The Good Soldier

[2007]
Scritta da Trent Reznor e Atticus Ross
Nell'album “Year Zero”



“Year Zero” è un concept album – e come tale forse andrebbe contribuito per intero – ambientato in un prossimo futuro distopico (“or the present, depending on how you look at the post-Trump world”, scrivono i NIN sul loro sito), quando il mondo è ormai avviato inesorabilmente verso la sua fine, causata dalla rapacità e dalla ferocia dell'apparato militare-industriale statunitense, che esprime da sempre i vertici politici del paese.
In “The Good Soldier” il protagonista è un soldato, di una delle tante guerre americane di questi ultimi decenni, che probabilmente viene investito dall'esplosione di un cosiddetto IED (“improvised explosive device”), le mine artigianali ad alto potenziale che tante vittime hanno mietuto tra i soldati a stelle e strisce e delle coalizioni internazionali soprattutto in Afghanistan e Iraq.



“This record began as an experiment with noise on a laptop in a bus on tour somewhere. That sound led to a daydream about the end of the world. That daydream stuck with me and over time revealed itself to be much more. I believe sometimes you have a choice in what inspiration you choose to follow and other times you really don't. This record is the latter. Once I tuned into it, everything fell into place... as if it were meant to be. With a framework established, the songs were very easy to write. Things started happening in my "real" life that blurred the lines of what was fiction and what wasn't. The record turned out to be more than a just a record in scale, as you will see over time.

What's it about? Well, it takes place about fifteen years in the future. Things are not good. If you imagine a world where greed and power continue to run their likely course, you'll have an idea of the backdrop. The world has reached the breaking point - politically, spiritually and ecologically. Written from various perspectives of people in this world, "year zero" examines various viewpoints set against an impending moment of truth.” (Trent Reznor)