GENIUS
Sign Up
I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside Bill Clinton – Speech to the 2012 Democratic National Convention
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Obama is sometimes known as “Mr. Cool,” because he is (at least outwardly) unfazed by the many difficulties that he faces as President

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +0 Downvote
Copy Embed
a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty Bill Clinton – Speech to the 2012 Democratic National Convention
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Obama actually lost his first national-level election, for Congress in 2002. And he was so broke in 2000 that his credit card was declined at the rental car office when he was trying to attend the Democratic National Convention in LA

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +0 Downvote
Copy Embed
then just six weeks before his election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression Bill Clinton – Speech to the 2012 Democratic National Convention
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

A reference to the Lehman Brothers collapse on Sept. 15, 2008 – which caused an economic collapse 6 weeks before the 2008 election

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +0 Downvote
Copy Embed
A nigga in the booth feelin' fresher than some new Nikes
Dawg, and I cruise like cruise control
Fuck that! I can't do it, I might lose my soul
Even though it should help a nigga to his goal
Would defeat the whole purpose Joe Budden – Hiatus
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Joe Budden mocks the simple lyrics of popular artists, talking about cars and clothes. He quickly is disgusted with the style, and admits it would help him see sales, he would not dumb it down as that would defeat the purpose of why he makes music

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +0 Downvote
Copy Embed
We are going to bleed and bleed and hemorrhage, unless this Congress at least protects one industry that is able to retrieve a surplus balance of trade and whose total future depends on its protection from the savagery and the ravages of this machine Jack Valenti – Hearing on Home Recording of Copyrighted Works
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

This is Valenti on VCRs – imagine if he’d seen the DVR

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +0 Downvote
Copy Embed
will be out of vogue!
Then what of the national throat? Will it not weaken? What of the national chest? Will it not shrink? John Philip Sousa – The Menace of Mechanical Music
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

John Philip Sousa – great composer, lousy predictor of the future of the music business. American music only became the most popular in the world in the era of recorded music – way more popular than in Sousa’s era

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +1 Downvote
Copy Embed
all incentive to further creative work is lacking, and compositions will no longer flow from their pens; or where they will be compelled to refrain from publishing their compositions at all, and control them in manuscript? What, then, of the playing and talking machines? John Philip Sousa – The Menace of Mechanical Music
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Not true. Musicians still got paid during the era of recorded music – even more than before! But the era of digital music…

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +1 Downvote
Copy Embed
Further creative work is lacking, and compositions will no longer flow
From their pens . . . ? What, then, of the playing and talking
Machines? Mark Lemley – IS THE SKY FALLING ON THE CONTENT INDUSTRIES?
Genius Annotation 2 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Read in context right hurr

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +1 Downvote
Copy Embed
I dropped out of college and made more dough than my teachers Rockie Fresh – You a Lie
Genius Annotation 1 Contributor ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Rockie dropped out of Columbia College in Chicago – and it seems to have worked out pretty well for him

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +1 Downvote
Copy Embed
I would keep myself
I would find a way Nine Inch Nails – Hurt
Genius Annotation 8 Contributors ?

What is this?

The Genius annotation is the work of the Genius Editorial project. Our editors and contributors collaborate to create the most interesting and informative explanation of any line of text. It’s also a work in progress, so leave a suggestion if this or any annotation is missing something.

To learn more about participating in the Genius Editorial project, check out the contributor guidelines.

Loading...

Concept:

When you look to keep something, you do whatever you can to keep it from being thrown away. Our character shot himself in the head (according to the previous track), so he has discarded himself. If he had the chance to re-live his life, he wouldn’t live it differently, and instead learn to truly live with himself.

Drug:

He may regret how his life has turned out and wishes he could have a “do-over,” but he would find a way to “keep himself” and remain as he is, rather than throw it all away.

After-thoughts:

Maybe Reznor is saying that even if he had the opportunity to start over he would not do it. Instead, he would choose to remain who he is, but make better choices, find a way to make it work.

Or perhaps even if he could turn over a new leaf, his mind would find a way to make him fall into the same pits all over again. There’s no running away from himself.

This video is processing – it'll appear automatically when it's done.

report abuse
Upvote +97 Downvote
Copy Embed
16f7973aeea5d865d8f2ab9f7ebb302b

278

2 years

I think that the song are his life and choices flashing before his eyes after he shoots himself in the song the downward spiral. in the last few lines he is saying how he would live a better life and avoid the choices that lead him here. then just as he says that he would find a way he is cut off by loud distorted guitars that I think represent him dying. this shows him regretting his decisions and finally realizing what he wishes he would have done, but it is too late. the guitar slowly fades out into feedback and static that ends the album, signifying the protagonists death.

Upvote +8 Downvote
4a4019e3fe57c547a3ad70bff5a62de7

560

3 years

@jonahlouque That’s almost what I think.

The Downward Spiral is known to be a concept album about a man losing himself, gradually shedding pieces of his humanity till he’s become an unbreakable machine — or so he thinks. Of course, this plan blows up in his face, as he is inevitably human. All he’s accomplished is destroying himself.

So when he says “I would keep myself,” he’s saying that if he could start his life over, the events of this album wouldn’t exist. He wouldn’t try to machinize. He would accept that he is human, and that he is himself, and that’s all he’ll ever be.

Upvote +16 Downvote
Marked this as restating the line?
3 years

The final line in this song is often interpreted negatively in the sense that he would remain trapped in his downward spiral but I believe “keep myself” could mean something else. Keeping yourself could mean take care of yourself and the following line, “I would find a way,” could be the last glimmer of hope before the album ends. Is this a stretch? Probably, but I’ve heard the phrase keep yourself in this manner many times throughout my life. What do you guys think?

Upvote +34 Downvote
Show all improvement suggestions