Changes

This album version incorporates white noise drones and the sound of flies, possibly symbolizing the main character's arrival to "the bottom" of madness and self destruction. A surrounding a single acoustic guitar is layered on top, playing the famous "Downward Spiral Motif." The music then moves into a second section and begins to build up, culminating in a third section with sounds of Reznor screaming in desperation, surrounded by thunderous drums, guitar and synthesizer playing the motif, all equalized and manipulated so as to sound distant and less powerful. Reznor recites the lyrics quietly on top. Finally, the song abruptly ends with an elongated cymbal crash and the sound of white noise, which segues into [[Hurt (song)|Hurt]]. On the 5.1 surround sound version, the loud rock ending plays in the back speakers, leaving the front two to play the motif, and the center channel for Reznor's vocals. This song marks the final appearance of the motifon the album, played as follows:<br>[[Image:The_Downward_Spiral_Song_Motif_Tab.JPG|The Motif found on in "The Downward Spiral."]]