"Starfuckers, Inc." | ||||
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Promotional single by Nine Inch Nails | ||||
from the album The Fragile | ||||
Released | 1999 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 5:00 | |||
Label | Nothing | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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Nine Inch Nails singles chronology | ||||
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"Starfuckers, Inc." (known as "Starsuckers, Inc." in its censored form) is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their third studio album The Fragile . Although the song does not have an official halo (the numbering system used by Nine Inch Nails for each release), an edited single was distributed with exclusive radio edits and a video for the song was produced.
Written by Trent Reznor and Charlie Clouser, "Starfuckers, Inc." is one of the heaviest songs on The Fragile . The chorus is built on heavy metal guitars and choruses shouted by a crowd. The verses feature breakbeats, deep bass hits, and glitchy vocals. The outro introduces more synthesizers, distortion, and sound effects.
"Starfuckers, Inc." deals with the self-involved vanity and shallow commercialization of fame. [1] The song directly references "You're So Vain", Carly Simon's ode to a self-absorbed lover, by quoting the chorus:
You're so vain
I bet you think this song is about you
Don't you?
These lyrics were changed for the video version of "Starsuckers, Inc." to:
Overplayed
And soon you'll make us forget about you
Won't you?
The lyrics are speculated to be directed towards Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love. In a 2017 interview on The Howard Stern Show , Manson openly claimed that Reznor wrote the song about him after a heated incident between the two, though they renewed their friendship in time for Manson to co-direct and appear in the music video. "When I wrote the song," Reznor confirmed in 2000, "he was definitely one of the people I had in mind." [2]
The word "Starfucker" may have been taken from The Rolling Stones' song "Star Star" (original title "Starfucker"), which appeared on their 1973 album Goats Head Soup , [3] or more likely from the song "Professional Widow"—also rumoured to be about Love—by Tori Amos, to whom Reznor was close prior to what he refers to as "some malicious meddling on the part of [Love]". [4]
"If certain people do certain things, which cross a line of what is decent, I don't deal with them anymore," Reznor observed in 1999. "With Manson, that line has been crossed. He said some very ignorant, mean, malicious things … On that tour, I was peripherally involved as an observer, and suddenly I'm pictured as the ringleader." [5]
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2000, but lost to Black Sabbath's live rendition of "Iron Man".
"Starsuckers, Inc." was released as a promotional three-track CD in the United States. It contains the original track, a radio edit in which the word "starfuckers" is replaced by the less-profane "Starsuckers", and the audio of the "Starsuckers, Inc." video with additional changes in lyrics. Its Nothing Records catalog number is INTR-10079-2.
An extended version of "Starfuckers, Inc." was also included as a B-side to the first single from The Fragile, "The Day the World Went Away".
The music video for "Starfuckers, Inc." was directed by Robert Hales and Marilyn Manson, [6] and revolves around the same themes as the song, albeit in a darkly humorous manner. Under cover of darkness, Reznor and a blonde woman ride in a limousine to a deserted carnival. With the blonde videotaping his antics, Reznor throws baseballs at images of musicians such as Michael Stipe, Billy Corgan, Fred Durst, Marilyn Manson, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, David Lee Roth, Garth Brooks, Mark McGrath, Courtney Love, Cher, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and even Reznor himself. The theme of "breaking images" recurs throughout the video.
Images of other musicians throughout the video refer, in part, to a story about Reznor in Spin in 1997: "Unlike many musicians, Reznor is savagely aware of his place in the current strata of pop stars. He constantly compares himself to other musicians, saying that he 'can't write a thousand songs like Billy Corgan,' that he's 'not as careerist as [Marilyn] Manson,' that he 'can't sing about [his] big dick like David Lee Roth.'" [7] Images of Corgan, Manson and Roth, among others, appear throughout the video. At the end of the video, the blonde woman pulls off her wig to reveal herself as Manson.
Viewers took Manson's appearance in the video as a sign that Reznor and Manson had renewed their friendship. Manson sang "Starfuckers, Inc." live with the band once, a video recording of which is an easter egg on the And All that Could Have Been DVD.
Reznor said, "(Manson) called me and said, 'You know what, I'm fucking sick of people asking if this song is about me, so I've got a really cool idea for a video that'll just fuck with everybody ... We were just poking fun at that bloated sense of celebrity and inflated ego among this clique of royalty in America ... But I don't have a problem with Billy Corgan or Stipe or any of the people in the video – with the exception of Courtney Love." [8]
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [12] | 39 |
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN, stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross. Reznor was previously the only permanent member of the band until Ross was officialized in 2016. The band's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was released via TVT Records. After disagreeing with TVT about how to promote the album, the band signed with Interscope Records and released the EP Broken (1992). The following albums, The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), were released to critical acclaim and commercial success.
Michael Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. The band's line-up has constantly changed, with Reznor being its only official member from its creation in 1988 until 2016, when he added English musician and frequent collaborator Atticus Ross as its second permanent member.
Nothing Records was an American record label specializing in industrial rock and electronic music, founded by John Malm Jr. and Trent Reznor in 1992. It is considered an example of a vanity label, where an artist is able to run a label with some small degree of independence within a larger parent company, in this case the larger company being Interscope Records.
