Difference between revisions of "The Way Out Is Through"

Latest revision as of 10:43, 18 February 2025

Album:The Fragile (Right)

Length:4:17

Tempo:120 BPM

Versions:The Way Out Is Through
The Way Out Is Through (Alternate Version)

Live:Fragility
Wave Goodbye Tour through NIN 2013 Festival Tour

"The Way Out Is Through" is the first track on the Right disc of The Fragile. It is one of the more abstract and non-traditional songs on the album, with its structure based around a drawn-out crescendo. It was featured in a teaser trailer for the album, with Trent Reznor singing part of the chorus a cappella. It is often confused with "Underneath It All" due to that song title appearing in its lyrics.

Song Credits

Written by Trent Reznor, Keith Hillebrandt and Charlie Clouser
Piano: Mike Garson

About

Song title

In an interview published in VIVA 2 Magazine[1], Reznor revealed the source of its title: "The way that I couldn't cope with [the death of his grandmother] was by not addressing it or having the courage to write anything. And it took that realization to turn it around and by writing about it and expressing, I felt better about it, I felt like I could see through it. The way out is through. That's where the song title came from because I thought that the way out was skirting the issue and walking on the curb."

Screen capture of the tracking sheet for "The Way Out is Through" from nin.com circa The Fragile era. It reveals the original track title, "Anomaly."

Full track sheet

DOOM end screen text

Its working title, as revealed by a picture of its tracking sheet on nin.com, was "Anomaly." There is a corresponding fan theory that both names are a reference to the 1993 video game Doom - the level "E1M8: Phobos Anomaly". Upon beating that level, the player is met with a text screen that includes the phrase "Looks like you're stuck on the shores of Hell. The only way out is through."

Introduction

On October 15, 2010, Alan Moulder answered a question about the filtering introduction to this song on the PSW Recording Forums:

The filtering was done two ways. The music went through the filters on a Virus synth and that was programmed via midi. We used that treatment a lot on the record. The vocals/whispering that come up at the beginning was done by sending them out to a little Auratone speaker on a long lead and the assistant holding it and walking a long a corridor into a big garage with a U87 mic at the end of it. He started at the end of the corridor and walked right up to the mic. The idea being it sounds like it comes from far away and gets closer. I was bored and thought it'd be funny to do, it took a few attempts to get the timing right.

— Alan Moulder[2]

Appearances

Halos

The Fragile
The Fragile: Deviations 1

Seeds

The Definitive NIN - Quiet Tracks

Versions

The Way Out Is Through

The song begins quietly in 6/8 with percussion and layered ambient sounds and Reznor whispering the first two lines over and over. This gives way to the building of the crescendo, as new drums enter and synthesizers play one of the prominent melodies of the song, all equalized to sound as if underwater. The drum programming here is very similar in pattern to that of "The Becoming." The melody crossfades with another, this one played on guitar, and tone of the song shifts, becoming darker as the song gradually builds to its climax: a simple, drum-driven rhythm matched by distorted guitars and synthesizers. Reznor enters to yell out the chorus, ending the song's climax. It is followed by a denouement featuring the same melody from before the chorus and Reznor's whispering, this time with chromatic piano improvisation over top. The end of the song segues quietly to "Into The Void."

The Way Out Is Through (Alternate Version)

Running Time: 4:26

Released on The Fragile: Deviations 1. Also known as "The Way Out Is Through" (Instrumental) when it was originally released on Apple Music as part of The Fragile Instrumental.

Live

"The Way Out Is Through" made its live debut on November 14, 1999. During the Fragility v1.0 tour, the song was played behind a large curtain onto which images were projected, sung in a lower key and its climax marked both the end of the song and of the "slow section" of the concerts, with the curtain rising and leading into "Wish." Charlie Clouser used a theremin during the song.

Lyrics

    All I've undergone
    I will keep on
    
    Underneath it all
    We feel so small
    The heavens fall
    But still we crawl
    
    All I've undergone
    I will keep on

External links

Interview with VIVA 2 Magazine
"The Way Out Is Through" live from on stage, Holmdel, NJ, 6.06.09

Previous track - "The Great Below"

Track 13 from The Fragile Right (CD), Side D (Vinyl)

Next track - "Into The Void"

