"The Hand That Feeds" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the lead single for the album With Teeth (2005). It is the highest charting song by Nine Inch Nails on all charts except for U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed at number 1 for five weeks, because the single that followed, "Only", stayed at number one for two more weeks (non-consecutively), and the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 31, bested only by the group's 1999 single "The Day the World Went Away", which peaked at number seventeen but did not chart anywhere else in the U.S. and never had any popular success, making it one of their less popular singles. It is, to date, Nine Inch Nails' only single to hit the top 10 of the UK Singles chart and it's their highest charting single on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 2. It was also a crossover hit, crossing over to pop radio as their first Top 40 radio hit since Closer and Hurt in 1994 and 1995, respectively, peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and it was deemed as the band's comeback single.[by whom?]
Contents[]
[hide] *1 The song
The song[edit][]
Though several stations played a leaked copy of "The Hand That Feeds" in February, official radio play of the song began on March 14, 2005.[citation needed] "The Hand That Feeds" was released for sale on both iTunes and Napster on March 22, 2005.[citation needed] Upon its release, it topped the iTunes Top 100 songs list.[citation needed]
A music video was made for this song. It was directed by Rob Sheridan and was released on March 17, 2005 on the NIN official website. A second video for this song was directed by Ian Inaba, but was shelved and was never completed.[citation needed]
The April 15, 2005 update to the current section of nin.com included a link to a multi-track GarageBand file of the song. This file allows anyone with the Macintosh program GarageBand to remix the song.
NIN was due to play this song at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, but dropped out due to conflicts between Trent Reznor and MTV concerning the band's plan to incorporate an image of George W. Bush into the performance. An announcement made by Trent Reznor on the NIN website on May 26 stated:
"Nine Inch Nails will not be performing at the MTV Movie Awards as previously announced. We were set to perform 'The Hand That Feeds' with an unmolested, straightforward image of George W. Bush as the backdrop. Apparently, the image of our president is as offensive to MTV as it is to me. See you on tour this fall when we return to play in America."
The following day, MTV stated,
"While we respect Nine Inch Nails' point of view, we were uncomfortable with their performance being built around a partisan political statement. When we discussed our discomfort with the band, their choice was to unfortunately pull out of the Movie Awards."
Nine Inch Nails was eventually replaced by Foo Fighters at the ceremony on June 9.
During the performance of The Hand That Feeds in Jacksonville, Florida on 10/29/08, a photo of George W. Bush was displayed behind the band, and as the band played the photo gradually morphed into John McCain.
The song was nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards in 2006.[1]
One of the blog entries on the NIN website made during the early recording phase of the new record (working title was "Bleedthrough", now known as With Teeth) stated that Trent always loved The Kinks. Their influence can be felt strongly in this song. The song's riff is a modified version of the one from the Kinks' classic "You Really Got Me".[citation needed]
The song is included in the videogames Rock Band, Midnight Club 3 and as downloadable content in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The song also appears in the trailer to Red Riding Hood.
Music video[edit][]
The music video for the song was directed by Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan and debuted on the official Nine Inch Nails website. The video features the live band, featuring Aaron North, Jeordie White,Jerome Dillon, and Alessandro Cortini, performing the song. The video features the use of the pan and scan technique, resulting in video distortion such as pixelization and interlacing.
The single[edit][]
The single for "The Hand That Feeds" was only given a wide release in Europe. The European releases include a 3-track limited edition CD, a 2-track standard CD, a 9" vinyl and a DVD single.
In the United States, "The Hand That Feeds" was released on various vinyl formats. A limited edition 10" picture disc and a 7" promotional disc (the latter available at With Teeth listening parties) contained the title track and the b-side "Home." Additional 12" remix records, containing mixes by Photek and DFA were also available.
Releases[edit][]
- Island Records CID888 - CD
- Island Records CIDV888 - DVD
- Island Records 9IS888 - 9" vinyl
- Interscope Records HALO_18 V2 - 10" picture disc (limited edition)
- Interscope Records INTR-11401-7 - 7" vinyl (promo)
- Interscope Records B0005127-11 - 12" vinyl, Photek remixes
- Interscope Records B0005129-11 - 12" vinyl, DFA remixes
Track listing[edit][]
CD[edit][]
Available as 2-track standard release and 3-track limited edition digipack
- "The Hand That Feeds" (3:38)
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Straight mix] (7:46)
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Dub mix] (7:52) limited edition only
DVD[edit][]
Includes poster
- "The Hand That Feeds" [video]
- "The Hand That Feeds"
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Straight mix]
9" vinyl[edit][]
- "The Hand That Feeds"
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Dub Mix]
10" picture disc and 7" promotional vinyl[edit][]
- "The Hand That Feeds"
- "Home" (3:12)
12" Photek remixes[edit][]
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Straight Mix]
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Ruff Mix] (3:58)
- "The Hand That Feeds" [Dub Instrumental] (7:51)
- "The Hand That Feeds"
12" DFA remixes[edit][]
- "The Hand That Feeds" [DFA Remix] (9:02)
- "The Hand That Feeds" [DFA Remix Instrumental] (9:01)
- "The Hand That Feeds" [DFA Version I] (14:12)
Chart positions[edit][]
| Chart | Peak
position |
|---|---|
| Hungary Singles Chart | 5 |
| Austria Singles Chart | 41 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart[2] | 7 |
| Italian Singles Chart[3] | 15 |
| Denmark Singles Chart | 15 |
| Finland Singles Chart[4] | 15 |
| Norway Singles Chart[4] | 17 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[4] | 36 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[4] | 67 |
| U.S. BillboardHot Dance Club Play[5] | 30 |
| U.S. BillboardModern Rock Tracks[5] | 1 |
| U.S. BillboardMainstream Rock Tracks[5] | 2 |
| U.S. BillboardHot 100[5] | 31 |
| U.S. BillboardPop 100[5] | 31 |
| Preceded by | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
May 28, 2005 |
Succeeded by
"Beverly Hills" by Weezer |