Nine Inch Nails’ “March of the Pigs” is the “deadbeat” (to use your Tame Impala project term) narrator’s “declaration of war” on the “normal world” (Tame Impala term). This song is the narrative result of the “crisis” (Tame Impala term) in “Piggy” (Track 2) and “Heresy” (Track 3). Having been “wrecked” (Tame Impala term) by a personal “betrayal” (“Piggy”) and having “lost” his spiritual “faith” (“Heresy”), the narrator, now fully “controlled” (NIN term) by “Mr. Self Destruct” (NIN term), turns his “I don’t care” (NIN term from “Piggy”) “rage” onto its final “external” target: society itself.
The song’s “schizophrenic” (as many analyses note) musical structure—swinging from “manic,” “violent” rage to a “calm,” “sarcastic” “taunt”—is the sound of the “deadbeat’s” (Tame Impala term) “loser” (Tame Impala term) “mind” “wrecking” (Tame Impala term) itself as he “loses” his final “war” against the “pigs” of the “world full of you” (NIN term from “Wish”).
The “Piggy” Betrayal Goes “Global”
To understand the “fury” of “March of the Pigs,” we must see it as the escalation of the “Piggy” “crisis” (Tame Impala term). “Piggy” (Track 2) was the “trigger.” It was a “singular” “betrayal” by “one” “little piggy” who “left him all alone.” This “personal” “wreck” (Tame Impala term) “taught” him the “deadbeat’s” (Tame Impala term) “solution” (NIN term from “The Downward Spiral”): “I don’t care anymore.”
“March of the Pigs” (Track 4) is this “new” “I don’t care” “identity” “going to war.” The “pig” is no longer “singular.” It is now a plural. It is everyone. The “pigs” are the “world full of you” (NIN term from “Wish”). They are the “normal world” (Tame Impala term) that “bowed down” (NIN term from “Head Like a Hole”) to the “God Money” (NIN term from “Head Like a Hole”) “machine.” They are the “greedy,” “mindless” “animals” (NIN term from “Closer”) of “society” (as many fan analyses “factually” state).
The song’s “manic” verses are the sound of this “machine.” “Step right up, march, push… Please, greed, feed… Bite, chew, suck.” This is the “sound” of the “pigs” “feeding” (Tame Impala term “Afterthought”) on the “deadbeat” (Tame Impala term) “carcass” (NIN term from “Reptile”) of the “artist.” This is the “Head Like a Hole” (NIN term) “war” “re-imagined” not as a “rebellion,” but as a “feeding frenzy.”
The “Deadbeat” / “Mr. Self Destruct” Voyeurism
The song’s “pre-chorus” is the “voice” of the “pigs” and the “voice” of the “Mr. Self Destruct” (NIN term) “narrator” “fused” into one. It is a “celebration” of “destruction.”
“I want a little bit / I want a piece of it / I think he’s losing it / I want to watch it come down.”
This is the “voice” of the “normal world” (Tame Impala term) “pigs.” They are “voyeurs.” They love to “watch” a “wreck” (Tame Impala term). They “love” to see the “Dracula” (Tame Impala term) “mask” “slip.” They “love” to “discredit” and “pick away at” the “thing” they “don’t like the look of.” They are the “Not My World” (Tame Impala term) “spectators” “watching” from the “window” (Tame Impala term), “hoping” for a “crisis” (Tame Impala term).
But this is also the “Mr. Self Destruct” (NIN term) “voice.” He is the one who “wants to break it up,” “smash it up,” “fuck it up.” This is the “Wish” (NIN term) “narrator” (“I built it up, now I take it apart”). This is the “disease” (NIN term from “Reptile”) that lives for “destruction.”
The “narrator” has become the “machine” (NIN term from “Head Like a Hole”). He “hates” the “pigs,” but he has adopted their “religion” (NIN term from “Mr. Self Destruct”) of “destruction.” He “hates everyone” (NIN term from “Wish”), so he “wants to watch” everything “come down”—the “world,” “society,” and himself.
