The Downward Spiral (song)

Album:The Downward Spiral

Length:3:57

Tempo:{{{BPM}}} BPM

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

Live:Further Down The Spiral 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: Andy Kubiszewski

Appearances

Halos

• The Downward Spiral
• Further Down The Spiral

Seeds

• The Definitive NIN - Quiet Tracks

Versions

The Downward Spiral

The final chapter in the album, The Downward Spiral incorporates white noise and the sound of flies, symbolizing the main character's arrival to "the bottom" of madness and self destruction. A single acoustic guitar is layered on top, playing the famous "Downward Spiral Motif." The music then begins to build up, culminating with sounds of Trent screaming in desperation. A heavy drum line is added onto the screaming and the lyrics are whispered on top. Finally, the song abruptly ends, with only the sound of white noise providing a segue into Hurt. This song marks the final appearance of the motif, played as follows:

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"

Previous track - "Reptile" Track 13 from The Downward Spiral Next track - "Hurt"