One of my favourite songs of all time is "Closer", by Nine Inch Nails. You probably know it. It's the one with the chorus that goes

I wanna fuck you like an animal
I wanna feel you from the inside
I wanna fuck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to God.

Now, this is a song that gets misinterpreted and misused a lot. People will tend to categorize it alongside songs like "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo" by Bloodhound Gang, or "Horny" by Mousse T, or anything by E-Rotic. There is a tendency to assume that any song with a lyric like "I wanna fuck you like an animal" must be a cheeky, naughty, hedonistic tune about the animalistic joy of boning.

But the song isn't called "Fuck You Like An Animal". The song is called "Closer".

Help me
I broke apart my insides
Help me
I've got no soul to sell
Help me
The only thing that works for me
Help me get away from myself

Does any of that sound like a bouncy, feisty, sex-positive celebration of the act of intimacy to you?

"Closer" is a song about addiction. It's a song about depression. It's a song about obsession and desperation and resignation and darkness. It's a song about a profoundly unhealthy and unhappy person seeking a temporary oblivion in carnal excess.

It's not a beautiful song, by any stretch of the imagination. It's not a happy song, it's not a love song, and it's certainly not a sex-positive song.

But it's a song that expresses something true, and, as such, I think it's an important song.