March of the Pigs

Going back to Reznor’s breakthrough second album as Nine Inch Nails, 1994’s The Downward Spiral, Reznor definitely had harmony in mind, as well as motifs. The line “nothing can stop me now“ is repeated on three tracks, and there is also a recurring melodic motif that appears in Piggy, Closer and The Downward Spiral.

The breakdown in March of the Pigs is built on a bassline of D | Ab | G | F. The part is sparse with little other melodic content, however Reznor’s vocal melody adds extra notes that slightly flesh out the harmony, and I’m interpreting the progression as Dm | Ab | G | Fm. The progression is unusual because the second chord is a tritone away from the first chord, giving it that quasi-evil tone that bands like Black Sabbath love.