1,000,000

....I feel a million miles away, I don't feel anything at all.

Without being too over dramatic, this is about where I am right now. Tuesday is a huge day for me and I have been stressing about it for a while now. To combat that, I needed to shut down my emotions. This is my superpower, being able to do this.

Until yesterday, I had been working on a project the likes of which the world has never seen. OK that may be a little much, but it was quite an effort for me to get this done. To do this project, I needed to tap deep into my emotions and couldn't shut them out until all the work was finished early yesterday.

Last night I suggested a friend go here and download the latest CD from Nine Inch Nails. The band has offered this as a FREE DOWNLOAD so there is no reason not to get it and listen to it at least once. This is not really what I would call a "concept album", but the songs are arranged the way they are with great purpose. I suggest you listen to it from beginning to end in one sitting to best experience The Slip.

After making the suggestion last night, I figured The Slip would make a great Friday morning CD, especially considering the lyrics up top here from the song 1,000,000. I didn't really need any motivation this morning, but it's always great to listen to NIN. Yesterday I said that Bob Dylan could do no wrong in my eyes. Trent Reznor is very much the same to me.

I've heard the two compared before and while it's not a comparison I would make, I guess I am kind of OK with it. I've said plenty of times that Conor Oberst is the closest thing I've heard to Bob Dylan since Dylan himself, but I put Reznor on the same level as Dylan and not below him as I do Oberst. Add to that the fact that the brilliance of Reznor is much different than that of Dylan, and I am just not comfortable in saying that Reznor is like Bob Dylan. It may be petty of me to be bothered by the fact that it's just the wording of the statement I have a problem with, but considering these two men are the pinnacle of lyricism to me....I don't have a problem being petty about it.

OK. Coming back from that tangent now, where I had intended to go was to say that I am constantly amazed by the way Reznor expresses feelings. The song Echoplex is a great example. It follows the biggest mainstream song (Discipline) on the album, and that's always a tough place to fit a song. This song doesn't back down or lose any value following the big hit, and in just four lines says something I have known and felt for many years, but could never find the right words to express.

I'm safe in here
irrelevant
just like they said
my voice just echoes off these walls

I consider myself somewhat of a wordsmith, but I could never come up with something like this on my own. Sixteen words. A truly insignificant amount, with an infinite reach. I can't think of anyone I know that this hasn't applied to at least once in their life. It's gems like this that always leave me wanting more NIN.