Samples In NIN Songs

Nine Inch Nails has sampled numerous parts of songs, movies, and other audio into its songs. This page will attempt to catalog each usage.

Pretty Hate Machine

"Down In It" samples:

• "Reality" by Gary Clail & Tackhead / "Stadium Rock" by The Barmy Army
• "Mechanical Movements" by Keith LeBlanc
• "Einstein" by Keith LeBlanc

"Head Like A Hole" samples:

• "Samburu Warriors' initiation (Kenya)" performed by the Samburu Tribe of Kenya and recorded by David Fanshawe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G08Wvtspmjo

"Sanctified" samples:

• The film Midnight Express, the dialog that begins at about 3:20 and also the screaming that can be heard right before it segues into "Something I Can Never Have". This sample is not present on the version from 2010 remaster.

"Something I Can Never Have" samples:

• The atmospheric keyboards from an unused This Mortal Coil session.

"Something I Can Never Have (Natural Born Killers Version)" samples:

• A thunderclap (at the very beginning)
• Nocturnal birds (during the fade off of the thunderclap)
• A movie sample of the two main characters (Mickey and Mallory) arguing (just after the piano starts)
• A rattlesnake (during the movie sample after the man speaks the second time)
• Fire crackling and hissing (towards the end)
• Native American chanting (just after the fire sounds)

"Sin" samples:

• "Paid In Full" by Eric B. & Rakim, which samples the last few seconds of "Change The Beat" by Fab 5 Freddy (feat. Beside)

"Ringfinger" samples:

• "Alphabet St." by Prince
• "Had A Dad" by Jane's Addiction

"Kinda I Want To" samples:

• "Good Old Music" by Funkadelic
• "A Surf M.C. New Year" by Surf MC's
• "Let The Jingle Bells Rock" by Sweet Tee

Head Like A Hole

"Head Like A Hole (Copper)" samples:

• "Body Language" by Queen

"Head Like A Hole (Opal)" samples:

• "Tamborine" by Prince
• "Release It" by The Time, which samples "Squib Cakes" by Tower Of Power
• "The Wrong Name and the Wrong Number" by Mark Stewart

Track 11 samples:

• "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails— woo, they're good!" cheered by Heather "Princess" Day on an episode of Dance Party USA

Sin

"Sin (Short)", "Sin (Long)" and "Sin (Dub)" sample:

• "Mr. President" by Keith LeBlanc

"Get Down, Make Love" samples:

• Moaning and breathing from Japanese pornography films
• "We Will Rock You" by Queen
• The intro is an extract from 1962's The Cabinet Of Caligari (at 54:34).
• Beats from 40 Oz of Phat Slammin Hip Hop sample CD-ROM by InVision Interactive (specifically, PARTITION A - KITS 89-91 - 90 1.wav)

Broken

"Pinion" samples:

• "It's No Game" by David Bowie

"Physical" samples:

• Recordings of Trent Reznor's dog Maise barking
• "Ow!...fucker!" said by Sean Beavan after Maise bit him

"Help Me I Am In Hell" samples:

• Ambient noises from The Empire Strikes Back (When the Tie Fighters are sending bombs into the asteroid where Han and Leia are hiding)

Fixed

"Fist Fuck" samples:

• "I could feel that way too... I bet you will someday" from the film Showboat
• Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out by Dr. Timothy Leary

The Downward Spiral

"Mr. Self Destruct" samples:

• Begins with a sample from the film THX 1138 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GysyU8sCdlM&hd=1

"Closer" samples:

• "Nightclubbing" by Iggy Pop
• "Take A Chance With Me" by Roxy Music

"The Becoming" samples:

• Screams in the background from the film Robot Jox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjRPiBGVFIE (starting at :33)
• "I know who I am" from the film Angel Heart (backwards) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTC9Lt3hiWo&t=2m6s (starting at 2:06)

"Reptile" samples:

• Intro machine sounds from the film Leviathan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUk4bvrFY2A (at :13)
• Looping female voice ("Kirk, help") from the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

"The Downward Spiral" samples:

