broken is a lot more than one fast, loud, noisy, angry chunk of death. It is a great deal more musical than many people may realize. I hope that, through this brief analysis, that point will be illustrated clearly to those who don't hear it immediately, and clarified further for those who sense that something musical is afoot.
In much of Trent Reznor's music, there are unifying musical characteristics that make it uniquely his own. Throughout his works, one can hear that he is an expert of rhythmicity. Certain musical ideas resurface again and again, such as stressing bended thirds and sevenths, boosting the energy of the chorus with a whole-step modulation, and using what seems to be one of his most beloved intervals, the tritone.
I will point out these and other events as they occur in the six tracks that make up broken. (I'm leaving out the two bonus tracks since they are just that, and don't fit in with the mentality of the rest of the EP.)
pinion
This is a short, simple song consisting of a repeated eight-bar phrase that grows louder and louder. The phrase consists of quiet, flexible power chords that ascend in half steps from F to G#, drop back to F, ascend again, and then leap to D with a quick drop to C and return to F. The leap from G# to D is a tritone leap, which is something we will hear repeatedly. In addition to this, there is a sort of ambience highly seasoned with this interval. The bell-like sound that tolls on the second beat of the second measure each time the phrase repeats is a D. Higher pitched, ethereal noises that fluctuate from G# to F# also can be heard. If the tonal center were considered to be G#, the F# would be the minor seventh, whereas if the D were considered the focus, the F# would be the major third. In either case, both degrees (minor seventh and major third) are ones often given emphasis in the music of nine inch nails. It is because of the ambiguous, mirror nature of the tritone that we can hear it both ways and aren't really sure where we are in a tonal sense. It's also what makes "pinion" the perfect, eerie introduction to a work such as broken.
wish
A driving, fast, meaty screamer of a song, "wish" starts out strong and doesn't let up. An element that gives the song much of its energy is the drum line -- kick on the downbeats, sixteenths played by the snare accented on the upbeats. (This is heard again in "gave up".) The identifying guitar line in the verses is made up of power chords in the progression D D# D G# D D# D. The tritone shows itself again (and it is of the same pitch as in "pinion"). In the chorus, the chords are F C D D# D G# D D# D, the F being the minor third of D, and C being the minor seventh. Another way to look at it is a jump to the minor third (which lends to the angry character of the song), and a second jump to its relative fifth. Fifths require resolution, and in this case, it is "resolved" by moving up a whole step back to the center, D. This is not the typical way to resolve, but it is something that occurs fairly often in this music. Also in this song, we can hear in the melodic line stress on the third degree -- in this case, the minor third, which again is angrily flavored.
Another spot worth mentioning in this song is at the end of the first verse, where all sound cuts out for one beat. It's a true attention-getter, especially when listening with headphones. A huge mound of mad sound has just been thrust into our ears, and then it is sucked right back out, but only for a brief moment before it is thrust right back in again. This is strategic use of silence. (One can hear the exact same thing in "a violet fluid," and silence used more subtly can be heard in "something i can never have" and "i do not want this.")
last
This song seems to pick up where "wish" left off. It starts again on the D chord, and moves again to the G#, further emphasizing this musical idea and mood. When the secondary chorus kicks in ("this isn't meant to last, this is for right now"), we're introduced to a new musical idea -- the whole-step modulation. This part of the song is centered on E, one step above D. In this small jump, we're boosted to what seems an entirely different level, even though it is actually very close in proximity. This is another of Trent's talents -- creating the illusion of movement, or of movement that seems greater than it actually is. (For another example of this, listen to the chorus of "i do not want this." With each repetition of the title, it seems as though we've moved, but the notes are exactly the same every time.)
help me i am in hell
Here is yet another song that makes good use of the tritone and that also achieves the effect of illusory movement. While it may seem that the song repeatedly alternates between two different areas, it is actually built on a single chord and scale. The chord is the E seventh, and the scale that goes with it is a combination of the major and minor scales. (This is where some of that major/minor ambiguity comes from.) The first half, E F# G# A, is from the E major scale, while the second half, B C D E, is from the E minor scale. Each of the two phrases that make up the larger, repeating phrase in this song progresses to two different inversions of the same chord. A low E drone prevails. The melody first ascends as B C D and settles on the chord E D G#, then descends B C A G# and settles on the chord E G# D. Both chords are E sevenths minus the fifth. This accentuates the tritone within them, making them sound more open and eerie than your classic seventh chord.
