She’s Gone Away
Nine Inch Nails
FIVE YEARS AGO TONIGHT the most uncompromising, terrifying hour of television premiered on SHOWTIME. It was S3 EP08 of Twin Peaks the Return. More about that later, as I first want to acknowledge three others in the series that made my heart pound and gasp out loud.
The first was S2 EP14 which aired in 1990. It contained a major revelation (no spoilers) followed by some disturbing violence. What I love about Lynch’s use of violence is that he’s always committed to the truth. To David, our world is a magical, beautiful place — but it’s also weird, strange, violent and often makes no sense. To censor any of this in a story goes against how he sees the world. The man also believes in love, forgiveness and peace and his depictions of those wonders are transcendent. Just watch the end of THE STRAIGHT STORY or THE ELEPHANT MAN. Or the end of BLUE VELVET — once Frank is gone. Or the end of FIRE WALK WITH ME when Laura weeps with happiness. The Robins from Blue Velvet had come — a blinding light of love — the only thing that could make a difference.
TWIN PEAKS is a story about Laura Palmer who was violently murdered. Anything less than disturbing would be untruthful. And depicting this story on 1990 network television? It was a bizarre sandbox for an artist like David Lynch to work in. Somehow he pulled it off, even as ABC had to move the day and time of the show to limit backlash.
After this one came S2 EP29. The unbelievable finale and perhaps the biggest cliffhanger ever executed on TV. Won’t say any more about that one.
That brings us to S3 EP08. Without spoilers, it is a hallucinatory deep dive into the origin of evil and BOB — how he came to be. How the seeds of corruption might be planted, take root and begin growing. This NIN song will always be connected to the surreal EP08 because they perform it live at the ROADHOUSE and because Reznor wrote this stunning song for it.
The fourth one? It will have to wait for another day…
You dig in places 'til your fingers bleed
Spread the infection where you spill your seed
I can't remember what she came here for
I can't remember much of anything anymore
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
A little mouth opened up inside
Yeah, I was watching on the day she died
We keep licking while the skin turns black
Cut along the length, but you can't get the feeling back
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away