• Watery noise at the beginning from the film Alien
• Pitched-down strings from the "Twins" cue on the Dead Ringers score

"Ruiner" samples:

• "Beat Box" by Art of Noise
• Buried scream from the film Parents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bJd2ZAzPSw
• Pitched-up elephant noises from the film The Elephant Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHswu1Ad_wI

"March Of The Pigs" samples:

• Buried scream from the film Sorcerer
• Buried scream from the film The Exorcist II: The Heretic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EFMzJ2dCDs (around 2:30)

Closer To God

"Closer (Deviation)" samples:

• "Pinch" by Can
• "Mountain of Needles" by Brian Eno and David Byrne

"Memorabilia" samples:

• "What do your nipples look like?" taken from a phone conversation between Robin Finck and a female impersonator

Further Down the Spiral

"Self Destruction, Part Two" and "Self Destruction, Final" sample:

• "Time" by David Bowie

"Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" samples:

• "Put Your Love (In My Tender Care)" by The Fatback Band

"The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" samples:

• "First Dark Ride" by Coil vs. The Eskaton

"Heresy (Version)" samples:

• "In Suburbia" and "Television Believers" from Aron Ranen's Religion In Suburbia

"Eraser (Denial; Realization)" samples:

• Slowed-down speech ("yours is the plague of blasphemy and fornication") from the film At Play In The Fields Of The Lord

Quake Soundtrack

"Quake Theme" samples:

• the scream from "The Downward Spiral"

The Perfect Drug

"The Perfect Drug (Meat Beat Manifesto)" samples:

• "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons

The Day The World Went Away

"Starfuckers, Inc." samples:

• Fireworks and yelling at the end from "Shout It Out Loud" (from Alive II) by KISS

Things Falling Apart

"10 Miles High" samples:

• flute/Mellotron sound from "The Downward Spiral"

"Metal" samples:

• "UFO" by ESG
• "M.E." by Gary Numan

"Starfuckers, Inc. (Version) - Adrian Sherwood" samples:

• "Shout It Out Loud" (from Alive II) by KISS

With Teeth

"All The Love In The World" (The Definitive NIN - Deep Cuts version) samples:

• The Twilight Zone episode "When The Sky Was Opened"

Year Zero

"God Given", "My Violent Heart" and "Zero Sum" sample:

• Beats from Atom Heart's Rather Interesting World Of Digital Drums sample CD by Atomizer™

Ghosts I-IV

"11 Ghosts II" samples:

• "Songe d'une nuit de sabbat" by Berlioz

"15 Ghosts II" samples:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqZkglTVYE (around 0:12 to 0:18)

"24 Ghosts III" samples:

• "Get the door, get the door" from the film The Mothman Prophecies

"30 Ghosts IV" samples:

• Saddam Hussein's Trial Verdict, on Nov. 5, 2006

The Fragile: Deviations 1

"Feeders" samples:

• "This is it" and mechanical sounds from the film Real Genius

Add Violence

"The Background World" samples:

• Snare drum from "Closer"

Ghosts VI: Locusts

"Another Crashed Car" samples:

• A telephone call intercept message

Other

Purest Feeling

"Down In It" samples:

• The film Angel Heart (until about :26)

"Maybe Just Once" samples:

• The film Diner (1:14:39) at the beginning of the song

Live Samples

Pretty Hate Machine Tour

sampled at various points during sets:

• "Who do you think you're for?" from an unknown source
• "Kill or be killed" from an unknown source
• "I could fuck ??? right in front of you" from an unknown source
• "I told you to stay out of this... give me the gun..." from an unknown source
• "Hang around, I'll make a cocksucker out of you" from the film Tough Guys Don't Dance (5:21)
• "Negative pulse, no heartbeat, no respiration, no pupil dilation, no brain waves, no response to pain" from an unknown source
• "I must stress the importance of total, I repeat, total sexual abstinence" from the film Invasion Of The Bee Girls (21:08)
• "Could I still excite you?" from an unknown source
• "I've got the sun in my hands, man..." from the film The Trip

NIN 2017-2018

"The Great Destroyer" samples:

• various Donald Trump speeches