And All That Could Have Been is a double album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on January 22, 2002, by Nothing and Interscope Records. The live album contains music recorded during the Fragility v2.0 US tour in 2000. Disc one is a live album of most of the band's normal set list of the time, while disc two contains a studio album titled Still, containing "deconstructed" versions of previous Nine Inch Nails songs and some new material. The double DVD set, sold separately, includes video recordings of the songs performed on the CD, as well as additional song performances and footage from the tour.
The Fragile is the third studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and the English producer Alan Moulder, a longtime Reznor collaborator. It was recorded throughout 1997 to 1999 in New Orleans.
Portrait of an American Family is the debut studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on July 19, 1994, by Nothing and Interscope Records. The group was formed in 1989 by vocalist Marilyn Manson and guitarist Daisy Berkowitz, whose names were created by combining the given name of a pop culture icon with the surname of a serial killer: a naming convention which all other band members would conform to for the next seven years. The most prominent lineup of musicians during their formative years included keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy, bassist Gidget Gein and drummer Sara Lee Lucas.
"The Day the World Went Away" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on July 20, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album The Fragile (1999). The song was the band's first top-forty hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 17, which remains their highest-ever position on the chart.
Things Falling Apart is the second remix album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on November 21, 2000. It is the companion remix disc to the band's third studio album, The Fragile. The U.S. promotional CD single for "Into the Void" is also labeled as "Halo 16". "10 Miles High" is the only song that was a B-side to a Nine Inch Nails single to be included on the album, though the version on this release differs from the album/B-side version. It was only released on the vinyl version of The Fragile, while appearing as a B-side to the band's 1999 single "We're in This Together".
Tapeworm was an American side project of Nine Inch Nails which existed in various forms from 1995 to roughly 2004. Tapeworm never released any recordings, but was frequently referenced in interviews. The band started as a side-project between Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and live-band members Danny Lohner and Charlie Clouser. Through the years the group expanded and evolved numerous times to include artists such as Maynard James Keenan, Atticus Ross, and Alan Moulder, effectively turning the project into a supergroup. After many years of rumors and expected release dates, Reznor announced the end of the project in 2004.
"Happiness in Slavery" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their extended play, Broken (1992). It was released in November 1992 as a promotional single from the EP. The song takes its title and refrain from Jean Paulhan's preface to Pauline Réage's 1954 erotic novel Story of O. "Happiness in Slavery" peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
"Wish" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their debut EP Broken (1992). It was released in 1992 as a promotional single from the EP. The drumming on the track was performed by Martin Atkins.
"Deep" is a song recorded by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails for the soundtrack to the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001). Because this is a promotional single, it has never been featured with its own official halo and the song "Deep" has never been released on any Nine Inch Nails album, or on any halo-numbered release, although it has its own video directed by Enda McCallion.
Nine Inch Nails, an American industrial rock band fronted by Trent Reznor, has toured all over the world since its creation in 1988. While Reznor—the only official member until adding Atticus Ross in 2016—controls its creative and musical direction in the studio, the touring band performs different arrangements of the songs. In addition to regular concerts, the band has performed in both supporting and headlining roles at festivals such as Woodstock '94, Lollapalooza 1991 and 2008, and many other one-off performances including the MTV Video Music Awards. Prior to their 2013 tour, the band had played 938 gigs.
"Passive" is a song by American rock band A Perfect Circle. The song, originating from the Tapeworm side-project under the title "Vacant", was eventually recorded in the studio as "Passive" by A Perfect Circle around the time of the side-project's demise. It was the second single from their album Emotive, and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 2005.
"Capital G" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their fifth studio album, Year Zero (2007). It was released on June 11, 2007 as a limited-edition nine-inch vinyl in the United Kingdom, serving as the album's second and final single.
The Fragility Tour was a concert tour in support of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile album, which took place in late 1999, running until mid-2000, and was broken into two major legs, Fragility v1.0 and Fragility v2.0 respectively. Destinations included Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and North America.
"Apple of Sodom" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson. The track was recorded for the soundtrack to David Lynch's 1997 film Lost Highway. It was written by the band's eponymous vocalist and produced by Manson with Sean Beavan. Lynch personally chose the band to contribute music to the soundtrack as he found Manson inspiring, and because of the band's commercial viability. An industrial song about obsession, it was inspired by Manson's feelings about singer Fiona Apple; the eponymous apple of Sodom is a toxic plant. The song was followed by multiple collaborations between Manson and Lynch.
"Piggy" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994). It was written by Trent Reznor, co-produced by Flood, and recorded at Le Pig. It was released in December 1994 as a promotional single from the album. The song is known for being Reznor's only live drumming performance.
The Manson Family Album is the first studio recording by American rock band Marilyn Manson and a precursor to their debut studio album, 1994's Portrait of an American Family. It was produced by Roli Mosimann and is composed of original takes and mixes of songs which were later found on their debut album. However, the band and its eponymous vocalist were unhappy with Mosimann's production, claiming it to be poorly representative of their established sound and calling it too "smoothed and polished". The majority of songs on The Manson Family Album were later re-recorded or remixed by Nine Inch Nails personnel Trent Reznor, Sean Beaven and Alan Moulder at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. The album's title is a double entendre; it also relates to the commune of cult leader Charles Manson.
"Gave Up" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Written by frontman Trent Reznor and co-produced by Flood, the song serves as the sixth track of Nine Inch Nails' 1992 EP, Broken. The song is noted for its multiple music videos and became a concert favorite during the band's live performances. The video featuring Marilyn Manson was filmed at the house where Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson family.
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