The Becoming

Album: The Downward Spiral

Length:5:31

Tempo:{{{BPM}}} BPM

Versions:The Becoming
The Becoming (Still)

Live:Dissonance tour
Performance 2007
NIN|JA 2009

"The Becoming" is made from many loops of industrial sounds, thus typical of The Downward Spiral. Its main body is in a 13/8 time signature before switching to a 6/8 time signature at the breakdown. It then goes back to 13/8 before ending in 6/8, crossfading into "I Do Not Want This."

A semi-acoustic version can be found on Still, which has an accompanying video released at the time on nin.com.

Meaning

The lyrics describe a man fighting against himself, trying to avoid his "becoming," transforming him into a machine without human characteristics and feelings. Its structure, described below, is indicative of this struggle.

This is a rare example of Reznor directly referencing a name ("Annie") in his lyrics. Usually, he uses ambiguous pronouns. This expresses the need for attachment, the need to interact intimately with another human despite the narrator's extreme attempts to detach himself from the world.

Song Credits

• Production: Flood and Trent Reznor
• Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder
• Ring Mod Guitar: Adrian Belew
• ARP2600: Flood

Appearances

Halos

• The Downward Spiral (1994)
• And All That Could Have Been (Deluxe Edition CD; 2002)
• Still

Seeds

• The Definitive NIN - Deep Cuts

Versions

The Becoming

This is the original album version. It begins with industrial noises such as a drum machine and loops of screams taken from the film Robot Joxx. At the 3-minute mark, it mellows into an acoustic guitar-led passage, with swooshy sounds and synthesized chorus pads sampled from Reznor's voice. There is a final outburst of noise and screaming before returning to the acoustic section, which fades out.

The Becoming (Still)

This version appears on the Still CD, which was Disc 2 of the Deluxe Edition CD of And All That Could Have Been and is currently available through nin.com.

Song Credits

• Performance: Trent Reznor, Jerome Dillon
• Mix engineering: Alan Moulder
• Engineering: Alan Moulder
• Second Engineering: Leo Herrera
• Programming: Keith Hillebrandt

Lyrics

    I beat my machine it's a part of me it's inside of me
    I'm stuck in this dream it's changing me I am becoming
    The me that you know had some second thoughts
    He's covered with scabs he is broken and sore
    The me that you know doesn't come around much
    That part of me isn’t here anymore
    
    All pain disappears it's the nature of my circuitry
    Drowns out all I hear no escape from this my new consciousness
    The me that you know used to have feelings
    But the blood has stopped pumping and he's left to decay
    The me that you know is now made up of wires
    And even when I'm right with you I'm so far away
    
    I can try to get away but I've strapped myself in
    I can try to scratch away the sound in my ears
    I can see it killing away all my bad parts
    I don't want to listen but it's all too clear
    Hiding backwards inside of me I feel so unafraid
    Annie, hold a little tighter I might just slip away
    
    It won't give up it wants me dead
    Goddamn this noise inside my head

External Links

• "Still" video

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