Posted by Sir Four at 10:44pm Oct 25 '12All The Love In The World, Nine Inch Nails
This is just my interpretation of the song, and I have no idea if it's accurate. =)
So the protagonist is in a public setting surrounded by other people. He uses an insect metaphor to describe how he, as an observer of them--apart from them--sees the other people interacting and fitting effortlessly into a larger social context. There's also a bit of a misanthropic edge to it.
Watching all the insects march along
Seem to know right where they belong
Then a line I'm not quite sure how to interpret,
Smears of face reflecting in the chrome
Maybe he's self-consciously trying to see himself in a reflective surface. Uncomfortable, socially anxious people will do this. Preparing to try to engage them, waiting for an opportunity.
Hiding in the crowd I'm all alone
Feeling alone in a crowd, a hallmark feeling of isolation and inability to connect.
No one's heard a single word I've said
They don't sound as good outside my head
These lines will resonate with every social phobic person. In any social setting where there's a lot of cross-talk between extroverts, the hesitant and awkward individual may try to chime in here and there, and it just doesn't work. You're over-thought attempts at conversing just get talked-over and ignored. Personally, I've been there countless times.
It looks as though the past is here to stay
I've become a million miles a--
He had a hope that things could change, that he could break through and figure out how to be one of the crowd. But despite his best attempts, it's not happening. He fails the same old way, every time. It's like a secret code he cannot crack.
Why do you get all the love in the world? [x2]
The song title, and the most important line in the song. Here he says so much in so few words. The "you" here is one of them, one of "the crowd", but a special one that he pines for from afar. This line expresses so many different feelings: admiration, confusion, exasperation, anger, loneliness. "All the love in the world" is shorthand for effortlessly getting attention, fitting in, navigating the social realm adroitly. Someone who can walk into a room, smile, and command attention; it just comes naturally. Our protagonist just cannot comprehend how it comes so easily to this person. Why her and not him? What is the secret? There is jealousy. But as I said, also admiration. And a little infatuation...for something he can never have.
All the [private]s disappear
Colors all look brighter when you're near
The stars are all afire in the sky
Sometimes I get so lonely I could--
He's talking about her, of course. It's a hopeless situation, though. Remember, "the past is here to stay." He can't crack the code and be one of them. He cannot fit into the crowd. Then the song concludes repeating the line again and again,
Why do you get all the love in the world?
There is no answer, no happy ending.
This is just my interpretation of the song, and I have no idea if it's accurate. =)
So the protagonist is in a public setting surrounded by other people. He uses an insect metaphor to describe how he, as an observer of them--apart from them--sees the other people interacting and fitting effortlessly into a larger social context. There's also a bit of a misanthropic edge to it.
Watching all the insects march along
Seem to know right where they belong
Then a line I'm not quite sure how to interpret,
Smears of face reflecting in the chrome
Maybe he's self-consciously trying to see himself in a reflective surface. Uncomfortable, socially anxious people will do this. Preparing to try to engage them, waiting for an opportunity.
Hiding in the crowd I'm all alone
Feeling alone in a crowd, a hallmark feeling of isolation and inability to connect.
No one's heard a single word I've said
They don't sound as good outside my head
These lines will resonate with every social phobic person. In any social setting where there's a lot of cross-talk between extroverts, the hesitant and awkward individual may try to chime in here and there, and it just doesn't work. You're over-thought attempts at conversing just get talked-over and ignored. Personally, I've been there countless times.
It looks as though the past is here to stay
I've become a million miles a--
He had a hope that things could change, that he could break through and figure out how to be one of the crowd. But despite his best attempts, it's not happening. He fails the same old way, every time. It's like a secret code he cannot crack.
Why do you get all the love in the world? [x2]
The song title, and the most important line in the song. Here he says so much in so few words. The "you" here is one of them, one of "the crowd", but a special one that he pines for from afar. This line expresses so many different feelings: admiration, confusion, exasperation, anger, loneliness. "All the love in the world" is shorthand for effortlessly getting attention, fitting in, navigating the social realm adroitly. Someone who can walk into a room, smile, and command attention; it just comes naturally. Our protagonist just cannot comprehend how it comes so easily to this person. Why her and not him? What is the secret? There is jealousy. But as I said, also admiration. And a little infatuation...for something he can never have.
All the [private]s disappear
Colors all look brighter when you're near
The stars are all afire in the sky
Sometimes I get so lonely I could--
He's talking about her, of course. It's a hopeless situation, though. Remember, "the past is here to stay." He can't crack the code and be one of them. He cannot fit into the crowd. Then the song concludes repeating the line again and again,
Why do you get all the love in the world?
There is no answer, no happy ending.