Nine Inch Nails are cashing in on the Black Mirror fandom, selling shirts related to a song of their’s that was reworked for an episode.
Overnight, fans were treated to the latest episodes from the popular Netflix program, Black Mirror. As reported last month, one of these new episodes features Miley Cyrus and focuses on “a lonely teenager [who] yearns to connect with her favourite pop star — whose charmed existence isn’t quite as rosy it appears…”
However, one of the more important scenes in the episode features Cyrus’ character performing a reworked version of Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 single, ‘Head Like A Hole’.
While the original song includes the lyrics like “Head like a hole/Black as your soul/I’d rather die than give you control,” the new version sees the Hannah Montana star belting out words like “Head like a hole/I’m on a roll/Riding so high/Achieving my goals.”
https://twitter.com/anomenin/status/1136187031053328385
However, if you’re thinking this is a bastardisation of a classic track, don’t worry too much, because Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails was totally on board with the entire thing.
In an interview with NME, creator Charlie Brooker explained that he reached out to Reznor and was surprised with the positive response, noting that he “got it straight away”.
“It was via email and he was really happy. He wanted to see the script and I got to rewrite his lyrics in a chirpy way,” Brooker explained. “I’m not the best lyricist in the world, and there’s one point where she’s singing ‘I’m stoked on ambition and verve’ instead of, ‘You’re gonna get what you deserve.’”
“He thought it was all very funny. He found all of the dark comedy very entertaining,” added show runner Annabel Jones. “There are lots of dark concepts in the film and we just enjoyed a childish subversion of them.”
“You know, an artist being more successful when they’re dead than when they’re alive is just such a ghoulish idea — but then we’re living in a time when you holograms of Prince, Amy Winehouse or Whitney Houston appear.”
“I’m excited to see those people who pick up on what it actually is, what Nine Inch Nails fans think about it,” Trent Reznor added to GQ. “Not that I care that much, but it will make for some interesting social media replies.”
NIN x #BLACKMIRROR COLLABORATIVE TEEhttps://t.co/gpF7yWPHVu pic.twitter.com/qzY9wXBCje
— nine inch nails (@nineinchnails) June 5, 2019
In fact, it seems that Nine Inch Nails were so stoked with the collaboration that they even teamed up with Black Mirror to create some souvenir shirts for their newfound fanbase.
Printed on a typically-black t-shirt, the blue and pink lyrics of Miley Cyrus’ character’s song are adorned with stars, in complete contrast to the often harrowing lyrics performed by Trent Reznor from time to time.
While we’re not sure if there’s a Nine Inch Nails cover album on the way from Miley Cyrus, we can definitely say this is one collaboration we never saw coming.
Check out ‘Head Like A Hole’ by Nine Inch Nails:
