==Live==
"The Downward Spiral" made its live debut on [[1994/08/27 Rochester, NY|August 27, 1994]]. When performed on the [[Self Destruct Tour]], the projection screen would show remain black a still shot of an empty room until the rock section, when streams a wave of blood would slowly descend from the top. Once the screen was completely red, the curtain would rise, revealing the band performing the song. The vocals are absent from live performances, making it an instrumental lead-in, often to "[[Wish (song)|Wish]]." On the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], the song returned to the live set, this time with Reznor performing the acoustic guitar motif on keyboards. On the [[NIN 2014 Europe/UK Tour]], a pre-recorded version of the song was used as a show intro, combined with "[[The New Flesh]]".
==Lyrics==