Songs & Lyrics
The Wretched
“The Wretched” appears on The Fragile (1999) and has remained in Nine Inch Nails setlists from Fragility to the present.
- Record type
- Lyrics available
- Classification
- Official NIN composition
- First record
- Halo 14 · The Fragile
- Known versions
- 4
Song details
About This Song
Available on four Halo releases in 4 titled versions.
- Classification
- Official NIN composition
- First documented release
- Halo 14 · The Fragile
- Release date
- September 21, 1999
- Track position
- 4
- Running time
- 5:25
- Tempo
- 140 BPM
- Known versions
- 4
Live History
- Performance span
- Fragility through present
Versions
- The Wretched
- The Wretched (Instrumental)
- The Wretched (Version)
- The Wretched (And All That Could Have Been)
Sources: NIN Wiki — The Wretched, revision 69515 (reviewed September 28, 2026). NIN Wiki song record
Words
Lyrics
Just a glimpse
Just a little reminder
Of all the what abouts
And all the might have
Could have beens
Another day
Some other way
But not another reason to continue
And now you're one of us
The Wretched
The hopes and prays
The better days
The far aways
Forget it
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it, did it?
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out the way you wanted it, did it?
Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like
The clouds will part
And the sky cracks open
And God Himself
Will reach His fucking arm through
Just to push you down
Just to hold you down
Stuck in this hole
With the shit and the piss
And it's hard to believe
It could come down to this
Back at the beginning
Sinking
Spinning
And in the end
We still pretend
The time we spend
Not knowing when
You're finally free
And you could be
But it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to
It didn't turn out quite the way that you wanted it
Now you know
This is what it feels like
Now you know
This is what it feels like
You can try to stop it but it keeps on coming
You can try to stop it but
Lyrics reproduced with permission for non-profit educational use.
Where it appears