Music and lyrical content *tw*

I have been listening to Nine Inch Nails in my car all week, and I noticed a few things.

1) if Trent Reznor is serious about what he sings about, he's one of us.
2) I think certain music should not be listened to by people with BPD.

Music is like poetry, with instrumentation in the background. Poems and songs can be almost mantra-like, and hypnotically suggestive. This is what I believe. They can get into your psyche and affect your feelings.

If you listen to someone over and over say something like...
"I just want something I can never have"
...it gets into your head after awhile. It can change your frame of mind.

Think about it. If you tell someone, every five minutes, that they are beautiful, by the end of the day they would probably start to almost believe it, and their mind would perhaps take the imagined thought and toy with it, until they did perceive themselves as beautiful. Even if maybe they were not. The power of hypnotic suggestion is not a weak power.

So what if you listen to a song over and over, and the chorus is something like what I mentioned above it would make you feel worse, I think. This is a problem for me, as I like NIN, and Tool, and a lot of heavy music. They are not happy go lucky bands. When their songs come on in my car, I get very reactive and emotional. They do something to my inner chemistry. I used to like it, I'd go to the bar, and dance, or join a mosh pit, but now I'm grown up, and I'm thinking that some of these negative lyrics need to be taken out of my sound system...for my peace of mind.

Go listen to something like "hey there delilah" then listen to something like "Bottom" by Tool. Notice how your feelings are so different from one song to the next.
I think we should all be leaning towards entertainment that is uplifting, and positive. But not too positive because thats just sickening, lol.

I was just listening to a song called ONLY...by NIN and it drove me to post about it, because it set me off, and I'll probably be angry all day now.

I used to think it was good to relate to the singers, not so sure anymore...

Thoughts?

it's been rumored that he (trent) has bpd...but it's never been substantiated. per the world wide interwebs:

Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), in addition to depression, as also dealt with Social Anxiety Disorder. Social Anxiety Disorder can lead sufferers to fear leaving their homes or otherwise leading normal lives that include social interaction with people outside their families. Depression is a common co-morbid disorder that often strikes those suffering the affects of Social Anxiety Disorder. Given Reznor's occupation as a musician who often tours and gives concerts to hundreds, social anxiety would seem truly counterproductive to his career.

i absolutely could listen to that song for hours...have you seen this version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEW8riKU_tE

i'm a firm believer that music has a powerful effect on the human brain, where BPD resides.

Haha yes! That is the exact version I've got on the ipod in the car lol

schweet!!! and if i'm not mistaken...it's about heroin, right? for me...it's about my ex

I think you're absolutely right.

I've listened to pretty much every type of music at some stage in my life. So I have sometimes listened to very depressing, sad, angry, or emotional music... including Nine Inch Nails. A lot of other bands as well... some that are very lovesick in their lyrics. And I noticed, like you, how much it changed my feelings and perspective. I think it's because my emotional state can be changed too easily by things outside of myself.

I actually consciously decided to stop listening to lovesick music when I'm happy in my relationships, because I will start to relate those lyrics to my relationship... even if they don't fit! And I won't listen to sad or angry music when I'm in a good mood... even if I enjoy that music. I save if for times when I am already sad or angry. For awhile I got rid of all of my "negative" type of music and listened to a lot of 60s pop and glam rock!

wineaux wrote:schweet!!! and if i'm not mistaken...it's about heroin, right? for me...it's about my ex

I'm not sure what HE wrote it about, but for me its the ex as well.

letha wrote:I think you're absolutely right.

I've listened to pretty much every type of music at some stage in my life. So I have sometimes listened to very depressing, sad, angry, or emotional music... including Nine Inch Nails. A lot of other bands as well... some that are very lovesick in their lyrics. And I noticed, like you, how much it changed my feelings and perspective. I think it's because my emotional state can be changed too easily by things outside of myself.

I actually consciously decided to stop listening to lovesick music when I'm happy in my relationships, because I will start to relate those lyrics to my relationship... even if they don't fit! And I won't listen to sad or angry music when I'm in a good mood... even if I enjoy that music. I save if for times when I am already sad or angry. For awhile I got rid of all of my "negative" type of music and listened to a lot of 60s pop and glam rock!

Yeah, I think I will save music with certain themes, for when I feel that way already. Then I can let it all out at once, and carry on.

