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| BPM = 150
| versions = The Becoming<br>The Becoming (Instrumental)<br>The Becoming (''[[Still]]'')
| live = [[Dissonance]] <br> [[Performance 2007]]<br>[[Wave Goodbye Tour]]<br>[[NIN 2014 Europe/UK Tour]]<br>[[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour]]through present
}}'''"The Becoming"''' is the seventh track on the 1994 album ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]].'' A semi-acoustic version can be found on ''[[Still]],'' which has an accompanying performance video released at the time on [[nin.com]]. The bassline on this track was done with a prototype of the Oberheim OB-Mx synthesizer.[https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw4RM5movKf/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=jqklvyc8wfw7] [[Trent Reznor]] stated in an interview[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IwIxiovt_I] that the idea for the metaphor of a person becoming a machine was inspired by [[Shinya Tsukamoto]]'s ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man''.
==Versions==
===The Becoming===
This is the original album version. It begins in a 13/8 time signature with a manipulated piano line, then bursts into drum and [[samples|sample]] loops of screams taken from the film ''Robot Jox''. The drum loop pattern is also nearly identical in "[[The Way Out Is Through]]"." At the 3-minute mark, it mellows into an acoustic guitar-led passage in 6/8, with machine-like loops and synthesized chorus pads sampled from Reznor's voice. The quiet portions of the song also contain a backwards sample from the film ''Angel Heart'' where the character is repeatedly yelling "I know who I am!" There is a final outburst of noise and screaming before returning to the acoustic section, which crossfades with the opening of "[[I Do Not Want This]]"."
===The Becoming (Instrumental)===
==Live==
This song, played live frequently on the [[Dissonance]] Tour and relegated to rarity status until its brief return on the [[Performance 2007]] Tour, was resurrected for the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], during which it was characterized by [[Robin Finck]]'s use of an acoustic guitar throughout. However, the structure of the song stayed close to the album version, with distortion used on the acoustic guitar for the loud parts. These performances also dropped the ''Robot JoxxJox'' sample loop.
==Lyrics==
*[http://vimeo.com/61677369 "The Becoming" (''Still'') music video]
*[http://vimeo.com/5133409 "The Becoming" live from on stage at the Sasquatch Festival, 5.24.09]
*[https://archive.org/details/remix-nin-com-audio-02953 "The Becoming" (Instrumental) at archive.org]
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