Top 10 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs

The Top Ten
1 Closer

This song took me to another planet. Also, it would get me in almost any girl's pants. Girls turn into raging animals when they hear this song.

This is definitely the number one Nine Inch Nails song. Great lyrics and a music video with so many messages. Holy crap.

First song I heard from NIN, and by God, I loved it. Most definitely the best song ever!

2 Hurt

This song is so true to life itself. I just saw the concert & they played it as the encore. I loved all the songs, but they saved the best for last! I think for me, it's a true celebration of life!

The piano is the best companion for the desolation of the lyrics. Reznor just decided to create the most depressive song in history, and he made it. My favorite NIN song.

One of the greatest songs of all time, in my opinion, definitely one of the saddest songs of all time. The lyrics and soundscapes are just complete genius in this song!

3 The Hand that Feeds

This song is a perfect mix of industrial and rock. Definitely one of their best.

4 Head Like a Hole

The first NIN song I ever heard was as a 14-year-old kid. I was immediately hooked then, and still am now. No other band has spoken to "me" quite in the same way, with such eloquent lyricism as NIN. Almost every track had deep meaning to me, and I could relate the words somehow to my existence. This is my favorite track of the 10 (all exceptional), but there were far too many overlooked tracks that never received adequate fanfare.

This is the best Nine Inch Nails song, in my opinion. The sample doesn't have the chorus.

"Bow down before the one you serve.
You're going to get what you deserve.
Bow down before the one you serve.
You're going to get what you deserve."

5 Wish

I love Nine Inch Nails! The album Broken is one of my favorites of all time. I know it's not as complexly written as The Fragile or Downward Spiral, but the Broken era Nine Inch Nails is my favorite. I think it's what Trent does best, and every song from Broken should be here. I like them all equally.

I am disappointed in the most recent NIN. I am happy for Trent for fixing 'the broken machine,' but he has lost the NIN I love to a purely electronic monster in albums like Year Zero. I LOVE BROKEN!

6 Right Where It Belongs

"You can live in this illusion. You can choose to believe... "

This song just hits you like a ton of bricks and leaves you pondering after it has finished. It definitely has the best lyrics of any Nine Inch Nails song.

Such a powerful song with powerful lyrics. Trent Reznor is a lyrical genius. I don't listen to NIN much, but this song moves me every time I hear it.

This song is amazing. There are few songs in existence that actually give me chills. This is one of those songs, absolutely fantastic.

7 Every Day is Exactly the Same

This piece literally gives me chills every time I hear it - it is a truly beautiful and unique song. We are so privileged to have Reznor making and sharing his music with the world.

This song needs to at least be in the top 5 of this list. No other song can compare to its greatness. It's the perfect mix of rock with a little slow parts added on. I LOVE IT!

This song is my favorite from my second favorite NIN album. It needs to be number 5, at the very least.

8 We're in This Together

The moment when the refrain begins with "You and me!" is one of the greatest, breathtaking moments in modern music history. It sounds like the perfect soundtrack for an action sequence in a movie. It's like packing the insanity and intensity of "Mad Max: Fury Road" into a four-minute song.

This highlights Trent's incredible ability to pit quiet calm verses against huge, mind-blowing choruses - YOU AND ME...

This song is truly awesome. It should be in the top 10 at least. Everything's great, right from the starting beats to the end.

9 Only

This predicted the future, with Reznor collaborating with David Fincher in the video. Oh yeah, the song also kicks ass.

Hands down the best Nine Inch Nails song! Vote for it! Epic lyrics and a tight beat, paired with Trent's great voice.

Makes me question my existence every time! Epic song, deserves to be in the top 5.

10 The Perfect Drug

I wish this song was on one of the full-length albums so I didn't have to pull it out as an individual track just to listen to its magnificence.

The last minute and a half has some of the most bone-chilling guitar work I've ever heard. I love this song! Should be number one!

I love the Gothic feel to the video. This song was the transition from The Downward Spiral to The Fragile.

The Newcomers

? Help Me I Am in Hell
? Ripe (With Decay)
The Contenders
11 Copy of A
12 March of the Pigs

This song gives you such a desire to just thrash about angrily, but in a happy way. It's aggressive and makes you feel on top of the world. The awkward time signature, pounding drums, and general distorted feel all add to an amazing feeling overall.

