NIN, as the kids call it, can be quite a dividing band in my experience. People either love Trent Reznor (the frontman, founder, and only permanent member) and borderline worship him or think he's arrogant, selfish, and depressed. I like him, and this will not be the last post about his music, so too bad. I'm also starting out with quite possibly his most depressing song, so everything should be uphill from here.
Live Version:
Lights in the Sky was a small track on The Slip, the last album they released (for free by the way, if you want it), and I found it by far the most powerful because of it's original orchestration with only piano and vocals. NIN is at their best, in my opinion, when they use simple musical ideas to create emotion, in situations where other bands would try and get a big and full sound to express something, NIN will use single notes, and it is just as, if not more, impactful. The main 'riff' in the song is three notes, the same three notes repeated over and over. The main soul of the song comes from Trent's singing style, which is almost spoken word. Plus, in the live version I've linked to, his voice cracks in such a perfect way that I can't quite tell if it was accidental or intentional (though I've seen his voiced give out on different shows on that tour, which is part of why I believe he chose it for his last tour).
A trait that NIN uses a lot in their music lyrically is a first person narrative that is metaphor heavy, and therefore applicable to a wide range of situations and listeners. This narrative is all about reconciling with a loss, the female counterpart in the song is drowning, and the main character is going through all of the emotions of losing a loved one at once. He wants to drown with her, can't see going on without her, trying to deal with her being gone, but not doing a good job of it ... anyone who has lost someone will find their own emotions in this song.
One warning about this song, and the band in general, they aren't afraid to take a song to a depressing place and just leave it there. There is no redemption for the character, no resolution, just a fade out. The song ends on the line "Right beside you", and where he is is drowning, just like the woman.
Man, that was depressing. I'll go over a MIKA song next.
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