Capital G

"Capital G" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their fifth studio album, Year Zero (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, Trent Reznor stated that the "G" stands for "greed".

The song is in a time signature with a triplet feel and is in the key of D. "Capital G" is one of NIN's more obviously satirical tracks: Reznor sings deliberately outrageous lines - "don't give a shit about the temperature in Guatemala / ain't gonna worry 'bout no future generations" - in a shuffle rhythm, ending certain lines with a sudden increase in pitch.

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 confirmed this fact:

"It will not be a halo. It's a simple 9" vinyl release the record company really wanted to put out—Europe only, I believe. Side A is Capital G, side B is the Dave Sitek Survivalism remix. It will be nice for the people who have the 9" collector box, but we kept a halo # off of it because it doesn't warrant one, and so regular collectors wouldn't feel any pressure to pick it up just for the sake of completeness."

- Rob Sheridan

The song was first played on radio on April 4, 2007. As of April 27, 2007, "Capital G" is listed on the Mediabase 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 was available for download as an "exhibit" in WAV format at exterminal.net, a website within the Year Zero alternate reality game revealed by decrypting a binary code sequence on the Year Zero's thermochrome disc when heated.

On April 26, 2007, the official Year Zero website published the multitrack audio files of "Capital G" for GarageBand and Logic Pro, 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 chart.

Formats and track listings

 * UK limited-edition 9" single
 * A. "Capital G" – 3:49
 * B. "Survivalism" (Dave Sitek Mix) – 4:30


 * US promotional CD single (INTR-12130-2)
 * 1) "Capital G" (edit) – 3:49
 * 2) "Capital G" (album) – 3:49


 * US promotional CD single (INTR-12230-2)
 * 1) "Capital G" (Phones 666 RPM Mix) – 7:23
 * 2) "Capital G" (Switch Remix) – 5:01


 * German promotional CD single
 * 1) "Capital G" (album) – 3:51
 * 2) "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

 * Trent Reznor – songwriting, production, vocals
 * Josh Freese – drums
 * Geoff "Double G" Gallegos – baritone saxophone
 * Matt Demeritt – tenor saxophone
 * Elizabeth Lea – trombone
 * William Artope – trumpet
 * Atticus Ross – production