Open main menu
  • 3.19.229.57
  • Watchlist
  • Contributions
  • Log in

Getting Smaller

  • Edit
    • Page information
    • Permanent link
    • What links here
Album:With Teeth
Length:3:35
Tempo:84 BPM
Versions:Getting Smaller
Getting Smaller (Instrumental)
Getting Smaller Every Day (Demo)
Live:Live: With Teeth
Lights In The Sky Tour

"Getting Smaller" is the ninth track on the 2005 release With Teeth. The lyrics may address Trent Reznor coming back from his addictions as a humbled person. The track leaked in February of 2005, along with "The Line Begins To Blur" and "The Hand That Feeds".

According to at least one media promo listening[1], the working title for the song was slightly longer, appearing as "Getting Smaller Every Day." The "flip flop" lyric is a reference to the song "Navvy" by Pere Ubu, a song that has appeared on playlists compiled by Reznor. The track is reminiscent of "Planet of Sound" by Pixies.

Contents

  • 1 Song Credits
  • 2 Appearances
    • 2.1 Halos
    • 2.2 Seeds
    • 2.3 Other
  • 3 Versions
    • 3.1 Getting Smaller
    • 3.2 Getting Smaller (Instrumental)
    • 3.3 Getting Smaller Every Day (Demo)
  • 4 Live
  • 5 Lyrics

Song Credits

  • Live drums: Dave Grohl

Appearances

Halos

  • With Teeth

Seeds

  • The Definitive NIN - Deep Cuts

Other

  • Tony Hawk's Project 8 video game

Versions

Getting Smaller

This is the original album version. Crossfading in from the end of "Only," it begins with frantic and seemingly random distorted guitar playing, punctured by the chorus guitar riff. Grohl's live drums soon begin accompanying, leading into the first verse, accompanied by a different guitar riff. The song opens up in volume and layering for the choruses, their lyrics yelled out by Reznor with a delay effect. A third different guitar riff leads the bridge, which also features layered atmospheric synthesizers over the drum beat that build in intensity and lead into the final chorus.

Getting Smaller (Instrumental)

Running Time: 3:47

Released exclusively through Apple Music.

Getting Smaller Every Day (Demo)

A demo for "Getting Smaller" (with the working title "Getting Smaller Every Day") evidently exists on a pre-release version of With Teeth that has not been shared.

Live

"Getting Smaller" made its live debut on March 25, 2005. It was played on the Live: With Teeth tour in 2005-06, but was a setlist rarity. On this version, Jeordie White would play rhythm guitar while Alessandro Cortini roamed the stage playing bass. It was also played at least once during the Lights In The Sky Tour.

Lyrics

    Getting a little erratic here
    And I don't know who to trust
    I guess they got a way of reading my mind
    I guess I got to adjust
    I got my arms that flip flop flip flop flip
    I got my head on a spring
    Well I thought I got you on my side
    I haven't got fucking anything
    
    I'm just a face in the crowd
    Nothing to worry about
    Not even trying to stand out
    I'm getting smaller and smaller and smaller
    And I have nothing to say
    It's all been taken away
    I just behave and obey
    I'm afraid I am starting to fade away
    
    Can kind of see out the cracks
    When I press up to the wall
    I'm not looking to stand up real high
    I'd be happy to crawl
    I think I'm losing my grip
    But I can still make a fist
    You know I still got my one good arm
    That I can beat—I can beat myself up with
    
    I'm just a face in the crowd
    Nothing to worry about
    Not even trying to stand out
    I'm getting smaller and smaller and smaller
    And I have nothing to say
    It's all been taken away
    I just behave and obey
    I'm afraid I am starting to fade away
    
    Hey and for what it is worth
    I really used to believe
    That maybe there's some great thing
    That we could achieve
    And now I can't tell the difference
    Or know what to feel
    Between what I've been trying so hard to see
    And what appears to be real
    
    My world is getting smaller every day
    Hey hey hey hey
    And that's OK

In the actual recording, the first line of the third verse is changed:

    I kind of see through the cracks
Previous track - "Only" Track 9 from With Teeth Next track - "Sunspots"
Retrieved from "https://www.nin.wiki/index.php?title=Getting_Smaller&oldid=62780"
Last edited 3 months ago by Piggy
  • This page was last edited on 8 February 2025, at 22:57.
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • About nin.wiki
  • Disclaimers
  • Mobile view