Nice post. I can relate. I don't listen to NIN but there are songs that I just can't listen to in certain mindsets. They will either trigger me or change my mood in an instant. For a long time, I wasn't even listening to my favorite band because I didn't want to deal with those emotions. Clearly, that worked out well, haha . There are songs that I also can't listen to because of who they remind me of (or what part of my life it reminds me of, since I get in musical funks depending on where I am mentally). I get cha.

letha wrote:I think you're absolutely right.
I actually consciously decided to stop listening to lovesick music when I'm happy in my relationships, because I will start to relate those lyrics to my relationship... even if they don't fit! And I won't listen to sad or angry music when I'm in a good mood... even if I enjoy that music. I save if for times when I am already sad or angry. For awhile I got rid of all of my "negative" type of music and listened to a lot of 60s pop and glam rock!

I do this too. I can be in a perfectly good mood and then listen to a particular song and be irritable and angry the rest of the day.

I've learned that I have to watch what I listen to if I don't want to feel a particular way. I've found it's useful in that I can program myself into certain moods by listening to the music that I find triggers that particular mood for me.

I have been listening to NIN since I was very young. Somehow I was magnetized to it and only just figured out today just why that is.


In Trents new song "came back haunted" he mentions about a face with black eyes and red lips. What I want to know is if anyone else recognizes this symbolism either through hallucinations or dreams or does it resonate with something you can't quite put your finger on?. Its kind of a new topic, but it is very important.


I think there are some big BIG connections with BPD and Nine Inch Nails, more than any other band in the world.

Did anyone else feel connected in a way to them that is not really normal? like it was a force of sorts and I don't just mean lyrically or on any superficial level what-so-ever I mean a truely magnetic force one can not deny.
It reminds me of those Thom Yorke Lyrics "the more I try to erase you the more that you appear"

BTW, the song "only" is about solipsism: "Solipsism (Listeni/ˈsɒlɨpsɪzəm/; from Latin solus, meaning "alone", and ipse, meaning "self") is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure".

Which may be a type of mental problem in itself. If you read about the context of his words/ songs you will find it much easier to remain objective and can continue to listen to what you love.

On that, I digress. I agree with the initial theory and know well that it is a trigger, but only NIN's early stuff. Later stuff I find to be much less emotionally explosive and quite beneficial to understanding the inner linings of my disorder. And yes, I thing he is one of us.

Hola, folks! Be gentle with me please, I'm new here

I had to pipe in on this thread, as it stands its my first post. I was diagnosed a week ago with BPD (FINALLY!!! A PROPER DIAGNOSIS!) and have been a fan since PHM. I have often wondered about Trent, as well. Many songs are so relatable. All The Love In The World, The Becoming ( to an extent), Every Day Is Exactly The Same, I could go on and on. For myself, if I can't connect to a song lyrically (Ummm...Beiber anyone?) chances are I won't connect with it at all. It's important that I "feel" the song, if that makes any sense and found many feelings I can relate to within NIN's music. Whether or not Trent has BPD or not, he's never publically disclosed it that I know of, but there's many a telling quote out there that may suggest it. When The Fragile was released he did an interview (pretty sure the vidya of it is still out there on the interwebs) where he talked about, if I recall correctly, when his grandmother, who also raised him passed away, he tried therapy. He said it didn't really do anything for him and figured he'd just work through it on his own. I don't know about any of you but that's my M.O. when it comes to therapy. Go for a few sessions then stop because I feel I'm not getting anywhere.
There's only one NIN song I absolutely cannot listen to, at least not yet. Something I Can Never Have (mainly the "still" version) just washes over me and I drown in it. That particular version is too haunting. Either way, NIN were there for solace before my diagnosis and I plan on having them with me as I go through the challenges ahead of me.

Non-NIN related: There's a remarkable musician here in Canada named Matthew Good. A few years back he came out as having Bi-Polar Disorder. His album Hospital Music was written following a nasty divorce, overdose, and psychiatric stay. It's well worth listening to, especially the song "99% Of Us Is Failure." Although written for a friend who's father passed away due to cancer, it could also be taken within the context of someone battling a mental illness. I wonder if he wrote it with a dual meaning.

The Late Jeff Buckley. Amazing singer who went too early, and also had his share of inner turmoil. I read a biography about Jeff and his father, the late folk singer Tim Buckley called Dream Brother, which paralleled the lives of father and son. Shortly before his death (NOT suicide. Accidental drowning) Jeff actually did an armchair diagnosis of himself as Bi-Polar. The author himself did an interview where as part of his research he spoke to a psychiatrist about both men's family history and their life patterns; the psychiatrist eventually mentioned BPD and pulled that big ole' reference book out. The author couldn't put in his book that Tim ( whom he and the psychiatrist strongly believed) was BPD, nor Jeff, as neither men were alive for a clinical diagnosis. But from what I've read, I think it's safe to say that both men displayed symptoms of one with BPD.

Sorry for the ramble, but...that's just me. My apologies if any of the above info has already been shared on the forums but I've yet to really read them. I have a feeling there's alot I'll be interested in reading.

Slainte, everyone