"The Big Come Down" // NIN - musical analysis track by track
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2021
- Whaaaat this song is easily one of the greatest and strangest things ever to grace our earholes! I may have more questions than answers but damn did I love trying to get to The Bottom of this unique song. So. Would you like to see more videos about The Fragile?
EDIT: according to Jerry Langwell who runs nindestruct.com: "So these loops actually came from a contest held in 2000 or so. The image you showed was the flash-based interface used to make a quick and dirty on-the-fly remix (or "eMix" I believe they called it) and the winner won (I think) a busted Yamaha DX-7 used on the Self-Destruct tour."
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As much as TDS is a classic and I love it, I feel that Trent reached his musical maturity with The Fragile. It is truly my favourite NIN album. Thank you for this.
DITTO! It’s so mature and seriously cohesive in a disjointed interesting way… but it totally works. It’s like a soundtrack to something too.
It is a classic, and is easily my favorite nin album. But the fragile absolutely was a masterpiece. No question about it.
@@zachaliles agreed! The Fragile just has something spacey and beautifully creepy that TDS touched on a little with A Warm Place and Hurt, but The Fragile takes it all the way to Saturn and back.
Agreed… but I like listening to TDS and it’s themes more than The Fragile. Plus I like the meanness and sarcasm of it lol 🤷🏼
Agreed - The Downward Spiral is nihilistic teenage angst in a bottle. The Fragile seems much more like an art piece, exploring a lot of the same themes but in a way deeper way
The Fragile is so underrated it hurts fr
The Day The Whole World Went Away is my favorite, I started to listen to NIN at the beginning of the pandemic and this song always hits close to home whenever I hear it.
idk, I think I rated it properly.
@@fs3k84who are you and what did you rate it
Bringing theory to my favorite NIN (and now Radiohead) tracks made this my new favorite channel
Welcome!
Definitely my favorite song on Disc 2 and the entire album.
harmonies that are harmonies but are not harmonies describes every NIN song ever.
It's a Parker Fly guitar with all notes tuned to D in octaves, with the Piezo pickup ran direct. Because all the strings are tuned to D's, it's easy to access b2's across the octaves, and the lack of unison pressure on the strings makes the pitches even wider.
thanks for pointing it out. Trent has used that one extensively, on Only, The Perfect Drug, God Given (Lights In The Sky tour), and maybe others... Robin Finck's explanation ua-cam.com/video/ntIDyFx2Co0/v-deo.html
by the way, the sensor is a contact microphone, so it pickups every hit on the guitar, with emphasis on the percussive side of the guitar playing.
the bottom line is : funk.
@@moliver_xxii You're both essentially right because a piezo pickup basically is a contact microphone.
The fragile is one of the best NiN albums
THE best one.
Agreed. The Fragile is the best.
yesss and possibly the best album of alll time
Yup! It’s probably my favorite.
Loved this analysis! Please, please do 'The Fragile' track-by-track. I always love learning more about NiN's music and why I love it so much! You rock!
I really like how the discordant, abrasive elements in the beginning remain present through the beautiful chorus arrangement, so that they are re-contextualized and you can reappraise them as not inherently ugly, just incomplete elements of a larger whole.
What a treat to hear that "Bah bah dah" part isolated; I didn't pick up on it before. It explains why he tends to build on it with some funky vocal scat when he performs the song live.
(I feel all proud of myself for having named this as my favorite song off of The Fragile for years. It's so goooooood.)
Robin Finck on Premier Guitar rig rundown said he plays a Parker guitar with all strings tuned to D for this song.
It's always sounded to me like it's all D's with 2 open Ds played throughout while the other strings play the chordal changes
I agree this is one of the coolest. It does hold a special place because I remember when that “game” you mentioned in the beginning first came out. That was my first opportunity getting to play with “remixing” and making music in any form and I definitely spent hours and hours just messing with it. Decades later, I’m still just a mediocre musical dabbler, but that “game” was super cool. And always loved how later to kept releasing loops and stems from his songs for people to remix. Definitely got me hooked on ACID (the program, not the other thing).
