"Only" is a song by the American industrial rock 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 ...

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

'' 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.

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

release is a vinyl format—a remix record with mixes from Richard X and

El-P Jaime Stuart Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has ...

. Most versions of the single featured "Love Is Not Enough (Live at Rehearsals)", which was recorded live in the studio by the then-current lineup of the band (Reznor, Jerome Dillon,

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 ...

Jeordie White Jeordie Osbourne White (born June 20, 1971), better known as Twiggy Ramirez or simply Twiggy, is an American musician, mostly known as the former bassist and guitarist of the Rock music, rock band Marilyn Manson (band), Marilyn Manson. Previousl ...

, and Aaron North). Like "The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was released as a

GarageBand GarageBand is a software application by Apple Inc., Apple for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or Podcast, podcasts. It is a lighter, amateur-oriented offshoot of Logic Pro. GarageBand was originally released for ...

multitrack file, as well as for DigiDesign Pro Tools, Ableton Live, and Sony ACID Pro. A fan remix community page was set up on

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

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 dis ...

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-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 1978-1984. Simon Reynolds.Faber an ...

, new wave revival and

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

Music video

The music video for "Only", directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

and relying almost entirely on CGI created by Digital Domain, shows various objects in an executive's office, such as pin art,

Newton's Cradle Newton's cradle is a device, usually made of metal, that demonstrates the principles of Momentum, conservation of momentum and conservation of energy in physics with swinging Sphere, spheres. When one sphere at the end is lifted and released, i ...

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 Reznor'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 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 Island Records singles Interscope Records singles