She spread herself wide open to let the insects in
She leaves a trail of honey to show me where she's been
She has the blood of reptile just underneath her skin
Seeds from a thousand others drip down from within
Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure
Devils speak of the ways in which she'll manifest
Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
Need to contaminate to alleviate this loneliness
I now know the depths I reach are limitless
Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure



Lyrics submitted by implode

Track duration: 06:52

"Reptile" as written by Trent Reznor

Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY

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Reptile song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's pretty literal either in the context of the entire TDS concept, or out of context and into the personal life of Trent. HammerFloyd pretty much nails it as far as how this song fits in with the rest of the album's concept. There are some subtleties though that I would like to point out, especially in the 2nd verse "Devils speak....."
    At this point in the song the protagonist sees his obsession/addiction to sex for what it really is, a crutch/drug. The "I now know the depths I reach are limitless" part is about how he realizes that the hole he's trying to fill with sex is truly bottomless, no matter what he will remain empty and lacking in an emotional and humanitarian way. I think there's also much guilt expressed at realizing how many women he has defiled and used along his journey. I also think this song is definitely about a prostitute and she is a liar because she is telling him everything he wants to hear because she's paid to do so. Although, the "disease/infection" could refer to an STD I think that lust is his "disease/infection." Lust is what becomes his demise. By the way I think it's supposed to be "Seeds from a thousand LOVERS," not "others."
    Flag TwoVirgoson May 20, 2013   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:This song is without a doubt about heroin.

    She spreads herself wide open to let the insects in
    Heroin is made from Opium Poppies seeds. To make seeds, they have to be germinated by insects first.

    She leaves a trail of honey to show me where she's been
    When you cook heroin down in a spoon, it looks like honey. It dyes your veins when you shoot it up, leaving a trail or track marks.

    She has the blood of reptile just underneath her skin.
    Honestly have no idea what this means.

    Seeds from a thousand others who drip down from within.
    Opium is made up from thousands of poppy seeds.

    Oh my beautiful liar
    Oh my precious whore
    The idea of doing the drug is always more fun than actually doing it. It is precious to the user, but everyone wants it.

    My disease my infection
    I am so impure
    The addiction changes you. It doesn't go away.

    Devil's speak of the ways in which she'll manifest
    Everyone talks about what a shitty human being you will become if you get stuck on heroin

    Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
    My guess is that he's hurt someone he cares about to get the drug. Most junkies do.

    Need to contaminate to alleviate this loneliness
    I now know the depths I reach are limitless
    The need to have it is very real. At this point he realizes that he's gone through some ridiculous things to obtain it, and absolutely needs it to avoid getting sick.
    Flag Spookipookon May 20, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:For a while, I really couldn't put my finger on this song. I thought it belonged earlier in the album, closer to other songs like "Closer" and "Big Man With A Gun." However, I'm starting to realize that it makes a whole lot of sense. In my eyes, this is the conclusion to a sexual, conceptual trilogy in "The Downward Spiral."

    After every major event in the album, the protagonist turns to sexual control in an attempt to heal himself. In "Closer," our protagonist turns away from religion ("Heresy") and first uses sex and control as an escape from the horrors of his mind and his internal battle after whatever happened to him in "Piggy," quite possibly a breakup. The feeling of power provided a temporary escape, but ultimately it only advanced him further down the spiral. After the assault of Mr. Self-Destruct/the Ruiner/the antagonistic machine dark side in "The Becoming," he amplified his efforts to escape in "Big Man With A Gun," taking even more control over his partner, taking away the sensuality and emotion, and possibly resorting to violence. Scared and frightened after his realizations of responsibility and thoughts of suicide in "A Warm Place" and "Eraser," our protagonist turns to sex for a third and final time, but this time something is different. He isn't able to lose himself in the pleasure and the power, because this time he is aware of the decline in his life and he's aware that his partner is, frankly, a whore. He no longer feels truly in control now that he realizes he's paying this woman to do what he says, thus the lines "Oh my beautiful liar, oh my precious whore." The theme of STDs is highly present in the song, but I'm not so sure the protagonist actually contracts a disease as much as he realizes his own impurity in trying to get away from himself via sex and control. This is an album of concepts, after all; STDs are to "Reptile" as religion is to "Heresy," sex is to "Closer," sociopaths are to "Ruiner," suicide is to "Hurt," etc. The genius of it all is that Trent Reznor manages to string all of these concepts into a traceable plot. That all being said, upon realization of himself and his partners' true nature in bed, our protagonist is ready to take the final steps down the spiral.
    Flag HammerFloydon December 09, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I agree with the old saimiam00's comment.
    It sounds like the main character loved a girl very much and then discovered she cheated on him. Except she didn't tell him. Instead he found out because he caught an std.

    A person who studies reptiles is a Herpetologist, by the way.

    "I am so impure"

    If you know anyone who has caught an STD, they usually do get very lonely and miserable because they hate themselves for quite a long time. Which leads to this line:

    "angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress"

    Perfect, 'pure' people now hurt when he touches them.

    "need to contaminate, to alleviate this loneliness
    I now know that the depths I reach are limitless"

    In his mind, poor guy now has nothing to lose. He's just lonely and feels entirely unlovable. He simply does not care anymore who contracts the std with him, he just doesn't want to be alone anymore.

    Although, where he says "The blood of reptile"
    it confuses me why he said 'reptile' like a name. not "the blood of A reptile" or the blood of "reptiles"

    so because of how 'personal' it sounds, he might of actually known the person she cheated on him with?


    "seeds from a thousand others drip down from within"

    This is a pretty disgusting line, he's not just calling her a mere whore here. Poetic or not, its quite hateful.

    But yet he's just like her now, so instead of love/hate, he might actually feel sorry for her and have an understanding: he's in hell, and the only other person who's going through the same exact thing, betrayed him the most and ruined his life.
    Flag xxullon July 03, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Reminds me of Nietzsche
    Flag Daemianon April 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I guess I'm the only one pointing it out... but...

    This song kinda reminds me of sadomasochist sex and the "relationship" that lives between the two participants.

    In fact, every single words of this song could be a great example of how a person feels when living in a BDSM relationship.
    Someone mentionned a part in the song where he screams "no, please don't hurt me" and this clearly be heard on a live performance they did.


    Flag Jypenseon January 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I really don't think this song has anything to do with a prostitute
    Flag Sharengeon December 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Wow, you guys are all way off. This song (and indeed the entire record) is about Trent's descent into the bowels of heroin addiction, hence the Downward Spiral. I would venture to say that most if not all the songs on this record are metaphorically referring to said opiate.
    Flag sm0ke42oon October 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:sounds like Trent had a relationship with someone who cheated (or along those lines) and broke his heart
    Flag TheFragile92on October 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: i really don't think song is about love at all. It seems to me that the character in this song(assumedly trent) is at a depth so low, that the epitome of sin is what he desires "Devils speak of the way in which you'll manifest". this girl is the lowest life possible. the reptile, the biblical serpent. a cold tainted whore, who has no sense of the word love or affection. and he becomes addicted to her, he physically needs this sin. and this need (this girl) is his infection, his impurity. but he has no want of an antidote. he never wanted her, or their (for lack of a better word) connection to be a good thing. he never despised her for being a liar, or a whore. the cd is about hitting rock bottom. this is just another step in the ladder. he knows, and i think loves, the fact that he is impure. the line, "angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress" his "affection" is so impure, that it causes pain in those who aren't as low as he. he loves this fact. the reptile and trent are a match made in heaven (more likely hell).
    Flag stinkfist1996on September 07, 2010   Link

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