I’ve covered most of his work to varying degrees of quality. I’m glad I’m not the only one who went through this journey trying to figure this song out.
This song is one of my favourites of NIN, but somehow its even better in his accoustic in chicago cover
I ABSOLUTELY agree with the “e” beat at the beginning. It makes it float high and funk. Trent is just an amazing composer. He’s seriously one of the best talents of his generation.
I love you, I’ve finally found a channel that geeks out about NIN as much as me
I was 15 when The Fragile was released, couldn't afford to buy it until a few weeks after release, so I used to spend hours in Tower Records at the listening station trying to absorb as much as possible and when I finally bought the album weeks later I just lay down with headphones on and listened repeatedly. The Big Comedown was, and is, my favourite track. It has it all. Thanks for the excellent breakdown and reminding me of 1999.
A lovely lady at a gentleman's club in Vegas danced to it one night. I approved.
"Metal on metal, like a hammer, or, yea, something very.......INDUSTRIAL!" Always fun and beneficial to jump into your deep dives and for some reason I'd lost touch with this song, so thank you, thank you. Actually been obsessing on the Woodstock '94 version of "Reptile" lately.
My favourite off the album too. Angry and tragic, yet strangely triumphant.
I feel so bad for Trent’s brain back then, my god to have all this noise in your brain and trying to organize it into a song well really double album of just perfect noise must have been torture
the live version on "beside you in time" where aaron goes bananas at the end is unreal
“The Big Come Down” live is truly something to experience! After 6 shows I finally got to hear it 2 yrs ago and it was SO WORTH THE WAIT!
"getting ahead of ourselves"-foreshadowing? 👀
Anyhow loved this analysis and your playing! 🥰 Thank you, ixi!
The “game” Was a website for a Big Come Down Remix Contest that happened during this time and the player either used Flash Media Player in order to run it back then or Macromedia and you could also save and playback your own remix using a switch module that would play various stems of the song.
There’s a lot of musical nuances that reflect a lot of bigger themes within the Fragile, especially like The Great Below, Frail, and Underneath It All and this song specifically has a lot of call back to some textural and machine like instances that occurred in TDS and that metallic sound to me sounds like an anvil being struck with a hammer or something to that effect that’s been digitally reproduced.
In the context of the album I think like this and Underneath It All texturally and musically set themselves apart from a lot of the more melodious and layered songs.
Like I said in my comment, I can’t believe that site is still up and working. NIN is the best headphone music.
Ha! The way you say "industrial" at 2:50 is just priceless!! :)
And she breaks out the big come down, you almost put me to tears in every video, no shame in sayin that, love this
Sama!! Haha
Oh my God! You are a ray of sunshine on air through an abysmal day for me. I love it!.
The first time I heard this song I could not understand how it sounded so wrong but so good
Yes. When The Fragile came out there was a review I think in Spin that remarked on the funk influences in it. Once you hear it you'll hear it all over the place in his music. He's definitely a funk fan.
It REALLY pops out with the soul backing vocals throughout the 2013 Tension tour - watch the VEVO Presents show on UA-cam and it just seems like it's been hidden there this entire time and just then allowed to shine out for that tour.
8:54 I totally get that feeling of it not feeling like it's in time. In a way, I think that feeling of rushing and dragging in the main riff makes the dissonance throughout the song work even better from a perspective of "the chords have no obligation to fit traditionally defined sets, so why should the rhythm have to follow comfort zone rules?"
Also I like the improv! Feels different from how you've approached previous nin improvs in cool way.
There's so much in here that isn't immediately obvious until you watch a detailed breakdown like this that calls back to Pilgrimage. Makes me wonder which was written first.
I still can’t believe you pulled off a cover of this on piano.
