Survivalism ( song ) - wikipedia Survivalism ( song ) `` Survivalism '' Single by Nine Inch Nails from the album Year Zero Released March 13, 2007 ( 2007 - 03 - 13 ) Format CD 9 '' Recorded 2006 Genre Electronic rock industrial rock Length 4 : 23 Label Interscope Songwriter ( s ) Trent Reznor Producer ( s ) Trent Reznor Atticus Ross Nine Inch Nails singles chronology `` Every Day Is Exactly the Same '' ( 2005 ) `` Survivalism '' ( 2007 ) `` Capital G '' ( 2007 ) `` Every Day Is Exactly the Same '' ( 2005 ) `` Survivalism '' ( 2007 ) `` Capital G '' ( 2007 ) Halo numbers chronology `` Halo 22 '' ( 2007 ) Halo 22 2007 `` Halo 23 '' ( 2007 ) Halo 232007 `` Halo 24 '' ( 2007 ) Halo 24 2007 Year Zero an alternate reality game by Nine Inch Nails and 42 Entertainment Campaign Campaign timeline Media Year Zero album `` Survivalism '' single `` Capital G '' single Beside You in Time HD DVD and BD Year Zero Remixed album In - game Numbers Characters and organizations Drugs and devices This box : view talk edit `` Survivalism '' is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their fifth studio album, Year Zero ( 2007 ). It was released as the album 's lead single. The single was released digitally on the iTunes Store on March 13, 2007, and the CD and vinyl singles were released internationally on April 2, 2007. On February 14, 2007, a clip of the chorus to `` Survivalism '' was first heard by fans calling the telephone number 1 - 310 - 295 - 1040, which was found by joining discolored numerals on the back of a tour T - shirt. FMQB reported that `` Survivalism '' would arrive at radio stations on February 27 with an add date of March 6, but 102.1 The Edge in Toronto debuted the song on February 15, and on the next day, it was officially played on radio stations across the United States. It was later made available on Nine Inch Nails ' Myspace page. As with `` The Hand That Feeds '' and `` Only '', the `` Survivalism '' multi-track GarageBand file was released by the band for fan remixing on March 13. It can be downloaded on the album 's website. In July 2012, Canadian house musician deadmau5 produced a remix of the song, which was later included on his 2014 album while ( 1 < 2 ). Contents 1 Music video 2 Release and reception 3 Formats and track listings 4 Credits and personnel 4.1 `` Survivalism '' 4.2 Music video 5 Charts 6 References 7 External links Music video Nine Inch Nails was scheduled to begin shooting a video for `` Survivalism '' on February 5, 2007, in the Los Angeles area. It was directed by Alex Lieu, Rob Sheridan, and Trent Reznor. The video was circulated on the Internet on March 7, 2007, when Nine Inch Nails played the Carling Academy Brixton in London, England. USB pen drives containing low and high resolution versions of the video were found at different locations in the venue by concert - goers. The video consists of a series of images from a console of secret cameras installed in an apartment block. As the camera moves between the footage, viewers are able to see into the lives of a number of residents, including : A catatonic older couple watching television with a portrait of Jesus behind them. A man looking after his drugged spouse ( and in one scene possibly dripping or injecting the fictional drug `` opal '' in her eyes ). Two men having sexual intercourse in bed. ( Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit. ) A topless woman applying make - up in a bathroom. ( Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit. ) A man sitting at a table staring at his food. Three men in a shop ( and later in an alley ) working with stencils. A man in his cubicle surfing the Internet on his Apple laptop computer. A band ( portrayed by Nine Inch Nails ) performing the song in a room. Still image from the black and white video with the band. There are also cameras directed at hallways and stairs inside the apartment block. After about a minute, these screens show a SWAT team armed with submachine guns assembling outside. They enter in formation, and eventually break down a door ( on which the letters `` REV 18 3 -- 4 '' are stenciled, a reference to a passage in the Bible ) and enter the apartment where a band is playing. The noise disturbs all the residents, who momentarily stop what they are doing and move off to investigate, then return to their activities. At this point, a number of cameras have been turned off and show static. The band is no longer in their room. It has been torn asunder and a large smear of blood is visible on the floor. The final shot shows a bleeding corpse being dragged around a corner and out of sight. The Bible passage referenced by the door is from the Book of Revelation, a passage describing the fallen city - nation of Babylon and how she has been corrupted by luxury and adultery, and how people are being called to leave this whorish nation behind and not share in her immorality to keep from sharing in her judgement. ( see here ) The time code in the monitor sometimes changes the last digit for a letter. This eventually spells out `` THE_TURNEDTO_ ''. In addition, several Bible verses that reference water and blood are shown throughout the video. `` Isaiah 15 : 9 '' on the graffiti wall, `` John 19 : 34 '' on the picture of Jesus behind the couple, and `` II Kings 3 : 22 '' and `` Exodus 