| versions = Hand Covers Bruise <br> Hand Covers Bruise, Reprise <br> Hand Covers Bruise (No Piano)
| live = N[[NIN 2014 Japan Tour]] through [[NIN 2014 Europe/AUK Tour]]}} '''"Hand Covers Bruise"''' is the first track from ''[[The Social Network Soundtrack]]'', written by [[Trent Reznor]] and [[Atticus Ross]]. Its tempo is 65 BPM according to the MP3 tags.
Its first appearance was as the No Piano version on ''The Social Network'''s official website as background music in the form of a streaming MP3 at 256kbps. Later, the site was updated to play the original "Hand Covers Bruise".
A shortened version of the piece is titled "Main Title Sequence" on the Sony Pictures website for Academy Award consideration, while a shortened version of its reprise is titled "What Are We Doing About This?". At the same source, "What Were the Shares Diluted Down To?" is a slightly different take of the former, its piano sounding softer and more distant, and with a much shorter, darker bass drone section.
==Title==
In a ''Rolling Stone'' [http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/trent-reznor-talks-oscars-lollapalooza-memories-20110315 interview], Reznor explained the song's title:
<blockquote>"I needed to come up with 18 names of songs in a day. I was faced with the task of "'Let's not name it '"Mark Runs Across Campus"'" [laughs]. When we were coming up with ideas of what the music would sound like, one of them happened to be called "Hand Covers Bruise," and it seemed to fit perfectly with that theme."</blockquote>
==Versions==
===Hand Covers Bruise===
This is the original version. Beginning quietly with a mid-pitched drone that twinkles across the stereo field, a sustained piano melody plays over top. A second layer soon joins in, this one shimmering much like one of the layers at the beginning of "[[Just Like You Imagined]]"." As higher-pitched drones fade in and out, synthesized bass hits enter intermittently. The piano melody returns again on top. Once the bass hits and piano stop, the drones hit a disharmonic apex, petering out to silence. "Main Title Sequence" is a shorter edit of this version, fading out quickly after the second round of bass hits; "What Were the Shares Diluted Down To?" is a slightly different take on the track, with a softer, much more distant version of the piano melody, and a fade out after one round of bass hits.
===Hand Covers Bruise, Reprise===
===Hand Covers Bruise (No Piano)===
This version is the same as the original, but lacks the piano melodies.
==Live==
This song debuted live on the first night of the [[NIN 2014 Japan Tour]] and made fifteen further appearances throughout the year, always segueing into "[[Beside You In Time (song)|Beside You in Time]]".
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[[Category:Related to NIN]][[Category: NIN Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Songs]][[Category:NIN Instrumentals]]