Nine Inch Nails – Capital G

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I pushed the button and elected him to office, and
He pushed the button, and he dropped the bomb
You pushed the button, and could watch it on the television
Those motherfuckers didn't last too long

I'm sick of hearing 'bout the have and have-not's
Have some personal accountability
The biggest problem with the way that we are doing things is
The more we let you have, the less that I'll be keeping for me

Well, I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Turning in my god for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G

Don't give a shit about the temperature in Guatemala
Don't really see what all the fuss is about
Ain't gonna worry about no future generations
And I'm sure somebody's gonna figure it out

Don't try to tell me that some power can corrupt a person
You haven't had enough to know what it's like
You're only angry 'cause you wish you were in my position
Now nod your head because you know that I'm right, all right!

Well, I used to stand for something
But forgot what that could be
There's a lot of me inside you
Maybe you're afraid to see

Well, I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Turning in my god for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G

Well, I used to stand for something
But forgot what that could be
There's a lot of me inside you
Maybe you're afraid to see

Well, I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Turning in my god for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G

Send "Capital G" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by floydian_steve

Track duration: 03:50

"Capital G" as written by Trent Reznor

Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Capital G song meanings
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173 Comments

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  • 0
    Song Meaning:It's about the elites who have money, and power, and they don't known what to do with it, and probably they want to reign over the world. This album is becoming a reality, if it's not already is...
    Flag Microwavedon September 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Does anybody else think its not a coincidence that in the last chorus, when he echoes "Stand for something" for the first time, it almost makes the line sound like "Maybe you're afraid to stand for something"?

    As much of an attack this is on corruption and government, it also very indirectly and cleverly condemns us. There is a lot of corruption inside every last one of us; as he says, we're just afraid to see, its in our nature to think we're right. Along with that is the follower instinct, comparing people to sheep who just listen and obey and are too scared to stand up for what they believe in. This all ties into the entire Year Zero concept to me; the entire album ends with the line "and all we ever were, just zeros and ones". Just my thoughts.
    Flag HammerFloydon July 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I would extend provisional belief to the possibility that Reznor HAS seen this world in what can be considered a ..manner.. real, in its most exacting sense, in its spacio-temporal instantiation. It might be only for flair. Yet I have never seen so much of that intangible dimension of my own isolated world comported so concisely, purely and uncannily. Trent is of the upper echelon of artists. I am a fan. I hope Trent finds or gets back to where he belongs.
    Flag hehkateon December 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Sometimes I wonder WHO these people are who are dolling out these reductionist, normative concepts of Capital G on a mass scale. Of course not the front-men politicians but the possibility of figureheads of greater power 'operating in the shadows'. Pay attention to world events (the temperature in Guatemala jab) if you want to be considered a good 'wary and engaged'... citizen of the world by your acquaintances. Getting absorbed in your own affairs is a behavior we do not condone around here. They do not want you to swim too far out. Would anyone believe the state-alleged psychotic nowadays if he were to give a passerby the analogy that exploring the mind is something like spending an after at the beach swimming in the ocean. You may wade in the shallow end, you may not even pay any mind to any lifeguards watching you. After some time, if you are either daring, feckless or innocent in obliviousness you might trek out past the lane ropes in search of a more fulfilling time. Many 'schizophrenics' report the same thing: that the state, some 'organization', is listening to them by means of some metaphysical hookup. Perhaps not at all, thoughts ARE encoded in a substance: EM waves. It is both logically and physically possible that state supervision is far past admissible. From the terminal, the listened-to's standpoint, there is no way to prove this. Sensation is not proof, only indication. The schizophrenic likely does not believe the state is listening to THEM exclusively for some high content all their own, they believe the 'organization' has shanghai'd the collective mind. When one migrates far enough and often enough, one begins to start noticing trends. On the verge of a recollection or a breakthrough a dull complacency-inducing buzz might suddenly erupt, one can at times feel (as a psyche inhabited what ought to be consecrated space, their own mind) a lurking presence about them. Things like this, which are sensate and in trace amount, are difficult to reconcile and rationalize and often go unresolved and forgotten. I already have the worst case scenario in mind. I do not avow it but a allot the time to explore it. These who'es in a position of superlative power, who control the flow of information not only through the internet but through what I can only call 'organic channels' seek to... eliminate competition, plainly. I have little sense of decorum, so be it said: there is a great project to be had and which has been done many times before. Something which upon completion will further complexity, render one a sense of self-completion and replenish indefinitely (in all its splaying, sinuous senses). Beware the pigs who stamp out other contenders unabashedly, revere the snakes who have been at it long enough to want fair game. Take what is your without fear of punishment or persecution and the world will regain its color again.
    Flag hehkateon December 26, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think it's about George Bush, in how nobody really liked him and the war and everything.
    Flag trogger23on November 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:think deeper, its not really about the government, its about Freemasonry and how they are obsessed with themselves. think about it...if you dont know what they are, look up the freemason's symbol and you tell me what the "Capitol G" stands for...
    Flag uberbson September 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Can't wait for Year Zero HBO miniseries!
    Flag ViolentHeart96on January 23, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about Greed.

    Flag AlexD9292on October 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Why does it have to be about Bush? Yeah, he sucked ass. I like to though that instead of talking about a specific person, this is about politics in general... And how, say, when you get enough power and it can go to your head, until you start to get a bit of a God complex. Aka the person he's singing about got so fat on power he started 'signing his name with a capital G', seeing himself as God.
    Flag rhythmnbreathon August 09, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:
    "The song is not about Bush, Capital G is for Greed, and it's capitalized in reference to context in the Seven Deadly Sins, in which all Sins are capitalized. We elect Greed into public offices every day, and that same Greed signs away the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with every act of "peacekeeping" or War that it engages. To further clarify why it can't be about Bush, Trent has set the Album's "storyline", if you will, in the future at approx. 2022 AD. The U.S. of A. has become a Military State of some sort and has removed all hostilities with nuclear weapons, thus the first verse. This eradication provokes a new Era, called B.A. instead of A.D., with B.A. being an acronym meaning Born Again. The Album, set in this time period, is released in 0000 B.A."

    I didn't write this, but came across it while searching for the true meaning of this song
    metrolyrics.com/…

    also according to wikipedia, trent reznor himself said that the capital G is indeed a reference to greed, not god, george, government, green, or anything else
    hope this is helpful
    Flag enzomacaronion April 07, 2010   Link

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