Trent Reznor Allowed Black Mirror Creator to Re-Write “Head Like A Hole” Into Fictional Pop Song for Miley Cyrus to Sing

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat

In an out of the blue collaboration, singer Miley Cyrus has covered an alternate version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like A Hole” for the new season of the television show Black Mirror. In an episode featuring Cyrus, the singer performs a version of “Head Like A Hole” with lyrics rewritten by Charlie Brooker. Brooker is the creator of Black Mirror and took it upon himself to create new lyrics for this music filled episode of the Netflix series. The episode was supported by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who personally approved the use of multiple Nine Inch Nails songs for the television show.

Black Mirror is a suspenseful drama on Netflix which focuses each episode on different ways technology could go wrong. The series takes aspects of modern life such as virtual reality and social media and creates dystopias around how each could be transformed into something terrifying. The show takes many of its cues from the classic television drama Twilight Zone, with many equating Black Mirror as the modern version of the classic series. Black Mirror is now in its fifth season, which was released onto Netflix this morning.

The episode featuring the pop focused version of “Head Like A Hole” and other Nine Inch Nails songs is titled “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” and features Miley Cyrus as a popstar. This is not a far cry from Cyrus’ daily life as a musician, with the singer even releasing a new EP just last week. In the episode, a teen becomes obsessed with Cyrus, but revealing anymore about the plot would spoil the episode.

In addition to simply approving the use of the song in the episode of Black Mirror, Nine Inch Nails even released new merchandise in support of the cover. In an announcement on Twitter this morning the band unveiled a new shirt for sale in support of the Black Mirror collaboration. The tee shirt features lyrics from Cyrus’ alternate version of “Head Like A Hole” on the back, along with the names of both Nine Inch Nails and Black Mirror on the front. The shirt is available for purchase now, however it is not expected to ship until near the end of the month. Interested fans can find the Twitter post announcing the shirt below, which also includes a like to Nine Inch Nails’ website where the shirt can be bought.

Photo Credits: Raymond Flotat

Nick Foulk: I am a third year UCSD student pursuing a double major in History and Political Science. I am also passionate about all types of hip-hop, indie, and folk music. I began writing music journalism in 2018 and am excited to see where it takes me.
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