"Wish" is a song by Americanindustrial rock bandNine Inch Nails from their debut EPBroken (1992). It was released in 1992 as a promotional single from the EP. The drumming on the track was performed byMartin Atkins.[4]
"Wish" was remixed twice for the companion disc to the EP,Fixed, as "Wish (Remix)" and "Fist Fuck". Both remixes were produced byJ. G. Thirlwell.
"Wish" won theGrammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1993. Referencing a lyric from the song,Trent Reznor later joked that hisepitaph should read: "REZNOR: Died. Said 'fist fuck' and won a Grammy."[5][6] In 2020,Kerrang andBillboard ranked the song number one and number four, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.[7][8]
Nine Inch Nails playing inside of a cage in the "Wish" music video
The music video for "Wish" was directed byPeter Christopherson, who also directed the music video for "March of the Pigs" andBroken's eponymous film.[9] The video shows Nine Inch Nails (Trent Reznor on vocals,Chris Vrenna on drums,Richard Patrick on guitar andJames Woolley on keyboards) playing inside high, caged walls while hordes of angry men assault the exterior of the cage. The band is eventually accosted: Woolley is lifted off his feet by a suspended man, Vrenna is lifted off by a crane hook and Patrick is grabbed through the sides of the cage. The video ends with a brief scene of men breaking open the gate of the cage and storming into the cage with bats and clubs.[10]MTV felt that the ending scene was too violent and alternate footage was used for network airplay.
A second video is a live performance filmed by Simon Maxwell in 1995 and was released onClosure in 1997.[11] This performance was taken from a concert film originally intended for release in 1996, but was subsequently shelved because Reznor was not satisfied with the final product.
Linkin Park performed the song live on their spring 2004 tour.[20] It was also covered on that year'sProjekt Revolution tour where one recording was later released on theLinkin Park Underground 4.0 fanclub CD.
^"Wish" (US promotional 12" single). Nine Inch Nails. Interscope Records. 1992. DMD 1947.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Wish" (UK promotional CD-R single). Nine Inch Nails.Island Records. 1992. IS 552 DJ.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Wish" (UK promotional 7" single). Nine Inch Nails. Island Records. 1992. IS 552 DJ.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
