Survivalism (song)
Encyclopedia
"Survivalism" is the first single
by Nine Inch Nails
from their 2007 album Year Zero
. The song is the third track on the album. The single was released digitally on the iTunes Store
on March 13, 2007, and the CD and vinyl singles were released internationally on April 2, 2007.
On February 14, 2007, a clip of the chorus to "Survivalism" was first heard by fans calling the telephone number 1-310-295-1040, which was found by joining discolored numerals on the back of a tour t-shirt. FMQB reported that "Survivalism" would arrive at radio stations on February 27 with an add date of March 6, but 102.1 The Edge in Toronto
, Canada
debuted the song on February 15, and on the next day, it was officially played on radio stations across the United States
. It was later made available on Nine Inch Nails' MySpace
page.
As with "The Hand That Feeds
" and "Only
," the "Survivalism" multi-track GarageBand
file was released by the band for fan remixing on March 13. It can be downloaded on the album's website.
area. It was directed by Alex Lieu, Rob Sheridan
, and Trent Reznor
.
The video was circulated on the Internet on March 7, 2007, when Nine Inch Nails played the Carling Academy Brixton
in London
, England
. USB pen drives
containing low and high resolution
versions of the video were found at different locations in the venue by concert-goers.
The video consists of a series of images from a console of secret cameras installed in an apartment block. As the camera moves between the footage, viewers are able to see into the lives of a number of residents, including:
There are also cameras directed at hallways and stairs inside the apartment block. After about a minute, these screens show a SWAT
team armed with submachine guns
assembling outside. They enter in formation, and eventually break down a door (on which the letters "REV 18 3-4" are stenciled, a reference to a passage in the Bible
) and enter the apartment where a band is playing. The noise disturbs all the residents, who momentarily stop what they are doing and move off to investigate, then return to their activities. At this point, a number of cameras have been turned off and show static. The band is no longer in their room. It has been torn asunder and a large smear of blood is visible on the floor. The final shot shows a bleeding corpse being dragged around a corner and out of sight.
The Bible passage referenced by the door is from the Book of Revelation
, a passage describing the fallen city-nation of Babylon
and how she has been corrupted by luxury and adultery, and how people are being called to leave this whorish nation behind and not share in her immorality to keep from sharing in her judgement. (see here)
The time code
in the monitor sometimes changes the last digit for a letter. This eventually spells out "THE_TURNEDTO_". In addition, several Bible verses that reference water and blood are shown throughout the video. "Isaiah
15:9" on the graffiti wall, "John
19:34" on the picture of Jesus
behind the couple, and "II Kings 3:22" and "Exodus 7:21" in the board behind the man with the laptop. This led to the discovery of the Year Zero website, thewaterturnedtoblood.net, which is a collage of a hand picking a man up out of the wreckage of a crumbling bridge, claimed to be drawn by a prison inmate. There are various biblical quotations surrounding the drawing, and capital letters (un-capitalized letters in the second paragraph) align to form the word "francesca" once in the first paragraph, and twice in the second.
Francesca has two documented meanings; 'free', and 'from Franconia' or 'from France'.
The music video is available for download (both the lo-res and hi-res version) at the album's website.
At the end of 2007, Rolling Stone readers voted the video as the best music video of year.
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the week ending February 23, 2007. It eventually climbed to #1 for one week, becoming NIN's fourth consecutive number 1 single and the final time a Nine Inch Nails single topped a chart, and debuted at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100
. Since Linkin Park
's emourmously more successful "What I've Done
" single debuted at number one and replaced "Survivalism"'s position, the song however had fallen drastically after 1 week at #1, almost dropping off the top 20 modern rock tracks within just one month. The song dropped from #7 to #19 during the week of May 12, 2007, proceeded to fall to #26 during the week of May 19, 2007, then hit the bottom at #37 in the week of May 26, 2007. The song debuted at number two on the UK Rock Singles Chart and on #29 in UK Singles Chart. The song is Nine Inch Nails' forth consecutive top ten single on the Billboard
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The single debuted at number one on the Canadian Singles Chart
(the only time a Nine Inch Nails single debuted at the top of a chart), a position which it maintained for six weeks.
