The Downward Spiral (song)

Album:The Downward Spiral

Length:3:57

Tempo:{{{BPM}}} BPM

Versions:The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)

Live:Self-Destruct Tour

'The Downward Spiral" is often referred to as the final part of The Downward Spiral's story in which the main character kills himself with a gun. The intro to the song contains a chromatic melody very reminiscent of the ending of "Closer" but it is in E Major rather than C Major.

Song Credits

• Production: Trent Reznor
• Mixing engineer: Alan Moulder
• Drums: wp:Andy Kubiszewski

Appearances

Halos

• The Downward Spiral
• Further Down The Spiral

Versions

The Downward Spiral

This is the original album version.

The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)

This remix contains a percolating minor-key melody that incorporates the guitar part of the original album version. It can be found on Further Down The Spiral and the 2-disc Deluxe Edition of The Downward Spiral.

Live

When performed on the Self Destruct tour, the projection screen would show streams of blood slowly descending 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, usually to "Wish."

Lyrics

    He couldn’t believe how easy it was
    He put the gun into his face
    Bang!
    (So much blood for such a tiny little hole)
    
    Problems have solutions
    A lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash
    Everything’s blue
    In this world
    The deepest shade of mushroom blue
    All fuzzy
    Spilling out of my head

The fifth line was changed on the final album cut:

    Problems do have solutions, you know

The seventh line is repeated twice:

    Everything's blue...
    Everything's blue in this world

External Links

Live performance of "The Downward Spiral"