the fragile

Here’s another song from Nine Inch Nails (I know, I know, we’re all about the NIN, but what can we say: we’re all about the NIN and besides, you’d be hard-pressed to find a band that writes about these issues quite so well).

This particular song has some points that are positive and some that are not. To give you some perspective, Trent Reznor, who wrote the song, was dealing with addictions of his own and the best you can usually do when you’re on drugs is batten down and try to stay exactly where you are. Alcohol, for instance, is a preservative, not a growth agent. I’ll post the lyrics here and the YouTube over the jump. Just a note: the video is a concert video and more a tribute to rock godhood than a visual accompaniment to the song, so I suggest you meditate on the lyrics rather than try to get meaning from a video slapped together for an MTV special. The performance is wonderful, but the visuals are distracting.

She shines
In a world full of ugliness
She matters
When everything is meaningless

Fragile
She doesn’t see her beauty
She tries to get away
Sometimes
It’s just that nothing seems worth saving
I can’t watch her slip away

I won’t let you fall apart

She reads the minds of all the people as they pass her by
Hoping someone can see
If I could fix myself I’d-
But its too late for me

I won’t let you fall apart

Well find the perfect place to go where we can run and hide
I’ll build a wall and we can keep them on the other side
But they keep waiting
And picking

It’s something I have to do
I was there, too
Before everything else
I was like you

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