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
by Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
from their 2007 album Year Zero
Year Zero (album)
Year Zero is the fifth studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released on April 17, 2007, by Interscope Records. Frontman Trent Reznor wrote the album's music and lyrics while touring in support of the group's previous release, With Teeth...
. The song is the third track on the album. The single was released digitally on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
on March 13, 2007, and the CD and vinyl singles were released internationally on April 2, 2007.
On February 14, 2007, a clip of the chorus to "Survivalism" was first heard by fans calling the telephone number 1-310-295-1040, which was found by joining discolored numerals on the back of a tour t-shirt. FMQB reported that "Survivalism" would arrive at radio stations on February 27 with an add date of March 6, but 102.1 The Edge in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
debuted the song on February 15, and on the next day, it was officially played on radio stations across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was later made available on Nine Inch Nails' MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page.
As with "The Hand That Feeds
The Hand that Feeds
"The Hand That Feeds" is a song by the American industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails, released as the lead single for the album With Teeth . It is the highest charting song by Nine Inch Nails on all charts except for U.S...
" and "Only
Only (Nine Inch Nails song)
"Only" is a song by Nine Inch Nails. It was released as the second single from Nine Inch Nails' fourth album With Teeth. "Only" reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, where it stayed for seven weeks...
," the "Survivalism" multi-track GarageBand
GarageBand
GarageBand is a software application for Mac OS X and iOS that allows users to create music or podcasts. It is developed by Apple Inc. as a part of the iLife software package on Mac OS X.-Audio recording:...
file was released by the band for fan remixing on March 13. It can be downloaded on the album's website.
Music video
Nine Inch Nails was scheduled to begin shooting a video for "Survivalism" on February 5, 2007, in the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area. It was directed by Alex Lieu, Rob Sheridan
Rob Sheridan
Rob Sheridan is an American graphic designer, director, and photographer best known for his extensive work with the band Nine Inch Nails....
, and Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
.
The video was circulated on the Internet on March 7, 2007, when Nine Inch Nails played the Carling Academy Brixton
Carling Academy Brixton
The Brixton Academy, officially called O2 Academy, Brixton, is one of London's leading music venues, nightclubs and theatres. Situated in Brixton, South London, England, the building has hosted a range of leading rock acts since becoming a music venue in 1983...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. USB pen drives
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
containing low and high resolution
Image resolution
Image resolution is an umbrella term that describes the detail an image holds. The term applies to raster digital images, film images, and other types of images. Higher resolution means more image detail....
versions of the video were found at different locations in the venue by concert-goers.
The video consists of a series of images from a console of secret cameras installed in an apartment block. As the camera moves between the footage, viewers are able to see into the lives of a number of residents, including:
- A catatonic older couple watching television with a portrait of Jesus behind them.
- A man looking after his drugged spouse (and in one scene possibly dripping or injecting the fictional drug "opal" in her eyes).
- Two men having sexual intercourse in bed. (Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit.)
- A topless woman applying make-up in a bathroom. (Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit.)
- A man sitting at a table staring at his food.
- Three men in a shop (and later in an alley) working with stencils.
- A man in his cubicle surfing the Internet on his Apple laptop computer.
- A band (portrayed by Nine Inch Nails) performing the song in a room.
There are also cameras directed at hallways and stairs inside the apartment block. After about a minute, these screens show a SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team armed with submachine guns
Heckler & Koch MP5
The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
assembling outside. They enter in formation, and eventually break down a door (on which the letters "REV 18 3-4" are stenciled, a reference to a passage in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
) and enter the apartment where a band is playing. The noise disturbs all the residents, who momentarily stop what they are doing and move off to investigate, then return to their activities. At this point, a number of cameras have been turned off and show static. The band is no longer in their room. It has been torn asunder and a large smear of blood is visible on the floor. The final shot shows a bleeding corpse being dragged around a corner and out of sight.
