throughout The Downward Spiral.

  Flag TwoVirgoson April 17, 2013   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:I don't know how people can say this is about rape, it really isn't just look at the lyrics
  You let me violate you
  You let me desecrate you
  You let me penetrate you
  You let me complicate you
  She's letting him do these things to her.
  
  This is how I see the song, it's about this broken person
  Help me
  I broke apart my insides
  Help me
  I've got no soul to sell
  
  Who finds comfort in having mindless sex with this girl
  I want to fuck you like an animal
  I want to feel you from the inside
  I want to fuck you like an animal
  
  Even though he knows it's wrong
  My whole existence is flawed
  
  But by doing this he feels some reason to live, because he's taking this sex from her, and sex is like his way of proving to himself he's alive
  You get me closer to god
  
  But he's asking for help to find a new way to live
  Help me
  Tear down my reason
  Help me
  It's your sex I can smell
  Help me
  You make me perfect
  Help me become somebody else
  
  And in the end he find his reason to live in the girl who just started as a random hook-up
  Through every forest above the trees
  Within my stomach scraped off my knees
  I drink the honey inside your hive
  You are the reason I stay alive
  
  That's what I think

  Flag DeathDaKidon January 01, 2013   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:The song is about a dream or vision of raping or having violent sex with a virgin. .I say virgin because in mythology it was believed that virgins were closer to God. The subject having this fantasy if clearly broken from previous experience, delusional, and lacking emotion for anyone besides themselves. And it F***ing rocks!

  Flag jcraigjon September 27, 2012   Link

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• -1
  General Comment:I think it's about S

  Flag dallascaon September 25, 2012   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:To me, It sounds like it's about S

  Flag dallascaon September 25, 2012   Link

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• +3
  General Comment:So so so so so so so so so good! The only thing that may be better is the video with its symbolism...pure genius. Obviously a song about getting power and identity through sex, which isn't as uncommon as one would hope. Sex brings the person "closer to God," which could be a metaphor for feeling high and invincible. I used to want to have sex to this song, but I've changed my mind. It's a song for a one night stand or a loveless relationship. It's a song for superficial encounters, not for the good stuff...

  Flag Jeffreystumpon August 01, 2012   Link

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• -3
  General Comment:LIE DOWN BITCH. BOW WOW WOW WOW. Howl whore. Howl at da moon. bend yoru fucking ass over and let me shove it as deep as it can go .scream you crass cunt. scream yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss cum for me

  Flagged Passionedbeatsworld1on May 23, 2012   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:BEST sex song of all time. It cannot be beat and neither can the video. It combines religion/faith with sex, which are perhaps the two most powerful concepts to humans. It's raw energy. You can almost picture two sweaty bodies on top of each other moving to and fro; hips and legs flailing; saliva being passed between them; temperatures rising; and then...moments of silence when the bliss is so great neither person is able to speak. Absolutely fantastic track by a master. And TR ISSSSSSS the master!

  Flagged URalwaysangryon May 20, 2012   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:For me, the song is about him finding God (the extreme high; the power; the raw excitement, not the spiritual being) through sex. It makes him feel alive when otherwise he feels nothing or very little. Many can relate to this song without being a narssacist. The clubs are filled with these people at last call. They will go home with anyone, even much older women who danced with them just once and never learned his name. But the song is sexually changed; therefore, it has mass appeal. People can live vicariously through a song like this with having no intent to go to bed with a stranger/new acquaintance. The video highlights religious and sexual symbolism, which makes it the best video ever made (opinion, of course). The two most powerful human dynamics are Christianity (or any religious faith if one truely believes) and sex, so combined a song was created that speaks to almost every human being on his/her most primal level.

  Flagged funnywhenurquieton April 20, 2012   Link

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• 0
  My Interpretation:NARCISSISM
  
  To me this song is clearly about Narcissism.
  
  The Narcissistic is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, POWER, prestige and vanity.
  
  People with this mental flaw have no empathy for others, or compassion. They feel the need to devalue decent people, and take from them. The fucking like an animal lyrics is about exactly that, devaluing someone to being worthless. That POWER makes the narcissistic have a huge drug like "high" which makes him feel POWERFUL - which to him is like being closer to the all power - God.
  
  He knows deep down under the mask he is a bad and flawed person but he cant admit this to himself. So he creates a false "self" to protect himself.
  
  This type of taking and devaluing is the only way that Narcissists know how to get through life.

  Flagged puzzlebreakeron April 20, 2012   Link

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