March of the Pigs

1994 single by Nine Inch Nails

"March of the Pigs"

US CD single cover

Single by Nine Inch Nails
from the album  The Downward Spiral
B-side| "A Violet Fluid"
Released| February 25, 1994 (1994-02-25)
Recorded| 1993
Studio| Le Pig (Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles)
Genre|

* Industrial metal[1]

Length| 2:58
Label|

* Nothing
* TVT
* Interscope
* Atlantic

Songwriter(s)| Trent Reznor
Producer(s)| Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails singles chronology
| "Sin"
(1990)  | "March of the Pigs"
(1994)  | "Closer"
(1994)

|
|

Halo numbers chronology
| Halo 6
(1992)  | Halo 7
(1994)  | Halo 8
(1994)

|
|

"March of the Pigs" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994). It was released on February 25, 1994 as the album's lead single.

## Composition

[edit]

March of the Pigs has an unusual meter, alternating three bars of 7
8 time with one bar of 8
8 to effectively create one long measure of 29
8.[2] The song features a techno style bridge in 4
4 with a vocal melody based on the blues scale that ends with a cheerful piano jingle.[3] This is followed by an unnerving silence before the song repeats itself. The song's high energy (analogous to a previous Nine Inch Nails track, "Wish"), segued by two piano breakdowns, has made it a staple of Nine Inch Nails' live concert performances. It is also one of the band's shortest hit songs, clocking in at just under three minutes.

## Reception

[edit]

March of the Pigs is one of Nine Inch Nails' most well received songs commercially.[4][5][6] In 2020, Kerrang! and Billboard ranked the song number three and number six, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.[7][8]

In 2015, Exclaim! proclaimed in a Nine Inch Nails collaboration with the clothing brand N.I.C.E. Collective that they would release March of the Pigs music video replica boots.[9] The boots were called the "Reznor Combat boots." In 2024, Gregory Adams of Revolver called for fans planning to purchase the Dr. Martens apart of the Downward Spiral's 30th anniversary collaboration with Nine Inch Nails to prepare for the 'March of the Docs'.[10]

## Music videos

[edit]

After abandoning a more elaborate version before filming could be completed, Reznor and the live band assembled for the then-impending Self Destruct Tour (featuring drummer Chris Vrenna, keyboard player James Woolley, guitarist Robin Finck and bassist/guitarist/keyboardist Danny Lohner) regrouped with director Peter Christopherson to film a stripped-down, minimalist music video for the song. The video, filmed in 1993 and released in March 1994, features the band performing the song live in front of a white wall backdrop, with Reznor moving around aggressively, pushing the other band members and their instruments, and repeatedly tossing his microphone away. Throughout the video, stagehands visibly move into the frame to reset the equipment he knocks over, handing Reznor a microphone each time he needs to start singing again after an instrumental section.

Cultice's photography on set;
(L–R): Woolley, Reznor, Vrenna

The bulk of the video appears to be filmed in one long take, with the camera zooming and panning continuously. When Reznor appeared as a guest programmer on the ABC Rage TV program, he explained that they just kept playing the song over and over to the point of exhaustion to get the final take. The video uses the live performance audio of the song recorded at the video shoot, rather than synchronizing the footage to the studio-recorded version from the album as most music videos do.[11] The bands' personal photographer for their Self destruct tour, Joseph Cultice, had taken behind-the-scenes photographs of the shoot. He claims that it had taken the band only 5 long take shoots to complete the music video.[12] This version of the song is also included on the "Closer" cassette single.

Portions of the earlier, uncompleted video are included on the Closure DVD disc image file that appeared on file-sharing network The Pirate Bay in December 2006; this file is believed to be a leak of a completed but (so far) officially unreleased deluxe DVD reissue of the band's 1997 VHS/laserdisc long form music video Closure.[13] In this version of the video, the band performs the song in a red cave-like set with water at their feet, and a person with dwarfism appears.

Live performance videos of "March of the Pigs" are included on each of the band's live releases: Closure, And All that Could Have Been, and Beside You in Time.

## The single

[edit]

The American "March of the Pigs" CD single contains two mixes of the title track, two remixes of its fellow The Downward Spiral track "Reptile", and "A Violet Fluid", a non-album instrumental track. In the UK, the single was released as a two-disc (each sold separately) CD single, adding a censored radio edit of "March of the Pigs" and "Big Man With a Gun" from The Downward Spiral. The disc art for this single features a curled-up millipede, an image that was later used on the cover of the single "Closer".

