Nine Inch Nails – Pilgrimage

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Send "Pilgrimage" Ringtone to Cell

[Instrumental]

Send "Pilgrimage" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by Cherub Rock

Track duration: 03:32


Pilgrimage song meanings
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31 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:When I hear this song, I think of the Spanish and the conquest of the Aztecs. On paper anyway, the Spanish came for religious purposes, to turn the Aztecs into Christians, which would fit in with the title pilgrimage. Of course, we all know what followed, the diseases, the battles, the Spanish moving in. When I hear this song, I can almost feel the fear the Aztecs must felt, as they watch the conquistadors march in victory. The trumpet also sounds very Spanish to me.
    Flag doiangon September 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think all of your interpretations are great but one thing I have noticed nobody failed to mention is: about 1:20 into the song you can clearly hear the same eerie guitar riff used on the beginning of ripe(with decay), there's lots of these instances on this album just listen for them.
    Flag bulletproofbrainon July 07, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:something like that... love those moans. I think darkdeadoria described it pretty well
    Flag DJgifon May 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When i listened to it i got the feeling of a leader of some sort walking through crowds and troops to deliver a speech. But i see a more Communist connection
    Flag GanDe616on December 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Tindalos I think hit the nail on the head here. My first and continual impression is a writhing mass of bodies being swayed/controlled. I understand the feeling of the Nazi army but you got re-evaluate the emotion you get from the song and the title. The Nazi's were never on a pilgrimage so it doesn't fit. As anti-islamic as it may sound I've always envision a sort of Mecca-like scene with hundreds maybe thousands of people pushing and shoving for the devotion of some central subject. Tindalos has a very specific example of this, the writhing mass of the damned clammering maybe to Lucifer for comfort but there is none because of the lack of God's warmth.
    Flag neoritteron January 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I still don't have an opinion on what this song means, but when I listened to it for the first time, it sounded like something pulled from Pink Floyd's The Wall.
    Flag FernandoDANTEon August 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can see a night scene with people fleeing from a group of faceless marchers. the marchers cannot be seen clearly through the fog but the rimnance of blood can still be identified on the walls of homes and tinting the fog in areas. a figure marches in front of the army and signals for the soldiers to atack, the soldiers atack and masacur the entire fleeing group leaving few to no survivors. at the part where you can hear trent going ah, you see the same figure on a throne surrounded by pool of blood and his army of murdurers in the background. He stands and walks forward through the blood wich gets deeper gradualy with each step. his army follows him deeper and deeper into the blood but they sink at a far faster rate than their leader. eventualy the leader turns his head all the way around and pulls a sharp bone out of the water and slashes it through his head. the glory tune fades away as the head floats on and the army rises again.
    Flag darkdeadoriaon August 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Main point of this song is to portray the idea of walking towards another destination, (the "Sea") and so he uses the sound of a march, with some awesome music and sound effects in the bcakground. Old style speakers blaring that music, on my 400 watt JBL stereo. 2.1 baby!
    Flag ubertalldudeon May 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:George Orwell's 1984. The Hate Song that takes place in the two minutes hate in the beginning of the novel. The way the song is described in 1984 brought me right here to Pilgrimage. I have a feeling Trent wanted to make that song, and judging by the emotions it evokes in everyone, I can safely say that this could be it.

    bari
    Flag barishaeon May 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The perfect background music for a nightmare.
    Flag ubertalldudeon May 09, 2007   Link

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