Changes

The second track from the album ''Pretty Hate Machine,'' its intro beat bleeds in from the outro of "Head Like A Hole" and pops up occasionally throughout the song. The song is almost entirely synthetic and is extremely layered when compared to most of the other songs on the album. A dissonant theme runs through the outro of the song in the form of variously pitched samples of a woodblock.

"Terrible Lie" is often the opening song of Nine Inch Nails shows following an introduction, which may be "[[Now I'm Nothing]]" ([[Lollapalooza]] '91, [[Wave_Goodbye_Tour#NIN.2FJA_2009|NIN/JA 2009]]) or, often, a manipulated pre-recorded version of "[[Pinion]]." The live version typically omits the keyboard and bass harmony for the first half of the first chorus, a feature of the [[Terrible_Lie#Terrible_Lie_.28Sympathetic_Mix.29|Sympathetic mix]]. The ending of the song is extended when performed live and is often concluded with Reznor screaming "you promised me" repeatedly. A brief sample of the words "who do you think you're fooling?" often surrounded the song in performances prior to the Fragility tour, most often at the end of the song (though also used at the start of the song on ''Pretty Hate Machine'' tours as it emerged from the sample collage). The variation performed on the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]] is mostly the same as the version introduced during [[Live: With Teeth]]. However, as the live band is now only 4 members, all synthesizer parts are absent, leaving only loud guitar riffs (this is most noticeable in the chorus, and right before the outro where there is usually a 'hammer-synth' countermelody played over the chorus progression). Due to the hectic nature of the song, the band will often destroy instruments and/or the stage during the song. This can be seen in the 1989-1991 footage that was added as an appendage to the "DVD" version of ''[[Closure]]''.

[[Category:NIN Songs]][[Category:Songs With Unused Lyrics]]