7 : 21 '' in the board behind the man with the laptop. This led to the discovery of the Year Zero website, which was a collage of a hand picking a man up out of the wreckage of a crumbling bridge, claimed to be drawn by a prison inmate. There are various biblical quotations surrounding the drawing, and capital letters ( un-capitalized letters in the second paragraph ) align to form the word `` francesca '' once in the first paragraph, and twice in the second. Francesca has two documented meanings ; ' free ', and ' from Franconia ' or ' from France '. The music video is available for download ( both the lo - res and hi - res version ) at the album 's website. At the end of 2007, Rolling Stone readers voted the video as the best music video of year. Release and reception `` Survivalism '' had 501 plays and debuted at number 28 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in the week of February 23, 2007. It eventually climbed to number one for one week, becoming NIN 's fourth consecutive number one single ( as well as their most recent ), and debuted at number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100. Since Linkin Park 's enormously more successful `` What I 've Done '' single debuted at number one and replaced `` Survivalism '' 's position, the song however had fallen drastically after one week at number one, almost dropping off the top 20 of the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart within just one month. The song dropped from number 7 to number 19 during the week of May 12, 2007, proceeded to fall to number 26 during the week of May 19, 2007, then hit number 37 in the week of May 26, 2007, leading the song to stay on the chart for only 13 weeks, a disappointment as a few other notable songs, despite not reaching number one on the chart, stayed in the top 20 for longer, such as Breaking Benjamin 's `` Breath '' ( number 3 ), Papa Roach 's `` Forever '' ( number 2 ), Incubus 's `` Dig '' ( number 4 ), and Rise Against 's `` Prayer of the Refugee '' ( number 7 ) ( `` Breath '' stayed on the chart for 39 weeks ). `` Survivalism '' debuted at number two on the UK Rock Singles Chart and at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is Nine Inch Nails ' fourth consecutive top ten single on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single debuted at number one on the Canadian Singles Chart ( the only time a Nine Inch Nails single debuted at the top of a chart ), a position which it maintained for six weeks. Formats and track listings Promo CD No. Title Length 1. `` Survivalism '' ( LP version ) 4 : 22 2. `` Survivalism '' 4 : 22 iTunes single ( Halo 23i ) No. Title Length 1. `` Survivalism '' 4 : 22 UK / international 2 - track No. Title Length 1. `` Survivalism '' 4 : 22 2. `` Survivalism_Tardusted '' 4 : 19 International CD maxi No. Title Length 1. `` Survivalism '' 4 : 22 2. `` Survivalism_Tardusted '' 4 : 19 3. `` The Greater Good '' ( Instrumental ) 5 : 03 4. `` Survivalism '' ( Video ) UK 9 '' vinyl No. Title Length 1. `` Survivalism '' 4 : 22 2. `` Survivalism_OpalHeartClinic_Niggy_Tardust ! ( Escaped... '' 4 : 18 Credits and personnel `` Survivalism '' Trent Reznor -- lyrics, performance, and production Atticus Ross -- production Thavius Beck -- production on `` Tardusted '' and `` OpalHeartClinic_Niggy_Tardust ! ( Escaped... '' remixes Saul Williams -- backing vocals Music video Trent Reznor -- co-director Susan Bonds -- co-director Alex Lieu -- co-director Rob Sheridan -- co-director Eric Wycoff -- director of photography Charts Chart ( 2008 ) Peak position Austria Singles Chart 63 Canadian Singles Chart Denmark Singles Chart 15 Finland Singles Chart 7 Spain Singles Chart UK Singles Chart 29 U.S Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 14 U.S Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks U.S Billboard Hot 100 68 U.S Billboard Pop 100 66 References Jump up ^ Hogan, Marc ( July 17, 2012 ). `` Deadmau5 's Nine Inch Nails Remix Is Surprisingly Subtle ''. Spin. Retrieved March 6, 2016. Jump up ^ Taylor, Rob ( April 17, 2007 ). `` Nine Inch Nails -- Survivalism ''. Clickmusic.com. Retrieved March 6, 2016. Jump up ^ `` nine inch nails : current ''. nin.com. March 4, 2007. Archived from the original on April 20, 2005. Retrieved March 8, 2007. Jump up ^ `` a new message ? ''. Echoing the Sound. February 14, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Quick Hits : Nine Inch Nails ( 2007 ) ''. FMQB. February 13, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2007. Jump up ^ `` nine inch nails : current ''. nin.com. March 13, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Nine Inch Nails to film ' Survivalism ' video next week ''. Blabbermouth.net. January 31, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007. Jump up ^ Rock List : Readers ' Twenty - Five Favorite Videos of 2007 : Rolling Stone Jump up ^ R&R -- Radio & Records, Inc Archived May 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Katie Hasty, `` Fergie Scores Second ' Glamorous ' Week At No. 1 '', Billboard.com, March 22, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Top 40 Rock Singles : 15.04. 