"March of the Pigs" peaked at No. 98 on the Australian ARIA singles chart.[14] It also peaked at No. 59 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, which was the band's first appearance on the chart. Thirteen years after its release, the single debuted at No. 9 and peaked at No. 6 on the Canadian Singles Chart.[15]

## Track listing

[edit]

### US CD

[edit]

* Nothing Records / TVT Records / Interscope Records / Atlantic Records 95938-2
* TVT Records / Interscope Records INTDM-95938 (Reissue)

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "March of the Pigs"| 2:54
2.| "Reptilian" ("Reptile" remixed by Dave Ogilvie)| 8:40
3.| "All the Pigs, All Lined Up" ("March of the Pigs" remix)| 7:25
4.| "A Violet Fluid"| 1:04
5.| "Underneath the Skin" ("Reptile" remixed by Dave Ogilvie)| 7:16

### UK CD

[edit]

* Island Records CID 592 854 001-2 (Disc one)
* Island Records CIDX 592 854 003-2 (Disc two)

Disc oneNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "March of the Pigs" (clean version)| 3:01
2.| "All the Pigs, All Lined Up"| 7:25
3.| "A Violet Fluid" (listed as "A Violent Fluid" in UK releases)| 1:04
4.| "Big Man With a Gun"| 1:37

Disc twoNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "March of the Pigs" (LP version)| 2:54
2.| "Underneath the Skin"| 7:16
3.| "Reptilian" (remixed by Ogilvie)| 8:40

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

Chart performance for "March of the Pigs"  Chart (1994)  | Peak
position

|

Australia (ARIA)[16] | 98
UK Singles (OCC)[17] | 45
US Billboard Hot 100[18] | 59
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[19] | 5
US Cash Box Top 100[20] | 38
Chart (2002)  | Peak
position

|

Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[21] | 20

### Year-end charts

[edit]

Chart (2001)  | Position

|

Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[22] | 112
Chart (2002)  | Position

|

Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[23] | 93

## Cover versions

[edit]

* A cover version of "March of the Pigs" has been recorded by Mae for the 2006 compilation Punk Goes 90's.[24]
* Eighteen Visions released a cover version of the song for the Metal Hammer Goes '90s compilation album.[25]
* Horse the Band released a cover of the song for their EP Your Fault.[26]
* Car Seat Headrest recorded a cover of the song for their 2021 EP MADLO: Influences, a collection of covers from artists that inspired the sound of their 2020 album Making a Door Less Open.

## Appearances in other media

[edit]

The song was released as a track for the video game Rock Band on February 26, 2008 for Xbox 360 and on February 28 for PlayStation 3. It was available as a standalone download or as part of the 'Nine Inch Nails' song pack (also including "The Perfect Drug" and "The Collector"). It was also featured on Rock Band Track Pack Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 and the Wii, alongside the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

In a 1994 episode of Beavis & Butt-head, the boys watch the video for "March of the Pigs" and enjoy much of the song except for the piano parts. After Trent Reznor knocks over his microphone at the end of the video, Beavis says, "Thank you very much. We're Nine Inch Nails." somewhat dismissively, with Butt-head adding "Good night."[27]

In 2024, the song was added to the online video game Fortnite through the Fortnite Festival game mode and as a purchasable jam track. The game uses an extended studio version of the song, featuring a recorded version of the outro typically played at their live shows.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Nettleton, Chris (March 5, 2007). "Nine Inch Nails - Live: Beside You In Time (DVD)". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
2. ^ Mason, Kerri (March 7, 2014). "Nine Inch Nails' 'The Downward Spiral' at 20: Classic Track-By-Track". Billboard. Retrieved March 15, 2021. "Peaking at 269 BPM and weaving in and out of a maddening 29/8 time signature, it's as ballistic as Reznor has ever been."
3. ^ Krovatin, Chris (February 25, 2019). "Nine Inch Nails' March Of the Pigs is still as intense as ever". Kerrang!. "With its odd 7/8 time signature, rabid punk pace, and bizarre piano-driven chorus breaks"
4. ^ Newstead, Al (2024-03-05). "Depraved, angry, terrifying: how Nine Inch Nails' biggest album changed music in the 90s". Double J. Archived from the original on 2024-05-04. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
5. ^ R. Weingarten, Christopher (2019-03-08). "17 Essential Songs In 7/4". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 2024-02-25. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
6. ^ Adams, Gregory. "Fan poll: Top 5 live NINE INCH NAILS songs". Revolver. Archived from the original on 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
7. ^ "The 20 greatest Nine Inch Nails songs – ranked". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 2025-04-06. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
8. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (2020-11-05). "The 25 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2025-06-08. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
9. ^ Hughes, Josiah (2015-11-08). "You Can Now Buy Your Very Own Trent Reznor Boots". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
10. ^ "NINE INCH NAILS and DR. MARTENS announce 'The Downward Spiral' collaboration". Revolver. 2024-07-15. Archived from the original on 2024-07-15. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
11. ^ Huxley, Martin (September 1997). Nine Inch Nails: Self Destruct. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-15612-X.
12. ^ Staff, Revolver. "Nine Inch Nails "March of the Pigs": From Scrapped Original Video to Iconic Final Cut". Revolver. Archived from the original on 2025-05-16. Retrieved 2025-06-20.
13. ^ Sheridan, Rob (2020-02-23). ""Whatever happened to the Closure DVD release? A: Interscope at the time decided they didn't want to release it, so we leaked what we'd made so far onto Pirate Bay." Rob Sheridan: The Reddit AMA Interview: Feb 11th 2020". Patreon. Archived from the original on 2025-05-23. Retrieved 2025-06-22.
14. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 08 May 1994". ARIA. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
15. ^ "JAM! Music SoundScan Charts". Canadian Online Explorer. 2007-06-17. Archived from the original on December 26, 2004. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
16. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 203.
17. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
18. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
19. ^ "Hot Dance Music: Maxi-Singles Sales" (PDF). Billboard. March 19, 1994. p. 35. Retrieved May 11, 2025.
20. ^ "USA Cashbox Charts Summaries". popmusichistory. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
21. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
22. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
23. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Singles of 2002". Jam!. January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
24. ^ "Punk Goes 90s - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
25. ^ Shinn, Travis. "Hear Stone Sour's Fiery Cover Of Rage Against The Machine's "Bombtrack"". Revolver. Retrieved 2017-07-30.
26. ^ "March of the Pigs - song by Horse The Band". 27 November 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Spotify.
27. ^ Nine Inch Nails March Of The Pigs on Beavis and Butthead, 15 July 2016, retrieved 2022-12-20 \- on YouTube

