"Came Back Haunted" is a single by American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

band

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

, from their eighth studio album, ''

Hesitation Marks ''Hesitation Marks'' is the eighth studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on August 30, 2013, by The Null Corporation and distributed by Columbia Records in the United States and Polydor Records elsewhere. It ...

''. It was the band's first single after signing with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

Music and lyrics

The song contains layered synthesizer parts, rhythmic industrial patterns, and an electronic bassline, which are interrupted by a guitar-driven instrumental break. The song ends with a vocal outro with a chant of the song's title. Gary Graff of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' interpreted the song's lyrics as an "acknowledgement of Reznor's absence" and a presumable reference to his experiences in film scoring and How to Destroy Angels.

Release and promotion

The song first leaked online on Brazilian website BCharts, then spreading to other sites and radios. It was later streamed on the band's official

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

account. The audio-only video was also uploaded to Nine Inch Nails'

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel. A radio edit of the song was initially made available, which was edited down to 3:56 in length. The song was featured in the soundtrack of the video game ''

Gran Turismo 6 ''Gran Turismo 6'' is a 2013 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall in the ''Gran Turismo (series), Gran ...

''.

Music video

The music video was released on June 28, 2013, with an

epileptic seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...

warning. It was directed by

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

, with whom Reznor collaborated on '' Lost Highway''. The video runs for 4:17. Photographs taken by Nine Inch Nails collaborator Rob Sheridan during the shooting in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

were also released on June 27, 2013.

Personnel

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...

– vocals, guitar, bass,

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, percussion, production *

Alessandro Cortini Alessandro Cortini (born 24 May 1976) is an Italian musician best known for his work with the American industrial band Nine Inch Nails. He plays modular synthesizers, keyboards, guitar, and bass guitar. Cortini is the first Italian inducted ...

– additional electronics * Ilan Rubin –

tom drum A tom drum (also known as a tom-tom) is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, thoug ...

* Atticus Ross – production * Alan Moulder – production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Columbia Records singles Electronica songs Music videos directed by David Lynch Nine Inch Nails songs The Null Corporation singles Song recordings produced by Alan Moulder Song recordings produced by Atticus Ross Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor Songs written by Trent Reznor