The saddest Nine Inch Nails song 

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You should reach out to Trent to see if he'll sit down with you and your piano for an interview. You never know...

I don't know why but "Leaving Hope" always felt very calm and comforting to me. "And All That Could Have Been" on the other hand stabs me right in the feels.

"Dissonant but not unpleasant" has just become my new favorite phrase.

Listening to Leaving Hope feels like my heart has been ripped out of my chest, set on fire and thrown into the ocean. It's the devastation of loss.

In context of the whole album, A Warm Place brought me to tears almost 30 years ago. As a standalone song, however, this is a great choice.

Knowing La Mer's history, I would say that is the saddest NIN song.

Leaving hope is one of the best songs ever created

I'm just so happy that STILL is getting so much love these days. I've been a nine inch nails fan since the beginning and I think STILL is still the best album he ever made.

Another very emotional piano piece by Nine Inch Nails is "Together" from the Ghosts V album.

It may be Trent’s saddest song-but hearing you talk about it with care and a lot of attention made my day better. Thank you

This is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. It touches my soul in a place that I try to keep hidden. Hope is a very dangerous thing and shouldn't be held on too because it hurts so bad to lose it. This song perfectly expresses the feeling of loss and trying to get back that hope. That maybe one day things will be better. That the dangerous part, the maybe. You will chase "maybe" for your entire life. Kinda the theme of my life which is why I love this song so much.

I didn't know this song as soon as I clicked on this video (thanks for sharing by the way), I have been getting into Trents and nine inch nails music alot recently, and I have been finding alot of hidden gems, the production on the fragile, further down the spiral, pretty hate machine and pretty much most of his albums are top notch and one of the reasons I bought a synthesizer and got super inspired again, it's like having a new soul when you get a new instrument like this all these effects at the tip of your fingertips, you can create basically anything. Trent makes dark, heavy but beautiful sounds, and that's why to me he's a genius

If Yamaoka didn't do Silent Hill, I reckon this is what it'd sound like

I always felt that Trent knew there was a better way in life, that there was hope in this world, but not for him. The music from this Era could be so hopeful in some ways, but utterly heart breaking.

Something I can never have.

You're doing great work. With a title of "The saddest Nine Inch Nails song", I knew immediately that you were referring to "Leaving Hope". Such an incredibly emotional piece.

I instantly knew the two choices would be either [Leaving Hope] or [All That Could Have Been] because that sh*t stuck with me for the better part of a decade now.

I love Trent’s writing style, not just the heavy stuff but especially his melodic piano Arrangements, I have never heard anything else like it, after 20 years of breaking from studying music theory I’m starting again just to dissect and hopefully compose something similar. I think modal enter change and borrowing outside the normal scales is key, but thank you for sharing what I can’t yet do.

Leaving hope sounds like someone washed ashore after a shipwreck , and as they slowly gain consciousness, they realize all that they lost, and all that cannot come back. And they wish maybe they never washed ashore at all. It's a pale moon lighting the sky a deep blue. absolutely agree on the cold wind feelings.

You did such a great job of demonstrating why Trent Reznor is one of the best songwriters of all time.

The quiet screams mixed in at the end is so haunting and beautiful. I love the way it hangs on that, because it loops back into Something I Can Never Have so well. It also just feels so empty, like everyone you know is gone, but you are still here.

Listening to this song is like opening an old wound.

Holy shit... your version at the end is going on repeat. How beautiful.

I’ve always loved music - but I was never trained or taught formally. I absolutely love how she breaks down Trent’s music. His music has always touched my heart & soul - but she interprets it for the mind. 🖤🤍🖤

This was my most listened to song for 3 years in a row lol

There are so, so many deeply sad NIN songs. Which do you consider the saddest?

I've been listening to the same RU-vid video of this song since 2011, so it was only natural for RU-vid to recommend this video to me. Glad it did. Great work, you really gave the song the respect and love it deserves. Peace.

This song sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to my eyes. Always. No matter how many times I’ve heard it. Thank you, Ixi.

When I first heard it, and all the Still album , I thought Trent should make movie scores 😝. It definitely prefigured his future path. Suggestions : have you heard Trent's collabs lately? Native Intelligence and I Think We're Past This Now are stunning ❤️😍!

I love how the saddest song has no lyrics. Thats one thing I love about NIN, their music is so emotional.

It’s been my favorite song since the day I first let in in…which coincidentally was a few days before my fiancé passed away….it’s never been performed live to the best of my knowledge…

A Warm Place, especially if you listen to slowed down versions is the saddest song by far

Might I say that I love the visual aid of the piano diagram playing! This song is so beautiful and I've always wanted to understand it.

One of my favorite songs of theirs. My hope is that whenever he is done performing live this is finally played.

"Supposed to give us answers but it just gives us more questions." I love that!! So glad you released this! Such a long time coming but worth the wait!

