"Gave Up" is a song 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 ...

. Written by frontman

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 ...

and co-produced by

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

, the song serves as the sixth track of Nine Inch Nails' 1992 EP, '' Broken''. The song is noted for its multiple music videos and became a concert favorite during the band's live performances. The video, which features

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...

, was filmed at the house where

Sharon Tate Sharon Marie Tate Polanski (January 24, 1943 – August 9, 1969) was an American actress and model. During the 1960s, she appeared in advertisements and small television roles before appearing in films as well as working as a model. After receiv ...

was murdered by members of the

Manson family The Manson Family (known among its members as the Family) was a Intentional community, commune, gang, and cult led by criminal Charles Manson that was active in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The group at its peak consisted of a ...

Music and lyrics

The song is noted for its aggressive tone, fast tempo and heavier use of guitars, in contrast to Reznor's previous

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-oriented songs from the album ''

Pretty Hate Machine ''Pretty Hate Machine'' is the debut studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by TVT Records on October 20, 1989. Frontman Trent Reznor sang and performed most of the instruments, also producing the album along ...

''. The song also features prominent use of Mellotron MKIV, which was previously owned by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' deceased frontman

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Robotic vocal effects Robotic voice effects became a recurring element in popular music starting in the second half of the twentieth century. Several methods of producing variations on this effect have arisen. __TOC__ Vocoder The vocoder was originally designed to ...

are also present in the song. Lyrically, the song addresses the themes of isolation,

belongingness Belongingness is the human emotional need to be an accepted member of a group. Whether it is family, friends, co-workers, a religion, or something else, some people tend to have an 'inherent' desire to belong and be an important part of somethi ...

self-hatred Self-hatred is a state of personal self-loathing or low self-esteem. In psychology and psychiatry The term "self-hatred" is used infrequently by psychologists and psychiatrists, who would usually describe people who hate themselves as "people w ...

and

agony Agony may refer to: Concepts * Agony, a terminal state of the body before death *Suffering of intense degree, relating to physical or mental suffering *Agony in the Garden, Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane Comics * ''Agony'' (book), ...

. Reznor's

angst Angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity. ''Anguish'' is its Romance languages, Latinate cognate, equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin. Etymology The word ''angst'' was introduced in ...

-filled lyrics in this song, such as "After everything I've done I hate myself for what I've become" was regarded as a solidification of his status as "the dark lord of doom."

Music videos

Two different videos exist for "Gave Up". One is footage of the band performing the song at the Le Pig studio at

10050 Cielo Drive 10050 Cielo Drive was the street address of a former luxury home in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, Benedict Canyon, in the west-central part of the Beverly Crest, Los Angeles, Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles, bordering Beverly Hills, Cal ...

, where Nine Inch Nails recorded ''

The Downward Spiral ''The Downward Spiral'' is the second studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-de ...

'' and parts of ''Broken'' (directed by

Jon Reiss Jon Reiss is a film producer and director, and an author. He has made the feature film '' Cleopatra's Second Husband'' (1998) and the documentaries ''Better Living Through Circuitry'' (1999) and ''Bomb It'' (2007). He has directed music vid ...

). The album version of "Gave Up" was not used for the video's audio; rather, the band re-recorded the song specifically for the video, which featured Nine Inch Nails members Reznor on vocals,

Chris Vrenna Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1988 until 1996, and was ...

on drums, and

Richard Patrick Richard Michael Patrick (born May 10, 1968) is an American singer, musician and songwriter. He is the frontman and only continuous member of the rock band Filter. He is also a founding member of the supergroups Army of Anyone and The Damning ...

on vocals and guitar. In addition, studio guests Manson appeared on vocals and

Brian Liesegang Brian Liesegang (born February 10, 1970) is an American songwriter, producer, composer, guitarist and programmer, and a founding member of the rock band Filter. Career After leaving Nine Inch Nails, Liesegang was the producer, guitarist and fou ...

appeared on keyboards. The video was the last one to feature Patrick, as he left Nine Inch Nails shortly after to form the band

Filter Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

alongside Liesegang. The other "Gave Up" video is the original footage of the finale to ''The Broken Movie''. This video used the original audio of "Gave Up" from ''Broken''.

In popular culture

The song was extensively played during the shooting of the '' Lost Highway'''s bowling alley scene, by the demand of the director

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 ...

.Donnelly (2005), p.25

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Official Nine Inch Nails website
{{authority control 1992 songs Nine Inch Nails songs Songs about suicide Songs written by Trent Reznor Song recordings produced by Flood (producer) Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor