"Head Like a Hole" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the second single from the group's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine. Although one of the more rock-oriented tracks on the album, many elements of electronic and dance music are still featured. The lyrical contents deal with themes of betrayal and angst, consistent with the rest of the album. "Head Like a Hole" is among the band's most famous songs, and remains both a critical and fan favorite. It enjoyed heavy rotation on the radio at the time of its release, eventually reaching number 9 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. It has been covered by several artists, including Devo, Showbread, AFI, Korn, and even Carnifex. The song was also rewritten as "On a Roll" (performed by Miley Cyrus in character as Ashley O) for the Black Mirror episode "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too". Recording Trent Reznor wrote "Head Like a Hole" in 1988, after touring with Skinny Puppy. Flood, Adrian Sherwood, and Keith LeBlanc were co-producers of the song, and it was recorded in 1989. "Head Like a Hole" was one of the last songs completed for the album, since Flood did not arrive to the studio until the completion of Depeche Mode's Violator (1990). Reznor said that the song emerged from the feel that "I needed something to kind of break the guitars out and be a bit more aggressive", while also conveying his fears that TVT Records would not be helpful to him, with the aggression turned up further by producer Keith LeBlanc after Reznor learned that the label had not liked the early version of his album. Music and lyrics "Head Like a Hole" has been classified as an industrial rock and electronic rock song, and recognized as an "industrial dance anthem". The tempo is 115 BPM, and it is played in the key of E Minor. The chords of this song are similar to the project's debut single, "Down in It". In contrast to "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole" has a longer intro, lasts roughly one minute longer (the song is five minutes long in its aggregate length), is heavy metal music-oriented, and has no rapping. "Head Like a Hole" is also the opening track on Nine Inch Nails' 1989 debut album, and is one of the two Nine Inch Nails songs produced by Flood