Once I read the title, I knew which song it was. This is definitely the saddest NIN song ❤️ Such an instrumental masterpiece, so many emotions, so much nostalgia… it reminds me of a heartbreak I went through back in NYC, about 10 years ago… Just like smells, music brings you back to previous, forgotten feelings. Amazing to be alive and feel 🏆❤️

I'm a black metal head and a band but I will never ever forget my true favorite band nine inch nails and a very significant influence of my music

My cat does that all the time and he makes the saddest face. He does it on purpose to get treats.

Fully weeping at Ixi’s version that closes out the video. Beautiful.

I have said since i heard it, i want this played at my wake. It sounds like freezing.

Whole internet couldn't do what you have done here... Thank you for that!

melody make me watchin someone try to climb up to struggle but slowly slip down to the start. and he repeats over and over.

This girl is sharp as a tack..

I first listened to this when I was just entering my 20's. 9/11 was still recent and I had entered the grind of the work force and kind of gave up on my life dream of being a writer/artist for a living. And so after the euphoric highs of my teens in the 90's, and then the sudden plunge into whatever the hell the 00's were, I was for the first time depressed and felt hopeless about the world and my own life. And this track pretty much summed up how I felt perfectly.

Your playing is so beautiful.

Been waiting so long for someone to dive into this track like this. My favourite piece of music - to the point that I have that main melody tattooed. Your analysis does it justice as well. Thank you.

while im still here fading into black noise

I wish in my time of 20 years loving this band and learning all of his/their songs. That i could have found someone like you that understands this so deeply......i still feel alone . But thank you

I absolutely LOVE how you compared the melody to speaking. Those notes being interpreted as words. Thats why I adore music, its such a strong language without having words. Trent is such a genius, and your interpretation of his work is spot on and fascinating to watch, Ixi. Thank you

Love this! I think that this song made me feel the most of anything Reznor ever composed, but that riff in "And All That Could Have Been" is probably the saddest piece of music I've ever heard. This lead is likely the most effective piece of music Reznor ever wrote, and I'm very glad that someone with a following is doing a video on it, so thank you!

I can't believe I've never even heard this song, but the way you analyzed it makes me want to cry. Really good.

"And All That Could Have Been" is a must!

I would give $5 toward having her meet him and get like a full interview who's with me she deserves it.

Thank you so much for doing this. It's my all time favorite NIN song, but it also breaks my heart.

Oh wow, I didn't expect it would be this one, but yeah, beautiful, nail on head! One of my all time favourite pieces of music, ever. I actually always found the title to be very juxtaposed. To me, the music feels more like hope arriving. A transition into a new state of acceptance, giving up the fight, but in a good way. A caterpillar to a butterfly.

Amazing ixi you finally got to it! This is very very very very very very very special. Thank you so much. Your arrangement is incredible and very touching. I especially like the added 'lifting' section where you built up from the lower guitar melody into these weaving-upward chord voicing and stretching up the melody. Big feels. Thank you.

This song breaks me down every time

On RU-vid in 2022, I watched (as usual) a whole lot of junk, entertainment and valuable materials. But the greatest treasure for me will be the Ixi channel, which technically breaks down music into layers, giving them technical sense and allows you to understand why they are so special. Over the past few months, Ixi has taken me on a nostalgic and emotional journey through sounds from my past that have shaped me emotionally. Plus it satisfies my engineering approach to music. Something amazing. At the end of the year, I get a great culmination in the form of the Leaving Hope analysis. Ixi - thank you with all my heart.

Thanks a lot Ixi. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. One of Trent's masterpieces, definitely.

I’d love a video on Trent and Atticus’ new score for Bones and All. Loads to unpack there!!!

At 11 30 you say synth, i always hear it as a guitar playing on half pressed chords. Playing the overtones, or the ones with a zero mode on that particular fret. It is hauntingly beautiful in any case.

"Right where it belongs" is my favorite NIN song.

This is my fav NIN song! Hanging out playing along at home, thanks for this!

Leaving hope is one of the most precious songs that he’s ever given us. This and Home from the With Teeth sessions

4:35 this part is also in the piano version of The day the world went away song, I love it ❣️

My favorite song from this era of NIN.

This song is what my soul sounds like. I want to hear this song as I die. It sums up my entire existance

The hazy, rising synth tone starting at 27:16 always sounds to me like a riptide pulling someone out to sea. The "short E" vocal pad sounds like yelling out to be rescued, until the lower octave conveys surrender.

Beautiful piece. One of my favorites. It’s such a deep track.

