lyric analysis (part II)

Okay, so:

It's really interesting that someone I know has said that "Down In It" (Nine Inch Nails) moves from Apollonian to Dionysian. I'm actually just starting to read The Birth of Tragedy and so I have some idea of what this means. But my question is - do you think Trent Reznor meant, or is aware, that the lyrics for "Down In It" should have anything to do with the Apollonian and Dionysian?

That's kind of why I felt awkward describing his lyrics as existential, because he may have written them without any existential knowledge or intent, and I wouldn't want to project onto his lyrics.

Also, I don't know if I could see TR as an existentialist. I'm trying. I think about the themes in his work and I see a lot of determinism, helplessness, the-world-is-a-cruel/absurd-place, living-is-pain, etc. It seems like he (or his musical persona) at least struggles with competing views about life and the world (as most thinking people probably do). For instance--

Deterministic:

-Something I Can Never Have
-That's What I Get
-Happiness in Slavery (the end of this one seems especially deterministic in its lyrics)
-Closer (the endless drum beat, the repetition, "can't help me get away from myself," "my whole existence is flawed," it's like he can't escape 'the human condition.')
-The Becoming ("all pain disappears / it's the nature of my circuitry/ drowns out all I hear / no escape from this - my new consciousness" & "the me that you know / used to have feelings / but the blood has stopped pumping / and he's left to decay / the me that you know / is now made up of wires...")
-All the Love in the World (all except the end, which is a radical reversal in mood that builds gradually throughout the song)
-Every Day Is Exactly the Same (repetition, lyrics, this is the epitome of determinism, "I believe I can see the future / because I repeat the same routine. / I think I used to have a purpose / but then again, that might have been a dream.")

Solipsistic:

-I Do Not Want This ("I have lived so many lives all in my head / Don't tell me that you care / There really isn't anything, is there?") ("And maybe I dont have a choice / And maybe that is all I have / And maybe this is a cry for help")
-Only (the song title itself, "Less concerned, about fitting into the world / Your world that is, cause it doesn't really matter anymore ... / ... Yes, I am alone, but then again I always was / As far back as I can tell, I think maybe it's because / Because you were never really real to begin with / I just made you up to hurt myself / There is no you, there is only me.")

This is what I see. Are there other ways we can categorize NIN songs? (I'm not usually a fan of categorization, but these are extremely loose categories and I don't mean for any of this to be set in stone!)


**Aside -- I love the whole moral dilemma about "Kinda I Want to" (And I know it's not the right thing, and I know it's not the good thing, But kinda i want to.) Same with "The Only Time" (i'm drunk. and right now i'm so in love with you. and i don't want to think too much about what we should or shouldn't do.). Also love the line: well i want to rip it up and swim in it until i drown, my moral standing is lying down.