Synopsis

Trent Reznor races through Chicago's Warehouse District and climbs onto the roof of an industrial building, pursued by Richard Patrick and Chris Vrenna. The stark black-and-white imagery is interrupted by strobing edits, animated light writing, falling television sets, and other disorienting effects. At the climax, Reznor appears to fall from the roof and lie dead on the pavement, turning the video's frantic performance piece into an unsettling fake death scene. MTV broadcasts generally removed this final image.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released in September 1989, the video was filmed in Chicago's Warehouse District and was Nine Inch Nails' first music video.

• The original ending used starch powder on Reznor's face to create a deathly, pale appearance after the staged fall.

• The aerial footage for the ending was shot with a camera attached to helium balloons. The rig broke loose during filming and drifted away, eventually landing on a Michigan farm.

• The farmer turned the camera and its footage over to authorities. Because the tape showed what appeared to be a dead man, police and the FBI investigated it as possible crime or snuff-film evidence.

• An art student connected to the production eventually recognized Reznor in the footage, helping establish that the apparent death was staged.

• The incident was covered by the television program "Hard Copy" on March 3, 1991. The story was later used in promotional material for the British release of "Pretty Hate Machine."

• MTV required the death imagery to be removed from the version it aired. Longer and shorter edits of the video circulated, using different remixes of the song.

• The Nine Inch Nails logo made its first appearance in this video.

• The video was later included in the music-video portion of the 1997 home-video release "Closure."