Changes

| versions = The Day The World Went Away<br>The Day The World Went Away (Single Version)<br>The Day The World Went Away (Quiet)<br>The Day The World Went Away (Porter Ricks mix)<br>The Day The World Went Away (''[[And All That Could Have Been (halo)|And All That Could Have Been]]'')<br>The Day The World Went Away (''[[Still]]'')

===Meaning===The song's lyrics are rumored to be about the death of [[Trent Reznor]]'s maternal grandmother, Clara, which occured occurred before ''The Fragile'' was recorded. Analysis of the lyrics do support the theory of this song being about a reaction to death, but no one can say with any certainty what Reznor's has not explicitly revealed his lyrical inspiration was. ===Structure==="The Day The World Went Away" follows the percussive and aggressive "[[Somewhat Damaged]]." It is one of [[Nine Inch Nails]]' most uniquely structured songs and it is musically the opposite of "Somewhat Damaged" in almost every way, actually lacking the use of any percussion. It also features the use of a mandolin, another first for NIN.

This is the original album version, found on both ''The Day The World Went AwayFragile.'' (It follows the percussive and aggressive "[[Somewhat Damaged]]," and is one of NIN's most uniquely structured songs. Musically the opposite of "Somewhat Damaged" in edited almost every way, it lacks the use of any standard form and with of percussion. It also features the use of a different vocal take) mandolin, another first for NIN. The drones that form the beginning of the song fade in during the ending of "[[Somewhat Damaged]]," and ''the final, quiet percussive sound that ends the song repeats while fading out into "[[The FragileFrail]]." The song'' Its s introductory guitar chords are extended by roughly 30 seconds on ''The Fragile'' vinyl version.

In this version, the ambient noise fades introductory drone does not fade in at , the beginningverse vocals are a different take, and the first abrasive guitars kick in seven seconds later than they do in the CD album version. The final part section is only half as long, though. It also does not repeat the quiet percussive sound that ends the song as on the album version.

This is a very different version of the song. The structure was changed significantly, moving a different version of the chanting to the beginning of the song and featuring additional vocals by Kim Prevost. The first half features mainly atmospherics and piano behind the vocals, while the second half features a bass riff, quiet guitar, and keyboard pads. This remix was done by Reznorand seems to have formed the basis of the ''Still'' version.

This dub remix done by [[Porter Ricks]] revolves around a thumping beat. The distant vocals can be heard beneath it.

The DVD version of ''And All That Could Have Been'' featured this song as an Easter Egg. Unused clips from the scrapped video are merged with live performance footage. The CD version features the same performance of this song in the regular playlist.

A stripped down, acoustic version of this song was included on the ''Still'' album. It mostly resembles the Quiet mix of the original song, but adapts the end of the song as played on tour into a more relaxed, atmospheric version.

When performed live, the middle second half of the song is extended after the verse and the guitar progression. This extension seems to be modeled after the Quiet mix, but features a tom-driven drum rhythm as well as the guitar doubling the bassline in a higher register. This new section builds in intensity as melodic synthesizers and distorted guitars welcome in the wordless group vocals, eventually becoming more bombastic and louder until ending with two power chords. An example of this altered structure can be found on ''And All That Could Have Been''.