It's also interesting to note that the tritone has been dubbed "the devil's interval" for the uneasiness it evokes and its dissonance, which was not well looked-upon in early art music. It's appropriate that a song entitled "help me I am in hell" should be based so heavily on this demonic interval.
The song fades out softly to slow heartbeats, and explodes relentlessly into...
happiness in slavery
This song seems to have it all. The rhythms drive with such a vengeance and complexity that one has no choice but to be willingly carried away by them. The percussion-only section in the middle is particularly captivating. The drums here are made up mostly of sounds parading as drums. They pop in and out of the stereo field, teasing our ears and minds with each beat. Silence is just as important an instrument as the drum sounds in this section, and its placement is not limited to the center of the field, either.
While pitch is only loosely defined in the verses, it is still perceptible. F seems to be the tonic here. As Trent screams, he hovers around very definite pitches, the most notable of which are the tonic, the third, and the minor seventh -- which, as we've seen, are popular degrees in this music. The phrase "slave screams" hovers on the third, and many of the lines end on (near) this pitch as well.
In the chorus, we again launch up a whole step (to G), embarking on a journey to the new world right next door. Many of the phrases again end hovering on that third degree, bent ever so subtly to create the effect of teetering on the ridge between major and minor. When the chorus shifts back down to F, at the end of the line "i have found you can find happiness in slavery," the tritone appears yet again in the form of power chords jumping back and forth between F and B.
gave up
The song opens with a drum line reminiscent of "wish," but changed slightly. Right away, it reminds us of where we started and where we are now finishing.
The verses pulsate with a simple, repetitive chord progression -- E to F#. (F# is the tonic.) The melodic line of the vocal, however, is anything but simple and repetitive. Trent achieves a very delicate interplay between melody and accompaniment here that is unbound by any traditional rules of music theory, or even of pitch definition. And yet, it sounds like it fits and makes perfect sense.
Not surprisingly, the tritone makes itself known in this song as well. It comes in the chord progression of the chorus, at the end of the phrase that, when doubled, makes the whole of the chorus. The tritone here is F# C. A second appearance comes right after the first chorus, in the synth line. In the first half of its phrase, there is heavy emphasis on C, and in the second half, this emphasis shifts to F#. Throughout the line, F# is retained as the tonal center.
When the verse launches into the chorus, there is again a whole-step modulation, but this time it is in the other direction -- downward to E. In "wish," we heard movement from one chord (F) to its relative fifth (C), then one step up back to the tonic (D). The relationship between the tonic (D) and first chord (F) was minor third, and the relationship between the tonic (D) and the second chord (C) was minor seventh. In "gave up," we have a reversal. The movement from the first chord (E) is to its relative fourth -- the inversion of a fifth (A) -- before returning to the tonic (F#). The relationship between the tonic (F#) and the other two chords (E and A) has been switched -- F# E = minor seventh, F# A = minor third. It's almost as if "gave up" is "wish" turned on its head, and lyrically this makes sense as well -- there is some hopefulness in a wish, but none when one gives up.
Once again, we are left with a resolution that doesn't really resolve, leaving us feeling unsettled and unfulfilled in a way similar to the dissatisfaction expressed by its creator. We've been turned upside down and left dangling, waiting for what we haven't found and what we won't get. All we can do is to try to let out what is pent up as the final screams of "gave up" subside into silence, and try to be satisfied with that. In a sense, it is a release, but it leaves us wanting something more.
This has been only a brief look into the musical inner workings of broken as a unified entity. I hope that I have at least illustrated to some extent why broken is what it is, and perhaps provoked further thought on the matter and piqued the curiosity of those who possess it. I'm sure I could listen to broken a hundred times more and still find something new within it; I discovered new things in the course of typing this very document. I hope you will enjoy the same pleasures I have in trying to understand the musical side of nine inch nails.