Melissa Dunphy

Other Arrangements

solo voice, piano

Arranged for the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus (Philip Barnes, Artistic Director).

Trent Reznor's "Right Where It Belongs" from the 2005 Nine Inch Nails album [WITH_TEETH], arranged by Melissa Dunphy for the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus.

Note from the Composer

Right Where It Belongs is one of the most emotionally evocative songs in Nine Inch Nails' catalog; since its 2005 release on the album [WITH_TEETH], the deceptively simple chord progression and reflective melody have regularly brought me to tears, drawing comparisons to Arvo P?rt's Spiegel im Spiegel. Every time I've heard it sung live, I find myself impulsively singing countermelodies, so it was a natural choice when I was given the opportunity to create a new arrangement for the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus. The chorus's aptitude for double-choir works allows me to finally realize all the lush harmonies I've imagined while attending Nine Inch Nails concerts over the years.

Text

Right Where It Belongs
By Trent Reznor

See the animal in his cage that you built.
Are you sure what side you're on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye.
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built.
Everything where it belongs.
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart.
And it's all right where it belongs.

What if everything around you
isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know
is an elaborate dream?

And if you look at your reflection,
is it all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks?
Would you find yourself afraid to see?

What if all the world's inside of your head,
just creations of your own?
Your devils and your gods, all the living and the dead,
and you're really all alone?
You can live in this illusion.
You can choose to believe.
You keep looking but you can't find the woods
while you're hiding in the trees.

What if everything around you
isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know
is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection
is that all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks? Would you find yourself afraid to see?

Artwork by Matt Dunphy.

Performances

• 16 Feb, 2025: Saint Louis Chamber Chorus at Kirkwood United Methodist Church, Kirkwood, MO