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This In the album's [[Year_Zero#Alternate_Reality_Game|alternate reality game]], this could be a song from the perspective of the character known as the [[Angry Sniper]], or also a song about the Red Horse virus referred to in the "hidden" lyrics. It could also state the thought process of somebody who is secretly rebelling against the government in Year Zero.
→The Great Destroyer
==Theories==
==Appearances==
==Versions==
===The Great Destroyer===
This is the original album version. Consisting of two distinct but interrelated sections, the song begins with a drum loop similar in structure to that of "[[Every Day Is Exactly The Same (song)|Every Day Is Exactly The Same]]"," also possibly sharing beat and sounds with "[[Reptile#Reptilian|Reptilian]]"." A simple guitar riff, panned right, and [[Trent Reznor]]'s vocals enter after four measures, playing the first verse. A loud synthesizer rings in the chorus, played with the same instrumentation but with different chords. The second verse features an additional e-bow guitar line in the left channel which drops out for the second chorus, after which the climax is reached when the title is sung in a multi-layered vocal harmony. It quickly builds in intensity and leads into the second section, which features much louder beat loops that were heard earlier underneath the verses and choruses as they are manipulated, crunched, and destroyed. By the end of this coda, its beats have been so mashed that the decaying delay effect sounds nothing like anything else in the song. The opening noise layers of "[[Another Version Of The Truth (song)|Another Version Of The Truth]]" quietly fade in underneath.
===The Great Destroyer (Instrumental)===
"The Great Destroyer" (in its original album form) made its live debut on [[2007/08/01 Moscow, Russia|August 1, 2007]] in Moscow, Russia during the [[Performance 2007]] tour, and was played at almost every show for the rest of the tour. Not long after its debut, it began to include samples from "[[Happiness In Slavery (song)|Happiness In Slavery]]" in the breakdown.
During the [[Lights In The Sky Tour]], "Happiness In Slavery" was no longer in the breakdown. "The Great Destroyer" was played at slightly under half of the shows, appearing before the "Ghosts" section alongside (or instead of) "[[Vessel]]", "[[Me, I'm Not]]", and "[[The Warning (Year Zero song)|The Warning]]". During the [[NIN 2017-2018]] tour, the song featured [[samples]] from speeches made by Donald Trump.
==Lyrics==
==External Links==
*[httphttps://vimeo.com/3515252 "The Great Destroyer" live in Europe, August 2007]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqi_UZ1-EiU "The Great Destroyer" 2014 live visual design by Rob Sheridan]
*[https://archive.org/details/remix-nin-com-audio-00094 "The Great Destroyer" (Instrumental) at archive.org]
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