Hyperpower!
HYPERPOWER! (Instrumental)
Gunshots By Computer: Saul Williams
"HYPERPOWER!" is the first track on the 2007 release Year Zero. It is a short instrumental that kicks off the album, a la "Pinion."
A hyperpower is a nation that dominates the global stage through economy, military power, and technological prowess. The term has been used to describe the United States in the 1990s and retrospectively the British Empire in the 19th century.
While the song is instrumental, it uses a crowd chant throughout. The words, if indeed there are any, are unknown despite being directly accessible from the multitrack release.
Contents
Song credits
- Drums: Josh Freese
Appearances
Halos
- Year Zero
- Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
Seeds
Other
Versions
HYPERPOWER!
This is the original album version. Instrumental, it continuously builds from the basic drum beat, adding layers of synthesizers, samples, guitars and bass until an explosive climax, after which everything suddenly stops. The decay of the drum reverb leads into "The Beginning Of The End."
HYPERPOWER! (Instrumental)
This unmastered vocal-less mix was released by Trent Reznor through his remix.nin.com account.
Gunshots By Computer
This version is the opening track on Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, and features vocals by Saul Williams. Williams recites a poem over "Hyperpower!." Minimal changes were made to the music. The mix is also referred to as "Guns by Computer."
Lyrics
Are you looking for the truth or for another fight?
If you want to give me what I want then give it up tonight
Freedom. Ain't looking for no, ain't looking for no fight
If you want to give me what I want then give it up tonight
The world that circles around me can benefit from silence
This song is my enemy, watch how I become it
Cradled by mystery and make believe I am floating in the other night
Children wish upon me
This man and his army are praying in their fortresses making guns of steeples
Insurgence of people the messiah's an immigrant detained at the border
Severed from his trinity, his wife, and his daughter
America the beautiful, nappy headed hoedown
Lynchburg throwdown
It seems our favorite past-time has become our most feared future
Technology has failed us. Gunshots by computer
Gunshots by Computer
Are you looking for the truth or for another fight?
If you want to give me what I want then give it up tonight
Freedom. Ain't looking for no, ain't looking for no fight
If you want to give me what I want then give it up tonight
Gunshots by Computer
Song Credits
- Remix by Saul Williams
Live
"Hyperpower!" made its live debut on May 7, 2007, the first show on the Australian leg of the Performance 2007 tour. It would open the vast majority of shows on the rest of the tour (although sometimes it was just as a pre-recorded PA broadcast), transitioning into "The Beginning of the End".
Nine Inch Nails have not performed "Hyperpower!" since 2007, but Saul Williams performed "Gunshots By Computer" several times during his 2008 tour.
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