I started listening to Nine Inch Nails in 2005, right after “With Teeth” came out. I loved the whole album, but “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” just hit a nerve with me. I immediately related to it and would just listen to it over and over again in my room. I cried, but I think I needed that. I wasn’t very good at high school. I couldn’t keep or make friends. I couldn’t get a girlfriend. I didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life. I was angry and alone. Nothing really made any sense to me, so I killed time playing video games and scrolling message boards. That song made sense to me, though. It was maybe the first time I understood what music can do for people. From there, I went down the parasocial rabbit hole and learned about Trent. I started to wear black more often, and two years later I began working out and turned a lot of my self-loathing and anger into a positive outlet. I even took inspiration from the visual aesthetic they established in my early photography. My twenties were pretty lonely too, but the one musical constant in my life has always been this band and Trent Reznor. Unsurprisingly, the few people I’ve met who feel the same way have remained good friends to this day (like @juliebond007 who took the tron arcade pic in 2018). There’s always at least one song I feel personally attached to with every new album he puts out, and I’m grateful that he’s remained an inspiring presence 20 years since I discovered him. #nin #nineinchnails #peelitbacktour2025 #nindiscordance