I can't believe it either! 😁
Favorite band, favorite album, favorite song. I'm not only shocked to find out that I'm not the only one who regards this as some of Trent's best, but that this song is way more structured than I originally thought. Thank you so much for covering this.
There are some really impressive remixes of this song from the remix.nin days. I'll try and see if I can dig them up. Also, one of my favorite aspects of this song is how Robin Finke performs the ebow Solo live. It sounds like trees bending in a hurricane, it's absolutely amazing and worth checking out.
Asking the real questions
ARE THESE EVEN NOTES
OMFG!! The beat, the lyrics, the dissonance, the whole vibe - just perfect! Amazing analysis - one of the top tracks from the joint top albums of all time. Thank you 🙏
HIGHLY recommend 'Nine Inch Nails performing The Big Come Down (VEVO Presents) 2013' - one of thee best live performances of anything.ever on UA-cam. Massively personal and relevant. Gospel, Blues, Industrial with Trent absolutely losing his shit with all engines on! 👌
Yes to more videos about The Fragile! I love this song. This one always struck me as so unusual but really fascinating. Awesome analysis!
My favorite NIN track ever. And it's a lot to say, I love so many of those. Awesome analysis btw :)
Near the end of disc two. I think it's the last really energetic push until "ripe." Absolutely one of my favorites from this album. The Timing and Rythm are so frenetic. You might be dead in side if this song doesn't make you move.
I do recall when the record came out reading in Rolling Stone and other sources (Guitar Mag?) that he was listening to a lot of funk and weird Tom Waits stuff, so I think he was trying to experiment. Maybe he wanted to do a Sonic Youth record but couldn’t loosen up enough. I know that this record was released after the grunge era had ended and everything was so-cal pop on the radio. So when musicians were hanging up the guitar, he actually wrote much of the record on the instrument and he remarked about how they can detune and react to how they are played in a way that was unique and it influenced the sound and vulnerability of the songs as they were written.
I do remember reading that Dr Dre coproduced a few songs on this album. I believe this is one of those songs.
I think the only one he worked on was Even Deeper, which makes total sense considering how hip hop that groove is.
i love "the fragile" as it's my 2nd favorite NIN album as "the big come down" is one of my favorite cuts.
Bravo bravo bravo ixi! My appreciation of it went up up, too. The part where you were like, "and let me prove it to you" just has so much feels. Well done.
Success!
I guess the guitar is Adrian belew playing. Explains a lot. Very creative guy
Probably piezzo pickups or direct and compressed
I loved this song when I first heard it, but the live version was so so f'n over the top awesome! Melodic noise at its best. Love it.
I'm so glad this video exists.
NIN is one of my top 5 all time favorite bands. He's usually in my top two, never lower than third.
Every time I listen to NIN I think of the joke about how we get excited any time we hear industrial machinery malfunctioning thinking it's a new song.
Thank you for this amazing breakdown of one of my fave songs from one of my fave artists. 🙂
12:33 - "these little doots"... so the Terrible Lie meme finally made its way into ixi's videos... finally !
😂
Oh yes yes yes. The fragile is a masterpiece. The wretched. Brilliant. THANKYOU IXI for taking the time. As a long term nin nut, I am in heaven. Love your channel.
PLEASE ixi - all of The Fragile please. All of it.
I will savour every single morsel of analysis you bestow upon us lil piggies.
The guitar is a Parker Fly using the piezo pickups. I love love love the sound and had to look it up.
These videos are fantastic, thank you for what you do
sooo cool! :) thanks
Love this track so much!! Awesome Ixi! You're the best!!
Super cool!
This is awesome.
Love this one!!! over looked song!!! Your awesome ixi!!!
It's so awesome to see you pick apart these amazing NIN songs. I've learned a lot from your videos. Thanks!
I love this song so much
YESSSSS OMG easily one of my favorite tracks. Thank you so much ixi 🖤
I really appreciate the riffing on the ideas you showed in the song at the end. Keep up the great work!
