Head Like a Hole

Background

Trent Reznor wrote "Head Like a Hole" after having toured in late 1988 as the support act for Skinny Puppy. The song was produced by Reznor, Flood and Keith LeBlanc. Unlike the other songs on the album, Reznor wrote "Head Like a Hole" very quickly "in about fifteen minutes in his bedroom." It was one of the last songs completed for the album, since Flood did not arrive to the studio until the completion of Depeche Mode's Violator (1990). Reznor said that the song emerged from the feel that "I needed something to kind of break the guitars out and be a bit more aggressive", while also conveying his fears that TVT Records would not be helpful to him, with the aggression turned up further by producer Keith LeBlanc after Reznor learned that the label had not liked the early version of his album.

"Head Like a Hole" is the opening track on Nine Inch Nails' debut studio album, and is one of the two Nine Inch Nails songs produced by Flood to appear on Pretty Hate Machine (1989).

Composition

"Head Like a Hole" has been classified as an industrial rock, electronic rock, and industrial dance song. The tempo is 115 BPM, and it is played in the key of E minor.

Release and reception

Labeled as "Halo 3", "Head Like a Hole" is the third official Nine Inch Nails release, containing remixes of three different songs from Pretty Hate Machine. The single release is longer in duration than the album itself. The single peaked at No. 28 on Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart.

A three-track version of this single was released in the UK containing "Head Like a Hole (Opal)" which is not included on the US release. The saxophone on "Release It" can be heard before the drum loop begins. The first track is mistakenly listed as "Head Like a Hole (Slate)" on the sleeve but is actually "Head Like a Hole (Clay)". NME called it "utter crap", while Melody Maker made "Head Like a Hole" their "Single of the Week", with Simon Price describing it as both subversive and unexpectedly commercial as he compared the poppier "radio edit" to Depeche Mode and the 12-inch ("Opal") mix to Revolting Cocks - an "evil" record ending in a "veiled threat".

"Down in It (Shred)" and "Down in It (Singe)" were previously released on the "Down in It" vinyl single; the latter track is extended by 18 seconds. Reznor appended them to the USA version of the "Head Like A Hole" single as "Down In It" had not received a CD release, but after the record label subsequently released "Down In It" on CD, Reznor expressed concerns fans would feel "ripped off" paying for the same tracks twice, saying the three-track UK version with a coloured cover was the way he had intended "Head Like A Hole" to be released. The 11-track US version of "Head Like a Hole" was repackaged and re-released in 2007. This version was also released in the UK, where it failed to reach the Top 40

In Germany, the single was released as "You Get What You Deserve". This release includes four tracks.

"Head Like a Hole" was re-issued as a single in Australia in 1995, where it peaked at No. 57 on the ARIA singles chart and spent seven weeks in the top 100.

The single was included in the 2015 Record Store Day–Black Friday exclusive box set, Halo I–IV.

In a retrospective review of the song, AllMusic described "Head Like a Hole" as "grand theater", elaborating further by commenting the "backing music was immaculately crafted and produced". In its review of the single, the author was largely positive towards the song selection, even saying that the inclusion of "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", and "Down in It" "renders Pretty Hate Machine mostly unnecessary". As for the other tracks included on the single, AllMusic was less positive, adding, "This is one case where quality definitely would have sufficed without the quantity".

In 2020, Kerrang! and Billboard ranked the song at No. 8 and No. 2, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.

Music video

A music video was made for the "Clay" remix of the song. Directed by Eric Zimmerman, it was released in 1990 and again later in 1997 on the Closure VHS. A slightly different edit of the video was also released for Flood's remix of the song, which is 17 seconds shorter than the "Clay" remix. The video features band members Trent Reznor, Richard Patrick, and Chris Vrenna, as well as guest drummer Martin Atkins performing in a cage.

The video was filmed at the original location of Exit nightclub which was located at 1653 North Wells Street in Chicago.

Reznor's guitar in the video is a Jackson Dinky, first seen during the first chorus, when Reznor, appearing to be dirty like the other band members (he had long hair and wore gritty clothing during production), bangs his head while singing the chorus. He does not use the guitar in the video's climax, where wires tied to his ankles slowly pull him up, leaving him spinning upside down from the ceiling. In the same scene, Vrenna destroys his drum kit by throwing a bass drum of Atkins' kit towards it. During several shots earlier in the video, broken Zildjian cymbals and a drum machine can be seen as parts of Vrenna's kit.