My favorite off the album, next to Mr. Self Destruct. This song is such a badass when played live.

13 Something I Can Never Have

From the gloomy instruments to the lyrics to Trent's agony-ridden vocals, this is by far the most morbidly depressing song I've ever heard. And that's why it's beautiful.

The saddest and most depressing song by NIN, in my opinion. My favorite by them. It's a song about obsession and the pain caused by it.

This needs to be in the top 10. It's probably number 1 for me. Watch the live still version on YouTube!

14 Came Back Haunted

An awesome song that gets stuck in your head and won't get out! Definitely the best song off Hesitation Marks!

I'm glad he came back, period. Industrial music needs to come back haunted...

15 Terrible Lie

The pure anger and angst shown through this entire song stand out in the entire catalog of the band's music as a frontrunner. My personal favorite Nine Inch Nails song of all time.

Biased a little, considering it was the first song I ever heard by them, but should definitely break the top 5.

This should be ranked a lot higher. Way ahead of its time, one of their best.

16 Reptile

This has to be one of the best songs Reznor has ever created. The vocals are practically perfect, the lyrics are incredibly sinister and creative, and the instrumental is amazing and perfectly complements the tone of the song.

A lethal example of Reznor's creative brutality, anger, and innovative use of sounds. It's some seriously sinister stuff.

Truly amazing. There is just something so wonderful in its darkness.

17 Ruiner

I love this song. It's about everything.

This is a perfect song. It's in my top 2.

18 Somewhat Damaged

Easily a top 10 song, if not pushing into the top 5. The layering of soundscapes produces an escalating mood, which culminates in the angriest song Reznor has done. True catharsis.

This is industrial metal at its finest. A repetitive rhythm and a melody slowly rising towards the climactic end. Definitely my favorite NIN track.

Great song. I love how it's in a 9/8 time signature.

19 And All that Could Have Been

14?

Are you kidding me?

This is an easy top 3! Give it a listen, please!

How Trent Reznor manages to impact so deeply with such simple lyrics is a thing to think about.

Awesome Lyrics!

I have listened to it on replay for hours and still am not bored of it.

So peaceful for a song that carries such pain in its lyrics.

It disappoints me that this song doesn't get more attention. It was the only brand new actual song on Still. Maybe it could've been a single?

20 In This Twilight

This is the kind of song you'd listen to in an apocalypse: the whole world has collided, and you're all alone in solitude, but soon, you begin to realize there is a silver lining if you look close enough. This song is a perfect combination of doom and hope. Definitely powerful and apocalyptic. Underrated, too. Deserves to be top 10 at least.

21 Zero Sum

Another apocalyptic song. If you want to feel the chills from this song, listen to the Deceased album version. It focuses more on the harmony of the song rather than the powerful lyrics. It also gives you a more apocalyptic vibe.

The perfect ending for a perfect album. My favorite album of NIN is "Year Zero," and this song just creates a movie in my head about the end of the world or the world after "it" happened. So dystopic, so depressing, so cool, just awesome.

22 The Day the World Went Away

The amazing, sudden transitions are just fantastic. The lyrics are so quick, but so good, and complete a rhyme only Trent could write. The fact that it also has no drums also makes it very unique for NIN, so I'll have to say it's one of my favorites.

The world is already sinking into chaos.

23 Into the Void

The much darker aesthetic of the song, in comparison to its Disc One counterpart, La Mer, fits all too well with the album. The synth in the song is amazing, the repetition is perfect. The song is top five for me.

Trent can even make 'repetitive' sound great. This song is proof.

Really underrated. Should be in the top 5.

24 Last

What? This song defines NIN. It's filled with intense anger, screams, and lots and lots of hatred. Metal at its best.

One of their heaviest songs, this needs to be ranked higher!

The metal performance is unbelievable.

25 Star****ers, inc.

This and March of the Pigs should be on a list of mosh pit anthems.

How is this masterpiece not in the top 10?

This song should be in the top 5. 10/10 lyrics.

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