"Only" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released as the second single from Nine Inch Nails' fourth album, With Teeth. "Only" reached number one on the BillboardModern 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.
When you get on this path of trying to sell records it becomes about selling more records and playing bigger venues. ... It's like, 'Wait a minute!' The goal has to be about making the best music possible or else it becomes something that will make you implode. ... Should I say yes to that Microsoft commercial because I could use a new house? Or do I say no because this is something precious that would be tarnished if I did that? I find myself saying this to record labels and business manager guys, and they're like, 'You won't do what because of what?'[2]
Recording and release
"Only" was the last song completed for With Teeth.[3]
Like "The Hand That Feeds", "Only" was released as a GarageBand 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.[4]
The music video for "Only", directed by David Fincher and relying almost entirely on CGI created by Digital Domain,[10] shows various objects in an executive's office, such as Pin Art, Newton's Cradle and laptop screen saver coming to life with the propulsion of the song and was released on July 12, 2005, at NIN.com.[11]
The main focus is Trent 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[citation needed] (Fincher's, who owns the PowerBook in the video[citation needed]) and the cars in the background[citation needed].
