The Hand That Feeds

"The Hand That Feeds"
Single by Nine Inch Nails
from the album With Teeth
Released March 28, 2005
Format CD, DVD, 7", 9", 10", 12"
Genre
Length 3:38
Label Interscope
Writer(s) Trent Reznor
Producer(s) Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails singles chronology
"Deep"
(2001)		 "The Hand That Feeds"
(2005)		 "Only"
(2005)
Halo numbers chronology
"Halo 17"
(2002)		 "Halo 18"
(2005)		 "Halo 19"
(2005)

"The Hand That Feeds" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the lead single for the album With Teeth (2005). It is the highest charting song by Nine Inch Nails on all charts except for U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed at number 1 for five weeks, because the single that followed, "Only", stayed at number one for two more weeks (non-consecutively), and the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 31, bested only by the group's 1999 single "The Day the World Went Away", which peaked at number seventeen but did not chart anywhere else in the U.S. and never had any popular success, making it one of their less popular singles. It is, to date, Nine Inch Nails' only single to hit the top 10 of the UK Singles chart and it's their highest charting single on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 2. It was also a crossover hit, crossing over to pop radio as their first Top 40 radio hit since "Closer" and "Hurt" in 1994 and 1995, respectively, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Background

Though several stations played a leaked copy of "The Hand That Feeds" in February, official radio play of the song began on March 14, 2005. "The Hand That Feeds" was released for sale on both iTunes and Napster on March 22, 2005. Upon its release, it topped the iTunes Top 100 songs list.

A music video was made for this song. It was directed by Rob Sheridan and was released on March 17, 2005 on the NIN official website. A second video for this song was directed by Ian Inaba, but was shelved and was never completed.

The April 15, 2005 update to the current section of nin.com included a link to a multi-track GarageBand file of the song. This file allows anyone with the Macintosh program GarageBand to remix the song.

NIN was due to play this song at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, but dropped out due to conflicts between Trent Reznor and MTV concerning the band's plan to incorporate an image of George W. Bush into the performance. An announcement made by Trent Reznor on the NIN website on May 26 stated:

"Nine Inch Nails will not be performing at the MTV Movie Awards as previously announced. We were set to perform 'The Hand That Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me. See you on tour this fall when we return to play in America."

The following day, MTV stated,

"While we respect Nine Inch Nails' point of view, we were uncomfortable with their performance being built around a partisan political statement. When we discussed our discomfort with the band, their choice was to unfortunately pull out of the Movie Awards."

Nine Inch Nails was eventually replaced by Foo Fighters at the ceremony on June 9.

During the performance of The Hand That Feeds in Jacksonville, Florida on October 29, 2008, a photo of George W. Bush was displayed behind the band, and as the band played the photo gradually morphed into John McCain, the Republican candidate for the 2008 presidential election.

The song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006.[2]

The song is included in the videogames Rock Band, Midnight Club 3 and as downloadable content in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The song also appears in the trailer to Red Riding Hood and in the TV spot for Underworld: Evolution. In 2009, it ranked at number 406 in Pitchfork Media's list of The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s.[3]

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan and debuted on the official Nine Inch Nails website. The video features the live band, featuring Aaron North, Jeordie White, Jerome Dillon, and Alessandro Cortini, performing the song in close quarters. The video features the use of the pan and scan technique, resulting in video distortion such as pixelization and interlacing. During the final chorus, the band members become intentionally more distorted by additional interlacing.

The single

The single for "The Hand That Feeds" was only given a wide release in Europe. The European releases include a 3-track limited edition CD, a 2-track standard CD, a 9" vinyl and a DVD single.

In the United States, "The Hand That Feeds" was released on various vinyl formats. A limited edition 10" picture disc and a 7" promotional disc (the latter available at With Teeth listening parties) contained the title track and the b-side "Home." Additional 12" remix records, containing mixes by Photek and DFA were also available.

Releases

Track listing

CD (Available as 2-track standard release and 3-track limited edition digipack)
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds"   3:38
2. "The Hand That Feeds (Straight mix)"   7:46
3. "The Hand That Feeds (Dub mix)" (limited edition only) 7:52
DVD (includes poster)
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds (Video)"    
2. "The Hand That Feeds"    
3. "The Hand That Feeds (Straight Mix)"    
9" vinyl
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds"    
2. "The Hand That Feeds (Dub Mix)"    
10" picture disc and 7" promotional vinyl
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds"    
2. "Home"   3:12
12" Photek remixes
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds (Straight Mix)"    
2. "The Hand That Feeds (Ruff Mix)"   3:58
3. "The Hand That Feeds (Dub Instrumental)"   7:51
4. "The Hand That Feeds"    
12" DFA remixes
No. Title Length
1. "The Hand That Feeds (DFA Remix)"   9:02
2. "The Hand That Feeds (DFA Remix Instrumental)"   9:01
3. "The Hand That Feeds (DFA Version I)"   14:12

Chart positions

Chart Peak
position
Hungary Singles Chart 5
Austria Singles Chart 41
Canadian Singles Chart 2
UK Singles Chart[4] 7
Italian Singles Chart[5] 15
Denmark Singles Chart 15
Finland Singles Chart[6] 15
Norway Singles Chart[6] 17
Swedish Singles Chart[6] 36
Swiss Singles Chart[6] 67
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[7] 30
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[7] 1
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[7] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] 31
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[7] 31
Preceded by
"Holiday" by Green Day		 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
May 28, 2005 		Succeeded by
"Beverly Hills" by Weezer

See also

References

  1. ↑ Schiller, Mike (May 17, 2005). "Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth". PopMatters. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. ↑ "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". New York Times. 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  3. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7685-the-top-500-tracks-of-the-2000s-500-201/
  4. ↑ "Chart Stats - Nine Inch Nails". Chart Stats. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  5. ↑ "Nine Inch Nails - The Hand That Feeds". FIMI. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Search results for: Nine Inch Nails". FinnishCharts.com. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Billboard Music Charts - Search Results - Nine Inch Nails". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
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