A 'Closer' Look at Psychoanalysis

In Psychoanalysis, the Id is “a combination of sexual libido and other instincts, such as aggression that propel the human organism through life, moving it to grow, develop, and eventually to die” (Rivkin, 391). What better way to exemplify this aspect of psychoanalysis than through the lyrics of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer.”

*I apologize in advance for the vulgarity of these lyrics.

"Closer"
Nine Inch Nails

You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you
You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you
Help me I broke apart my insides, help me I’ve got no soul to sell
Help me the only thing that works for me, help me get away from myself
I want to f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god
You can have my isolation, you can have the hate that it brings
You can have my absence of faith, you can have my everything
Help me tear down my reason, help me it’s your sex I can smell
Help me you make me perfect, help me become somebody else
I want to f*ck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to f*ck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god

Through every forest, above the trees
Within my stomach, scraped off my knees
I drink the honey inside your hive
You are the reason I stay alive

The Id essentially deals with our primal urges and takes no account for the rational or logical. Rather, it is responsible for our innermost raw desires, obsessions and impulses. The lyrics above demonstrate this concept of the need for satisfaction and the absence of the rational. Words like “violate”, "desecrate", and "penetrate" suggest not only the need for satisfaction, but rather the need for an animalistic and violent satisfaction. This carnal form of satisfaction is further propounded by the line, “I want to f*ck you like an animal”, which is echoed multiple times throughout the song. Nine Inch Nails go on to say “You get me closer to God”. This suggests that the speaker is so empowered by this act of carnality that he feels almost God-like. They later go on to say, “You can have my absence of faith…help me tear down my reason.” These lines suggest that in this act of animalism, there exists no sense of faith nor reason, further demonstrating the concept of the Id.

"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails



Works Cited

Erikerodri. "Nine Inch Nails-Closer (good quality)". YouTube. 10 October 2007.

Rivkin, Julie and Michael Ryan. "Introduction: Strangers to Ourselves: Psychoanalysis." Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd Ed. Eds. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden: Blackwell, 2004.