A Warm Place

Album:The Downward Spiral

Length:3:22

Tempo:70 BPM

Versions:A Warm Place
A Warm Place (Instrumental)
A Warm Place (Natural Born Killers edit)
A Warm Place (Illum Tangendo)

Live:Wave Goodbye Tour

"A Warm Place" is the tenth track on The Downward Spiral.

"Crystal Japan" resemblance

Trent Reznor has been accused of ripping off the theme of "A Warm Place" from David Bowie's 1980 single "Crystal Japan". He did state that Bowie's album Low (1977) had the biggest influence in the making of The Downward Spiral,[1] though Low does not contain "Crystal Japan." Some have claimed that what is heard is deceiving; that from a musical theory point of view, there exist significant differences between the structures of the two melodies.

Trent himself recognised the accidental musical similarity in an interview with David Bowie. [2]

Song Credits

• Production: Flood and Trent Reznor
• Mixing Engineer: Alan Moulder

Appearances

Halos

• The Downward Spiral
• Closure

Seeds

• The Definitive NIN - Quiet Tracks

Soundtracks

• Natural Born Killers

Versions

A Warm Place

This version is on both The Downward Spiral and Closure. Consisting solely of synthesizer chords and melodies, it remains quiet, tranquil, and reflective throughout. Its structure is very simple, containing only few different chord progressions and a couple of different melody lines. Beginning directly after the sudden ending of "Big Man With A Gun," the piece ends by crossfading with the opening samples of "Eraser."

A Warm Place (Instrumental)

Released by Reznor via his remix.nin.com account, this version is identical to the album version, except it does not contain the bits of "Eraser" fading in at the end.

A Warm Place (Natural Born Killers edit)

This version is essentially the same as the album version, but is shorter. Also, the straw sounds that lead into "Eraser" have been edited out. In the movie itself, the song served as a backdrop to the showdown between Mickey Knox and Jack Scagnetti after the first part of the prison riot scene.

A Warm Place (Illum Tangendo)

This is the original version of the song, but features new vocals and lyrics by Stella Katsoudas (aka Stella Soleil), the lead singer and main force behind Sister Soleil, added on top. The song was put together in 1999 for the soundtrack to the film Stigmata but was not included, allegedly due to a quarrel between Reznor and Billy Corgan, who produced the soundtrack. Previously, the song had never been officially released, although Katsoudas has used it in some ballet performances, causing the track to subsequently surface on torrent websites. More recently, the track has been uploaded to remix.nin.com by Reznor and is available for download. Its title means "touching him" in Latin. The added lyrics are:

    Water rolls down the skin like tiny beads 
    Eyes close so that they might see 
    Illum tangendo
    This sun is a star in someone else's sky 
    Illum tangendo
    This moon is making someone cry 
    Illum tangendo

Live

"A Warm Place" made its live debut on August 23, 2009, at Webster Hall in New York City. Much of the song's live incarnation consists of pre-recorded samples, such as the constant tremolo guitar that runs throughout, while the band members man keyboards to recreate some of the other melodies. The song was also performed at the Hollywood Palladium nine days later on September 2, 2009.

Sample

A barely audible message is heard layered under the track in the very beginning of the song (repeating approximately 6 times):

    The best thing about life
    Is knowing you put it together

Previous track - "Big Man With A Gun" Track 10 from The Downward Spiral Next track - "Eraser"