## External links

[edit]

* March of the Pigs at nin.com, the official website
* Halo 7[usurped] at NIN Collector
* discogs.com: March of the Pigs (US CD5")
* discogs.com: March of the Pigs (US 10")
* discogs.com: March of the Pigs (UK 2xCD5")
* discogs.com: March of the Pigs (UK 7")

* v
* t
* e

Nine Inch Nails

* Trent Reznor
* Atticus Ross

Studio albums|

* Pretty Hate Machine
* The Downward Spiral
* The Fragile
* With Teeth
* Year Zero
* Ghosts I–IV
* The Slip
* Hesitation Marks
* Bad Witch
* Ghosts V: Together
* Ghosts VI: Locusts

Studio extended plays|

* Broken
* Not the Actual Events
* Add Violence

Live releases|

* Closure
* And All That Could Have Been
* Beside You in Time

Remix releases|

* Fixed
* Further Down the Spiral
* Things Falling Apart
* Year Zero Remixed

Soundtracks|

* Quake
* Tron: Ares

Singles|

* "Down in It"
* "Head Like a Hole"
* "Sin"
* "March of the Pigs"
* "Closer"
* "The Perfect Drug"
* "The Day the World Went Away"
* "We're in This Together"
* "Into the Void"
* "The Hand That Feeds"
* "Only"
* "Every Day Is Exactly the Same"
* "Survivalism"
* "Capital G"
* "Discipline"
* "Came Back Haunted"
* "Copy of a"
* "Everything"
* "Less Than"
* "God Break Down the Door"
* "As Alive as You Need Me to Be"

Promotional singles|

* "Happiness in Slavery"
* "Wish"
* "Burn"
* "Piggy"
* "Hurt"
* "Starfuckers, Inc."
* "Deep"

Other songs|

* "Something I Can Never Have"
* "Gave Up"
* "Mr. Self Destruct"
* "Dead Souls"
* "Just Like You Imagined"

Promotional releases|

* Lights in the Sky: Over North America 2008 Tour Sampler
* NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler
* Live 2013 EP
* Remix 2014 EP
* Halo I–IV

Games|

* Year Zero
* Nine Inch Nails Revenge

Tours|

* Self-Destruct
* Dissonance
* Fragility
* Performance 2007
* Twenty Thirteen
* Peel It Back

Touring members|

| Current|

* Robin Finck
* Alessandro Cortini
* Ilan Rubin

|

Former|

| Guitarists and bassists|

* Richard Patrick
* Danny Lohner
* Kevin McMahon
* Jeordie White
* Aaron North
* Justin Meldal-Johnsen
* Joshua Eustis
* Pino Palladino

|

Drummers|

* Jeff Ward
* Chris Vrenna
* Jerome Dillon
* Josh Freese
* Alex Carapetis

Keyboardists|

* James Woolley
* Charlie Clouser

Backing vocalists|

* Lisa Fischer

Related|

| Bands|

* Option 30
* The Innocent
* Exotic Birds
* Lucky Pierre
* Prick
* Pigface
* Tapeworm
* Marilyn Manson
* How to Destroy Angels
* Filter
* Jane's Addiction
* Queens of the Stone Age

|

People|

* Adrian Belew
* David Bowie
* Johnny Cash
* Mariqueen Maandig
* John Malm Jr.
* Marilyn Manson
* Russell Mills
* Rob Sheridan
* Gary Talpas
* Saul Williams

Albums and songs|

* If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
* "I'm Afraid of Americans"
* The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!
* Natural Born Killers
* Lost Highway
* "Old Town Road"
* "On a Roll"
* Recoiled

Films|

* Broken (film)
* Another Version of the Truth

Festivals|

* Future Ruins

Articles|

* Discography
* Songs recorded
* Trent Reznor discography
* Awards and nominations
* Band members
* Live performances
* Nothing Records
* Beats Music
* 10050 Cielo Drive
* Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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