As soon as I saw the title I knew it had to be Leaving Hope. Devastating stuff.

i am so glad I stumbled upon your channel. Your NIN break downs fill me with joy. Thank you for existing

Leaving Me Hope, with Leaving Hope.

pretty happy to see that, not a huge nine inch nails fan, but this particular piece was always my absolute favorite of all Reznor's output, thanks alot! acutally, first time i heard it was in a game called "half-quake: amen", and the narrative of this game is this - you're locked in abstract black and white world with no exit, and the main point is that you suffer through series of levels knowing that you will eventually die in a painful way, because exit from this place does not exist. and this piece was a soundtrack for the level where you're waiting for a train on a trainstation for 20 minutes (literally, you wait for 20 minutes). man, that was about like 20 years ago. fell in love with that tune since

Wow I’m glad you are so analytical. It’s like you are acutely aware and really absorb all the layers I experience at different times but all at once. Thanks!

Wooow! This is my NIN Favorite Song!!! Yes, this is the saddest for me!!! Thank you!!!

This is my 2nd fave NIN track right behind Just Like You Imagined . Awesome break down Cheers !

I wish I could thumbs up your vids twice. You go deep in theory, then explain the feel, and it makes sense. Thanks for what you do!

The "choked" sound I think is some kind of percussive tuned instrument (maybe piano, but also marimba, xylophone, etc, something with a sharp transient) put through a very, very underbiased fuzz. Your cat meow analogy is on point: an underbiased fuzz has it's amplifying element (usually a discrete transistor) fed lower than expected current, so it does this thing where it only "turns on" at the very extremes of a waveform going through it, so it sounds choked, sputtery.

Leaving hope means the world to me. And i have not heard anyone put music into words, or analyze composition, as well as you do, in years, if ever. And so, it's like you are handling this piece much better than i do, and it hits the feels, and respects :) Here are my two cents: the guitar notes you compared to meowing that doesn't come through, the overtoney ones, i believe, are a case of pitch harmonics. He'd just touch the strings with the picking hand, just barely, and just right, while picking, to interfere with their movement. Or maybe those are even the natural flageoletes, without pinning the string down? Something among those lines. It's not about distortion settings per se. Thanks for your video!

I don't frequent your channel and for that alone, I should apologize, for constantly you demonstrate what I feel to be truly profound insight with truly excellent musicianship.. That said, I feel that you explore and explain this devastating powerful piece ((.... doubtless, one of my favorites)) with unparalleled sensitivity and skill... Truly, I feel you are... a Beautiful Soul....

Wow great job. I like how you took time to break down why the notes seem to carry the weight they do. Funny how the simplest things can convey so much complexity. That alone is a jewel of insight.

'A Warm Place' for me Very underrated track

While Leaving Hope still tears my soul out, I do get a sense of bittersweet victory from it. The idea of leaving hope behind sounds terrible at first. That’s when I realized what we are without hope, free. This is my Katrina song. I grew up in New Orleans and left after Hurricane Katrina. I really fell in love with this song during that time. Hope can be anchor, an anchor you’re told to be thankful for. But without hope, you can move on and let go. I let go of my past listening to this song while driving across the country to start over. I doubt this was Trent’s intent behind the song, but that’s the feeling I still get from it. Thank you for covering this masterpiece.

i always thought "i'm looking forward to joining you, finally" was the saddest nin song. feels like an old man singing to his dead wife.

Ugh I remember when you could only by this album as the bonus album with "and all that could have been" ... Was definitely my favourite song on that album. Along with all the other (original) musical tracks.

Thank you for this. Damn. It's so good. You've done so well w the break down of the music.

I have never touched a piano in my life.. But you have a way if making me feel like i really understand this beautiful instrument.. When you describe how the notes are emotional if played in a certain way your describing exactly how its hitting me... You make it very interesting...

NIN has grown with me, used to be fast and angry now slower deeper and melancholy.

Excellent analysis of Leaving Hope. Really gave me new appreciation for the track.

My favorite song to cry to, I love your version.

This video made my day. Then I saw the Downward Spiral analysis series, which made my week! As a longtime Reznor fan and musician who loves to mess around with NIN stuff on keys, I thank you.

Leaving Hope certainly has a sadness to it, but it feels like it goes to an urgency and a resolve to action. Also, When you broke down that last part it sounds like the awesome part of Still Right Here from the Ghosts V album: Together. It's also very explorative, might be worth checking out.

The way it slows down, into "death" or whatever, puts me in a thoughtless dissociated fog, it's weird but a cool effect, to happen from listening to sound.

Your insight into, and ability to describe, how music can be so emotionally evocative, is amazing. You so deftly put into words exactly what NIN makes me feel. Great video.

Amazing. So glad you've done this one -- probably my favourite thing Trent has ever written.

11:14 I always thought the melody was a kalimba pushed through a bit crusher. What a masterpiece!

At 21:50 that chord progression.. and the melody u sing in could so be words.. maybe one day someone could find words worthy of this . I kinda doubt it but would love to hear them sung even if theybwerent great words 😊

Still a song that I can’t listen to often. The sadness is overwhelming.

The intro always reminds me of 'Narayan' by The Prodigy.