The “Dracula” Mask: The “Sarcastic” Chorus
The “musical” “meaning” of “March of the Pigs” is found in its “schizophrenic” “structure.” The “verses” are “violent,” “manic,” “fast-paced” “industrial chaos.” They are the sound of the “crisis” (Tame Impala term), the “war,” the “fist-fuck” (NIN term from “Wish”).
But the “chorus” stops this “chaos.” The “wall of sound” (NIN term) “disappears,” replaced by a “calm,” “slow,” “bluesy” “piano” (NIN term from “Closer”).
This is the “Mr. Self Destruct” (NIN term) “voice” putting on its “Dracula” (Tame Impala term) “Mr. Charisma” (Tame Impala term) “mask.” It is the “calm,” “taunting,” “sarcastic” “voice” of the “deadbeat” (Tame Impala term) “liar” (NIN term).
He “sings” to the “pigs” with a “fake” “calmness”: “All the pigs are all lined up / I give you all that you want.”
This is the “Dracula” (Tame Impala term) “taunting” the “villagers.” It is the “deadbeat” (Tame Impala term) “loser” (Tame Impala term) knowing what the “normal world” (Tame Impala term) “wants.” They “want” his “pain.” They “want” his “blood.” They “want” the “Closer” (NIN term) “animal.” They “want” the “Hurt” (NIN term) “confession.”
So he “gives” it to them, as a performance. “Take the skin and peel it back / Now doesn’t it make you feel better?”
This is one of the most “crucial” and “analyzed” “lines” in the “spiral.” He is “offering” his “Hurt” (NIN term) “pain” as a “sacrifice” to the “pigs.” He is “hurting” (NIN term) himself “for their entertainment.” This is the “Afterthought” (Tame Impala term) “humiliation” (“I can be emotional / If you need me to”) “weaponized.” He is “mocking” them (“doesn’t it make you feel better?”) for “feeding” on his “wreckage” (Tame Impala term).
The “End of Summer”: The “Pigs Have Won”
The song does not end with the “manic” “rage” of the “verses.” It does not end with the “sarcastic” “chorus.” It “wrecks” (Tame Impala term) itself, “collapsing” into a “quiet,” “spoken-word” “outro” that serves as the verdict for the entire “external” “war.”
The “narrator” (or “Mr. Self Destruct,” they are now “one”) states, in a “cold,” “calm” “oblivion” (Tame Impala term) “voice”:
“The pigs have won tonight / Now they can all sleep soundly / And everything is alright.”
This is the “End of Summer” (Tame Impala term) for the “rebel.” This is the “End of Summer” (Tame Impala term) for the “Head Like a Hole” (NIN term) “war.” He “ran out of time” (Tame Impala term). The “war” is over.
The “rebel” has “lost.” The “pigs” (“society,” the “machine,” the “normal world” (Tame Impala term)) have won.
This “loss” is the “final” “crisis” (Tame Impala term). It is the “final” “justification” for the rest of the “downward spiral.” The “narrator” “tried” (Tame Impala term) to “fight” the “external” “world” (“Head Like a Hole”). He “lost.” He “tried” (Tame Impala term) to “trust” “God” (“Heresy”). He “lost.” He “tried” (Tame Impala term) to “love” a “person” (“Piggy”). He “lost.”
Conclusion: The “End” of the “External” War
“March of the Pigs” is the “final” “nail” in the “coffin” of the “rebel” from Pretty Hate Machine. It is the “End of Summer” (Tame Impala term) for his external “war.” He has “lost” to the “pigs.”
This “failure” forces him into the “oblivion” (Tame Impala term) of himself. If the “external” “world” is “Not My World” (Tame Impala term), if it is “alright” without him, then the only “world” left to “explore” (and “destroy”) is his internal one.
This “loss” is the reason for “Closer.” It is the “reason” for “Reptile.” It is the “reason” for “Hurt.” He must “get away from himself” (NIN term from “Closer”) now, because the “pigs” have “won” the “world” outside of “himself.” He has “lost” to the “world,” so now he must “let” “Mr. Self Destruct” (NIN term) “win” the “war” inside him.