OK, so I know this is a can 'o worms to some, but Trent Reznor (like him or not) has always been in the peripheral vision of the Prince world.

He sampled and added Prince in the linier notes to Pretty Hate Machine, his speach at the Webby awards was obviously (in my eyes) aimed at Lotusflow3r.com and he has made comments about how if Prince has so many good songs, why doesn't he release some of them...

So, I was driving home from work last night, 'Not So Pretty Now' came on my MP3 player and while I was listening to the lyrics, it occurred to me that this could also have been written about him.

You like to open it, open wide
Then you let everyone come inside
There's always something you gotta hide
So you lied and you lied and you lied
Make sure you grab everything that you need
You got a hole that you gotta feed
You tried to fill it all up with your greed
But it bleeds, and it bleeds, and it bleeds

Well go take a little more
We'll scrape you off the floor
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now
A great big super star
Is what you think you are
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now

Nobody burns quite as bright
Well goddamn, maybe you're right
There's always battles there for you to fight
And you might, you might, you just might
But there is something I gotta say
There is a price you're going to pay
Try as hard as you can to stay
He's just fading and fading and fading the fuck away

Well go take a little more
We'll scrape you off the floor
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now
A great big superstar
Is what you think you are
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now
Well go take a little more
We'll scrape you off the floor
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now
A great big superstar
Is what you think you are
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now

Better turn the lights down low
The cracks begin to show
We love you anyhow
But you're not so pretty now
And soon you will be gone
And we will all move on
You never mattered anyhow
And you're not so pretty now

I've read that it could have been about Marilyn Manson or even Courtney Love, but the bolded section seems very relevant and seeing as Prince wrote 'Pretty Man' it seems even more likely...

Anyways, don't shoot the messenger, I was just curious to know if anyone else had noticed this and thought I'd throw it up for discussion... Enjoy

Blimey what a cheery song..NOT!??

Hope it's not about Prince...
[Edited 5/28/10 8:09am]

on a side note, i was listening to "ghosts I-IV" last week and
on the ghosts I album there's 2 songs that sound like they've
been created right after Trent listened to "East".

but, i don't think that Not So Pretty Now is about Prince. not
at all.

None of that has to do with Prince. A lot of things could be equated with Prince, but it doesn't mean he served as the muse.











ps: "speech"

Marilyn Manson would be a possibility. Seems like it isn't necessarily about anyone in particular. Certainly isn't about Prince, though. The first lines clearly indicate a closer friendship, which is not what Prince and Trent ever had.

Those are not terribly good lyrics, btw.

Nosferatu said:

"We didn't charge anything."


Like lotusfuckup is the only website to charge a fee.

and you do Trent Reznor a great disservice by trying to compare him to Prince, he has never been on Prince's level.

I kinda agree w/ Cinnie. Trent has always been his own person & comparing the 2 would be like comparing David Bowie to Marilyn Manson. 2 diff. cats from 2 diff time frames.