"Capital G" is a song by American

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten ...

band Nine Inch Nails from their fifth studio album, ''

Year Zero A year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (AD) calendar year system commonly used to number years in the Gregorian calendar (nor in its predecessor, the Julian calendar); in this system, the year is followed directly by year . However, the ...

'' (2007). It was released on June 11, 2007 as a limited-edition nine-inch vinyl in the United Kingdom, serving as the album's second and final single.

Music and lyrics

Though numerous reviews of the album speculated that "G" might refer to the first initial of

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

stated that the "G" stands for "greed".

Release and reception

"Capital G" was not released with a Halo number due to Reznor's increasing awareness of the overpricing of retail music, and his record label's alleged plans to overprice Halo releases to take advantage of Nine Inch Nails' dedicated fan base. Art collaborator

Rob Sheridan Robert Sheridan (born October 11, 1979) is an American graphic designer, art director, photographer, and comic book author best known for his extensive work with the band Nine Inch Nails. Biography Sheridan attended art school at New York's Pr ...

confirmed this fact: The song was first played on radio on April 4, 2007. As of April 27, 2007, "Capital G" is listed on the

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

Jump! and Taking Off charts, which record the track's increase in radio airplay over seven days. "Capital G" officially became available for airplay on May 14–15, although it received the most adds in the alternative category during the week of April 27, according to '' Radio & Records''. The song is available for download as an "exhibit" in

WAV Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Wind ...

format at exterminal.net, a website within the ''

'' alternate reality game revealed by decrypting a binary code sequence on the ''Year Zero''s thermo-chrome disc when heated. On April 26, 2007, the official ''Year Zero'' website published the multitrack audio files of "Capital G" for GarageBand and

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, as well as WAV files for other applications. The song is available for download in the video game '' Rock Band''. "Capital G" is Nine Inch Nails' fifth consecutive top 10 single on the '' Billboard''

Hot Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart.

Formats and track listings

*UK limited-edition 9" single :A. "Capital G" – 3:49 :B. "

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" (

Dave Sitek David Andrew Sitek (born September 6, 1972) is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Beady E ...

Mix) – 4:30 *US promotional CD single #"Capital G" (edit) – 3:49 #"Capital G" (album) – 3:49 *US promotional CD single #"Capital G" (Phones 666 RPM Mix) – 7:23 #"Capital G" (

Switch In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

Remix) – 5:01 *German promotional CD single #"Capital G" (album) – 3:51 #"Capital G" (edit) – 3:49 *European promotional 12" single :A. "Capital G" (Phones 666 RPM Mix) – 7:23 :B. "Capital G" (Switch Remix) – 5:01

Credits and personnel

– songwriting, production, vocals * Josh Freese – drums * Geoff "Double G" Gallegos – baritone saxophone * Matt Demeritt –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

* Elizabeth Lea – trombone * William Artope – trumpet *

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for '' The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

– production

Charts

References