2007 ''. BBC.co.uk. April 15, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Chart history of `` Nine Inch Nails -- Survivalism '' ``. Chart Stats. April 14, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2007. Jump up ^ Sexton, Paul ( April 16, 2007 ). `` Timbaland Adds Another Chart - Topper In UK ''. Billboard.com. Retrieved April 17, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Nine Inch Nails > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles ''. Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved September 12, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Canada -- SINGLES : Top 20 ''. Canoe Inc. June 2, 2007. Archived from the original on April 17, 2005. Retrieved June 11, 2007. Jump up ^ `` BYIT and Survivalism Promos Hit eBay ''. The NIN Hotline. February 21, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Nine - Inch Nails -- Survivalism ''. AustrianCharts.com. Retrieved June 21, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Nine - Inch Nails -- Survivalism ''. DanishCharts.com. Retrieved June 21, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Search results for : Nine Inch Nails ''. FinnishCharts.com. Retrieved September 28, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Nine - Inch Nails -- Survivalism ''. SpanishCharts.com. Retrieved June 21, 2008. Jump up ^ `` Chart Stats -- Nine Inch Nails ''. Chart Stats. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2007. ^ Jump up to : `` Billboard Music Charts -- Search Results -- Nine Inch Nails ''. Billboard. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2007. External links `` Survivalism '' Official music video on YouTube Survivalism at the NinWiki Preceded by `` Brianstorm '' by Arctic Monkeys Canadian Singles Chart number - one single May 3, 2007 -- June 7, 2007 Succeeded by `` Umbrella '' by Rihanna ( on the Canadian Hot 100 ) Preceded by `` From Yesterday '' by Thirty Seconds to Mars U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks number - one single April 14, 2007 Succeeded by `` What I 've Done '' by Linkin Park Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor Atticus Ross Robin Finck Alessandro Cortini Ilan Rubin Chris Vrenna Richard Patrick James Woolley Jeff Ward Danny Lohner Charlie Clouser Jerome Dillon Jeordie White Aaron North Josh Freese Alex Carapetis Rich Fownes Justin Meldal - Johnsen Eric Avery Adrian Belew Joshua Eustis Pino Palladino Lisa Fischer Studio albums Pretty Hate Machine The Downward Spiral The Fragile With Teeth Year Zero Ghosts I -- IV The Slip Hesitation Marks Bad Witch Live releases Closure And All That Could Have Been Beside You in Time Remix albums Further Down the Spiral Things Falling Apart Year Zero Remixed Box sets Halo I -- IV Extended plays Broken Fixed Live 2013 EP Remix 2014 EP Not the Actual Events Add Violence Singles `` Down in It '' `` Head Like a Hole '' `` Sin '' `` March of the Pigs '' `` Closer '' `` The Perfect Drug '' `` The Day the World Went Away '' `` We 're in This Together '' `` Into the Void '' `` The Hand That Feeds '' `` Only '' `` Every Day Is Exactly the Same '' `` Survivalism '' `` Capital G '' `` Discipline '' `` Came Back Haunted '' `` Copy of a '' `` Everything '' `` Less Than '' Promotional singles `` Happiness in Slavery '' `` Wish '' `` Burn '' `` Piggy '' `` Hurt '' `` Starfuckers, Inc. '' `` Deep '' Other songs `` Something I Can Never Have '' `` Gave Up '' `` Mr. Self Destruct '' `` Just Like You Imagined '' `` All the Love in the World '' Compilations Lights in the Sky : Over North America 2008 Tour Sampler NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler The Fragile : Deviations 1 Games Quake Year Zero Nine Inch Nails Revenge Tours Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series Self - Destruct Dissonance Fragility Live : With Teeth Performance 2007 Wave Goodbye Twenty Thirteen Tour Related Bands Option 30 The Innocent Exotic Birds Lucky Pierre Prick Pigface Tapeworm Marilyn Manson How to Destroy Angels Filter Jane 's Addiction Queens of the Stone Age People Mariqueen Maandig John Malm Jr. Marilyn Manson Kevin McMahon Rob Sheridan Gary Talpas Albums Natural Born Killers Lost Highway The Social Network The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Gone Girl Before the Flood Pretty Eight Machine Radiant Decay Recoiled Articles Discography List of songs recorded by Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor discography Awards and nominations Band members Live performances Concert tours Nothing Records The Null Corporation Broken ( film ) Beats Music `` I 'm Afraid of Americans '' Another Version of the Truth Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Survivalism_(song)&oldid=807305840 '' Categories : 2007 singles Nine Inch Nails songs Billboard Alternative Songs number - one singles Canadian Singles Chart number - one singles Year Zero ( game ) Songs written by Trent Reznor LGBT - related songs Political songs Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor Song recordings produced by Atticus Ross Electronic rock songs 2006 songs Interscope Records singles Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Use mdy dates from June 2017 Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français Galego Latviešu Polski Português Русский Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 04 : 25. 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Question: who sang backing vocals on the nine inch nails song survivalism
Answer: Saul Williams