"Only" is a song by American industrial rock band

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

. It was released as the second single from Nine Inch Nails' fourth album, ''

With Teeth ''With Teeth'' (stylized as ''ITH_TEETH') is the fourth studio album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Tren ...

''. "Only" reached number one on the ''

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 adverti ...

'' Modern Rock chart, where it stayed for seven weeks. It is the second successful release that Nine Inch Nails has had in the UK, peaking at number 20. The song is regarded as a fan favorite and has been a staple of

Nine Inch Nails live performances Nine Inch Nails, an American industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, has toured all over the world since its creation in 1988. While Reznor—the only official member until adding Atticus Ross in 2016—controls its creative and musical d ...

for several years, placed by setlist.fm as their 20th most played song live.

Background

Singer Trent Reznor said the song is about the music business clashing with his artistic desires.

Recording and release

"Only" was the last song completed for ''With Teeth''. Like the previous single, " The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was only widely released in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. European releases include a CD, a DVD, and a 9" vinyl. The only

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

release is a vinyl format—a remix record with mixes from Richard X and El-P. Like "The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was released as a

GarageBand GarageBand is a line of digital audio workstations developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand is developed by Apple for macOS, and was once part of the iLife softwar ...

multitrack file, as well as for DigiDesign

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-produ ...

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Ableton Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool ...

, and Sony ACID Pro. A fan remix community page was set up on MySpace.

Music

"Only" has been labeled as

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disc ...

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-198 ...

, new wave revival and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

Music video

The music video for "Only", directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. F ...

and relying almost entirely on CGI created by

Digital Domain Digital Domain is an American visual effects and digital production company based in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. The company is known for creating digital imagery for feature films, advertising and games from its locations in Californ ...

, shows various objects in an executive's office, such as Pin Art,

Newton's Cradle The Newton's cradle is a device that demonstrates the conservation of momentum and the conservation of energy with swinging spheres. When one sphere at the end is lifted and released, it strikes the stationary spheres, transmitting a force thro ...

and laptop screen saver coming to life with the propulsion of the song and was released on July 12, 2005, at NIN.com. The main focus is

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

's face in the pinscreen that sits on the desk, which is the only way he appears in the video. The only non-CGI components of the video are a person's hand (Fincher's, who owns the

PowerBook The PowerBook (known as Macintosh PowerBook before 1997) is a family of Macintosh laptop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and r ...

in the video) and the cars in the background.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Nine Inch Nails songs 2005 singles Dance-punk songs Dance-rock songs Music videos directed by David Fincher American new wave songs Song recordings produced by Alan Moulder Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor Songs written by Trent Reznor American synth-pop songs Solipsism