The Bible passage referenced by the door is from the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, a passage describing the fallen city-nation of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
and how she has been corrupted by luxury and adultery, and how people are being called to leave this whorish nation behind and not share in her immorality to keep from sharing in her judgement. (see here)
The time code
Time code
A timecode is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing system.- Video and film timecode :...
in the monitor sometimes changes the last digit for a letter. This eventually spells out "THE_TURNEDTO_". In addition, several Bible verses that reference water and blood are shown throughout the video. "Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
15:9" on the graffiti wall, "John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
19:34" on the picture of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
behind the couple, and "II Kings 3:22" and "Exodus 7:21" in the board behind the man with the laptop. This led to the discovery of the Year Zero website, thewaterturnedtoblood.net, which is a collage of a hand picking a man up out of the wreckage of a crumbling bridge, claimed to be drawn by a prison inmate. There are various biblical quotations surrounding the drawing, and capital letters (un-capitalized letters in the second paragraph) align to form the word "francesca" once in the first paragraph, and twice in the second.
Francesca has two documented meanings; 'free', and 'from Franconia' or 'from France'.
The music video is available for download (both the lo-res and hi-res version) at the album's website.
At the end of 2007, Rolling Stone readers voted the video as the best music video of year.
Personnel
- Trent Reznor – Co-director
- Susan Bonds – Co-director
- Alex Lieu – Co-director
- Rob SheridanRob SheridanRob Sheridan is an American graphic designer, director, and photographer best known for his extensive work with the band Nine Inch Nails....
– Co-director - Eric Wycoff – Director of photography
Release and reception
"Survivalism" had 501 plays and debuted at #28 on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the week ending February 23, 2007. It eventually climbed to #1 for one week, becoming NIN's fourth consecutive number 1 single and the final time a Nine Inch Nails single topped a chart, and debuted at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Since Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
's emourmously more successful "What I've Done
What I've Done
"What I've Done" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. It was released as the first single from their third album, Minutes to Midnight. The song is composed in the key of G minor and is set in 4/4 time. The song was released as a radio single on April 1, 2007, as a digital download on April...
" single debuted at number one and replaced "Survivalism"'s position, the song however had fallen drastically after 1 week at #1, almost dropping off the top 20 modern rock tracks within just one month. The song dropped from #7 to #19 during the week of May 12, 2007, proceeded to fall to #26 during the week of May 19, 2007, then hit the bottom at #37 in the week of May 26, 2007. The song debuted at number two on the UK Rock Singles Chart and on #29 in UK Singles Chart. The song is Nine Inch Nails' forth consecutive top ten single on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The single debuted at number one on the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
(the only time a Nine Inch Nails single debuted at the top of a chart), a position which it maintained for six weeks.
International CD Maxi
- "Survivalism" - 4:22
- "Survivalism_Tardusted" - 4:19
- "The Greater Good" (Instrumental) - 5:03
- "Survivalism" (Video)
UK 9" Vinyl
- "Survivalism" - 4:22
- "Survivalism_OpalHeartClinic_Niggy_Tardust!(Escaped…" - 4:18
Chart positions
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria Singles Chart Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the... |
63 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
1 |
| Denmark Singles Chart | 15 |
| Finland Singles Chart Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside... |
7 |
| Spain Singles Chart Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
2 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
29 |
| U.S Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 14 |
| U.S Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S Billboard Hot 100 | 68 |
| U.S Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
66 |
"Survivalism" single
- Trent ReznorTrent ReznorMichael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
– lyrics, performance, and production - Atticus RossAtticus RossAtticus Ross is an English musician, composer and producer. Ross, along with Trent Reznor, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for The Social Network in 2011.-Early career:...
– production - Thavius Beck – production on "Tardusted" and "OpalHeartClinic_Niggy_Tardust!(Escaped..." remixes
- Saul WilliamsSaul WilliamsSaul Stacey Williams is an American poet, writer, actor and musician known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop and for his leading role in the 1998 independent film Slam.-Biography:...
– backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
External links
- Survivalism at the NinWiki