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | album = ''[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]]'' (Right)
 | length = 4:17
-| versions = The Way Out Is Through
+| BPM = 120
-| live = [[Fragility v1.0]]
+| versions = The Way Out Is Through<br>The Way Out Is Through (Alternate Version)
-}}
+| live = [[Fragility]]<br>[[Wave Goodbye Tour]] through [[NIN 2013 Festival Tour]]
+}}'''"The Way Out Is Through"''' is the first track on the Right disc of ''[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]].'' It is one of the more abstract and non-traditional songs on the album, with its structure based around a drawn-out crescendo. It was featured in a teaser trailer for the album, with [[Trent Reznor]] singing part of the chorus ''a cappella.'' It is often confused with "[[Underneath It All]]" due to that song title appearing in its lyrics.
-'''''The Way Out Is Through''''' is the first track on the Right disc of ''[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]].'' It is one of the more abstract and non-traditional songs on the album, with its drawn-out crescendo. It was featured in a teaser trailer for the album, with [[Trent Reznor]] singing part of one line ''a cappella.''
+==Song Credits==
-===Song Credits===
 *Written by Trent Reznor, [[Keith Hillebrandt]] and [[Charlie Clouser]]
 *Piano: [[Mike Garson]]
+==About==
+===Song title===
+In an interview published in ''VIVA 2'' Magazine[http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/display/827], Reznor revealed the source of its title: "The way that I couldn't cope with [the death of his grandmother] was by not addressing it or having the courage to write anything. And it took that realization to turn it around and by writing about it and expressing, I felt better about it, I felt like I could see through it. The way out is through. That's where the song title came from because I thought that the way out was skirting the issue and walking on the curb."
+[[Image:Twoit tracksheet.png|thumb|Screen capture of the tracking sheet for "The Way Out is Through" from nin.com circa The Fragile era. It reveals the original track title, "Anomaly."]]
+[[Image:TWOIT full track sheet.png|thumb|Full track sheet]]
+[[Image:Doom-ep-1-epilogue.jpg|thumb|''DOOM'' end screen text]]Its working title, as revealed by a picture of its tracking sheet on [[nin.com]], was "Anomaly." There is a corresponding fan theory that both names are a reference to the 1993 video game ''Doom'' - the level "E1M8: Phobos Anomaly". Upon beating that level, the player is met with a text screen that includes the phrase "Looks like you're stuck on the shores of Hell. The only way out is through."
+===Introduction===
+On October 15, 2010, [[Alan Moulder]] answered a question about the filtering introduction to this song on the PSW Recording Forums:
+<blockquote><p>
+The filtering was done two ways. The music went through the filters on a Virus synth and that was programmed via midi. We used that treatment a lot on the record. The vocals/whispering that come up at the beginning was done by sending them out to a little Auratone speaker on a long lead and the assistant holding it and walking a long a corridor into a big garage with a U87 mic at the end of it. He started at the end of the corridor and walked right up to the mic. The idea being it sounds like it comes from far away and gets closer. I was bored and thought it'd be funny to do, it took a few attempts to get the timing right.<br>
+— Alan Moulder[http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/mv/msg/32698/502417/0/#msg_502417]</p></blockquote>
 ==Appearances==
 ===Halos===
 *''The Fragile''
+*''[[The Fragile: Deviations 1]]''
+===Seeds===
+*''[[The Definitive NIN - Quiet Tracks]]''
 ==Versions==
 ===The Way Out Is Through===
-This is the only available version.
+The song begins quietly in 6/8 with percussion and layered ambient sounds and Reznor whispering the first two lines over and over. This gives way to the building of the crescendo, as new drums enter and synthesizers play one of the prominent melodies of the song, all equalized to sound as if underwater. The drum programming here is very similar in pattern to that of "[[The Becoming]]." The melody crossfades with another, this one played on guitar, and tone of the song shifts, becoming darker as the song gradually builds to its climax: a simple, drum-driven rhythm matched by distorted guitars and synthesizers. Reznor enters to yell out the chorus, ending the song's climax. It is followed by a denouement featuring the same melody from before the chorus and Reznor's whispering, this time with chromatic piano improvisation over top. The end of the song segues quietly to "[[Into The Void (song)|Into The Void]]."
+===The Way Out Is Through (Alternate Version)===
+'''''Running Time: 4:26'''''
+Released on ''The Fragile: Deviations 1''. Also known as "The Way Out Is Through" (Instrumental) when it was originally released on Apple Music as part of ''The Fragile Instrumental''.
 ==Live==
-During the [[Fragility v1.0]] tour, the song was traditionally played in a lower key and the climax of this song marked the end of the 'slow section', with the curtain rising and leading into "[[Wish]]."
+"The Way Out Is Through" made its live debut on [[1999/11/14 Barcelona, Spain|November 14, 1999]]. During the [[Fragility v1.0]] tour, the song was played behind a large curtain onto which images were projected, sung in a lower key and its climax marked both the end of the song and of the "slow section" of the concerts, with the curtain rising and leading into "[[Wish (song)|Wish]]." Charlie Clouser used a theremin during the song.
-== Lyrics ==
+==Lyrics==
-      All I’ve undergone
+      All I've undergone
       I will keep on
-      [[Underneath it all]]
+      Underneath it all
       We feel so small
       The heavens fall
       But still we crawl
-      All I’ve undergone
+      All I've undergone
       I will keep on
+==External links==
+*[http://theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=827 Interview] with ''VIVA 2'' Magazine
+*[http://vimeo.com/8348004 "The Way Out Is Through" live from on stage, Holmdel, NJ, 6.06.09]
+{{Succession box
+| title=[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]] Right (CD), Side D (Vinyl)
+| before=[[The Great Below]]
+| after=[[Into The Void (song)|Into The Void]]
+| track=13}}
 [[Category:NIN Songs]]