There are images that are shown for a few frames like "HEAD", "16 SOUND START", "S M P T E UNIVERSAL LEADER" and "PICTURE". Other images included a white dot set against a black background, a mirrored presentation showing the words "REEL № PROD № PLAY DATE" colored in yellow, one with the words "PICTURE START", and a frame consisting of "C C F F" placed near an outlined ring. The latter screen had an alternative version that was accompanied by a white number 3, also seen in the video. There are also visuals of four incomplete rotating mechanical models of human heads; one with film stills, another with a modified motherboard and other technology, the purple wired head with a blue screen showing an eye and various computer hardware, and the last containing blue skin, orange-pupil eyes, and a lightbulb. The former two were filmed in black and white, while the latter two in full color. All four are shown intercut with shots of people spinning baseball bats.

Live performances

The song has been the encore for most Nine Inch Nails shows (especially the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series), or the last song before the encore if an encore took place. There are live videos of "Head Like a Hole" on the DVDs And All That Could Have Been and Beside You in Time.

During Lollapalooza '91, Dave Navarro, Eric Avery, Gibby Haynes and Ice-T joined Nine Inch Nails live performances on-stage as additional guitarists for "Head Like a Hole;" except for the first show in Phoenix, AZ when the band walked off stage after the first song in frustration. For the Nights of Nothing mini-tour in 1996, Richard Patrick made a brief return to the band to perform guitar and vocals on "Head Like a Hole" at the Irving Plaza show in New York along with Clint Mansell, who joined Nine Inch Nails on this song at all three shows of the tour. In the June 7, 2006 radio performance at Atlanta, Georgia, Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy played a reworked version of "Head Like a Hole".

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery once sang the song loudly to Reznor to win a $20 bet. To express the evolving state of his values, Reznor said in 1997 that "I don't want to be singing "Head Like a Hole" at age 50."

Legacy

Since its commercial maxi-single release, "Head Like a Hole" continues to generate an impact on other musicians and bands. New Zealand-based rock band Head Like a Hole is named after the song. The song was ranked at No. 37 on PopMatters list of "The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ‘80s".

Cover versions

Honest Bob & the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives released a cover of the song on their 2004 album Second & Eighteen. In 2005, Vitamin String Quartet released a cover album of reworked versions of Pretty Hate Machine songs, including "Head Like a Hole". Other bands who covered the track include American rock band AFI, Ryan Star, new wave band Devo, nu metal band Korn, and hard rock band Buckcherry. American deathcore act Carnifex did a cover of the song on their EP, Bury Me In Blasphemy (2018).

In popular culture

The song was remixed and rewritten by Charlie Brooker with Reznor's approval as the dance-pop song "On a Roll" for the fifth series episode "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" of Black Mirror. The song was released as a promotional single on June 14, 2019. At the end of the episode, American singer Miley Cyrus, in character as Ashley O, performed a cover version of "Head Like a Hole". During her live set at Glastonbury Festival 2019 in Pilton, Somerset on June 30, 2019, Cyrus performed a medley of "On a Roll" and "Head Like a Hole".

Controversy

"Head Like a Hole" was banned from airplay after the September 11 attacks, when Clear Channel Communications placed it in a 2001 list of post-9/11 inappropriate song titles not for radio airplay.

Track listing

US version

UK version

Australian version

"You Get What You Deserve" German promo

Releases

• TVT Records TVT 2614 – US 12" Vinyl
• TVT Records TVT 2615-2 – US CD
• Island Records 12 IS 484 878 893-1 – UK 12" Vinyl
• Island Records CID 482 878 893-2 – UK CD
• Island Records 663 875 – German promo CD

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

References

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2. (March 1990). "Getting Down in It". [[Alternative Press (magazine).
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4. ''Pretty Hate Machine'' (TVT Records, October 23, 1989) booklet; liner notes
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6. Gerard, Chris. (October 1, 2015). "The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ‘80s". [[PopMatters]].
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