One of my favorites from NIN. Awesome analysis Ixi! Love your channel! 🖤
You are so inspiring. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion. I needed this boost today.
Awesome. Love your videos. Like hearing it again for the first time. More videos from the Fragile would be awesome.
I love the fact that you analyze so many of my fav NIN songs
I love these videos. I hope theres a Ripe with Decay break down
I always loved this song
I love your enthusiasm in this video. You’re positively radiating :-) great analysis
That was spot on!
Yayyyy! Missed youuuuuuu and your Sooth.
The Magnum Opus, I think most people will agree. The whole album achieved the perfect balance - A and B sides included -
Thank you for this ixi! Was listening to this song yesterday trying to get some inspiration for a song I'm working on. Love how off-kilter everything is in this song.
Love this song.
Love this song
I'm so glad you did this, I absolutely love this song and it's my favorite on The Fragile. It's amazing live too.
YAAASSS. THIS is one of my all time fav's like top 3. I remember playing with that loops website.
Always been in the favorites of mine, and this great breakdown shed an informative light on why I always enjoyed the lovely and purposeful dissonances
I loved how you finished the video.
One of my absolute favorite NIN songs and possibly their best live songs.
This is probably my favorite NIN song and I listen to it all the time, so this came up randomly as a recommended video today and you made me love the song even more. You did such a great job breaking it down and I had a really good time watching you do it.
This is a great song indeed.
I kinda have this association for these "metal smashing drums" in this song. This whole album in a way is about escapism and the way how relying on it can be quite harmful. Protagonist is looking for this place that will take away all his anxiety and problems. I guess you could call it "The Warm Place". But escapism can take you out of reality only for some time. But "they (yout dark thoughts) keep waiting and picking and picking and picking". So this smashing sound is the sound of realisation that protagonist can't escape from himself anymore and he's going to end up the same way as Downward spiral's protagonist did. For me this actually was a direct sequel to previous album in a way that Downward Spiral took me out of my own Downward Spiral but Fragile showed me that I had to actually work on myself to stay out instead of hiding from the world and avoiding everything around me for the sake of my own comfort.
Amazing analysis! This track has to be one of NIN most unique sounding tracks for sure, and definitely one of my all time favs as well
That one song caught my ears 18 years ago. I can’t imagine my musical landscape and creative panel without NIN since then. Very underestimated gem. As alway, you delivered a brilliant video, a big thanks !!
Closing it out with one of your best piano covers!!
Prince made a song in 1990 called 'Elephants and Flowers' that 'The Big Come Down' sounds very much like
So fun and informative (as always)! And as an aside, I love your plants!
🌱
FINALLY! Hell yeah, easily my favorite song on the record.
Your videos are interesting, informative, and most of all, entertaining. Thank you for making such great content.
Thank you! :)
Song was made in the late 90s it’s so ahead of it’s time
I always loved how the guitar sounds almost like nylon strings. And it fits so well. Awesome breakdown! 🌀
This might be my favourite nin song of all time
My favourite track from The Fragile. And that's a bold statement!
I love how 'weird' and off the wall it was 🤘👍
This was such an awesome breakdown. It took me a while to hear the beauty of this track. When you played the chorus on your piano, I can't even. Trent translates his emotions into music better than 95 percent of his contemporaries.
Damnit I love this song
I still absolutely love the live version of TBCD from the beside you in time tour. It's raw and visceral. With my physical dvd and a good speaker or headphone setup it just brings me back to the show. The gut punch from the lower registers smacking me around, giant grin on my face. Took a few days for my hearing to return to normal. That was an amazing set.
I thought I was the odd one out for thinking this is NiNs best track. Love it!
ahh yes one of my all time favorite!! 💖💖 The fragile holds a special place in my heart its one of the greatest albums of all time and is my favorite out of the discography
omg 12:30 that was so cool hearing it played on piano.
Great analysis! My favorite rendition of this one is the Tension Tour performance with Pino Paladino and the back up signers. Took the song to the next level.