Something I Can Never Have

For the One Tree Hill episode titled "Something I Can Never Have", see One Tree Hill (season 2).

"Something I Can Never Have" is the fifth track by industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from the 1989 debut album, Pretty Hate Machine. According to Loren Coleman, the song deals with suicidal themes.^[2]

"Something I Can Never Have"
Song by Nine Inch Nails
from the album Pretty Hate Machine
Released	October 20, 1989
Genre	Industrial rock alternative rock[1]
Length	5:55
Label	TVT
Songwriter(s)	Trent Reznor
Producer(s)	Trent Reznor John Fryer

A "deconstructed" version of the song was also included in the live album And All That Could Have Been. The accompanying live music video, with Jerome Dillon was also released.^[3] A version of the song with an alternate ending was used in the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.^[4][5]

Background

Trent Reznor co-produced the track in London with John Fryer, although Reznor "kind of backed away" from it. He felt that Fryer's production gave the track a "dreamy quality", as the piano is heavily filtered and features a large amount of reverb. The track also features elements of unused backing tracks by This Mortal Coil, a music collective that Fryer was part of; while these were initially included by accident, both Reznor and Fryer felt they fit well in the track.^[6]

Reception

Tom Breihan from Pitchfork Media gave a positive review to the song, stating that the song portrays "an absolute mastery" with "its haunted, minimal piano figure and a few hushed synth tones slowly, letting in sputtering static, faraway door-slam drums, and quiet little counter-melodies."^[7] When the song was re-released in 2006, Rob Mitchum referred to it as a "'Goodbye Blue Sky' rip-off".^[8] In 2020, Kerrang and Billboard ranked the song number seven and number five, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.^[9][10]

Covers

This song has been covered by Dutch dark wave band, Clan of Xymox, in its 2012 album Kindred Spirits, and by the band Flyleaf for Underworld: Evolution OST.^[11] In July 2014, Tori Amos covered the song on her Unrepentant Geraldines Tour.^[12] A version of the song was used in the fifth episode of the HBO series Westworld in 2016.^[13]

References

1. Top Ten Most Depressing Alternative Rock Songs Retrieved January 5, 2015
2. Coleman, Loren (2004). The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines. Paraview Pocket Books. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-7434-8223-3.
3. "Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have". NME. Retrieved November 8, 2012.^{[dead link]}
4. Lochhead, Judy (2001). Postmodern Music/Postmodern Thought. Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9780815338208
5. Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 1858284570. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
6. Doerschuk, Robert L. (April 1990). "Nine Inch Nails". Keyboard. Vol. 16, no. 4. San Bruno. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
7. Breihan, Tom (November 24, 2010). "Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
8. Mitchum, Rob (January 12, 2006). "Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
9. Law, Sam (August 7, 2020). "The 20 greatest Nine Inch Nails songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
10. Unterberger, Andrew (November 5, 2020). "The 25 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
11. "Marco Beltrami – Underworld: Evolution (Original Score)". Discogs. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
12. Cinquemani, Sal (August 21, 2014). "The 10 Best Cover Songs from Tori Amos's Unrepentant Geraldines Tour". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
13. Vineyard, Jennifer (November 2, 2016). "Why Did Westworld Choose That Downer of a Nine Inch Nails Song During the Orgy Scene?". Vulture. Retrieved November 2, 2016.