Changes

| BPM = 150| versions = The Becoming<br>The Becoming (Instrumental)<br>The Becoming (''[[Still]]'')| live = [[Dissonance]] tour <br> [[Performance 2007]]<br>[[Wave Goodbye Tour]]<br>[[NIN 2014 Europe/UK Tour]]<br>[[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour]] through [[NIN 2022]]}}'''"The Becoming"''' is made from many loops of industrial sounds, showcasing the hard sound from seventh track on the 1994 album ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]].'' The main body of the song is in a 13/8 time signature before switching to a 6/8 time signature at the breakdown. It then goes back to 13/8 before ending in 6/8, leading into "[[I Do Not Want This]]." A more semi-acoustic version (with [[Trent Reznor]] on piano, [[Danny Lohner]] on guitar, [[Jerome Dillon]] on drums, with drum machine and samples) can be found on'' [[Still]],'' with which has an accompanying performance video released at the time on www.[[nin.com]]. ===Meaning===The lyrics describe a man fighting against himself, trying to avoid his "becoming," transforming him into a machine without human characteristics and feelings. This is a rare example of [[Trent Reznor directly referencing a name ("Annie") ]] stated in his lyricsan interview[https://www. Usually, he uses ambiguous pronounsyoutube. This expresses com/watch?v=4IwIxiovt_I] that the need idea for attachment, the need to interact intimately with another human despite the narrator's extreme attempts to detach himself from the world. The song begins with industrial noises such as those from metaphor of a person becoming a drum machine and what appears to be distorted screams. At the 3-minute mark it mellows into swooshy sounds with was inspired by [[Shinya Tsukamoto]]'s 'ahh''ing from more emotive voices. There is a final outburst of noise and screaming before fading out with the 'Tetsuo: The Iron Man'ahh''s again. This song structure is indicative of the struggle between the narrator and the noise/machine.

This is the original album version. It begins in a 13/8 time signature with a manipulated piano line, then bursts into drum and [[samples|sample]] loops of screams taken from the film ''Robot Jox''. The drum loop pattern is also nearly identical in "[[The Way Out Is Through]]". At the 3-minute mark, it mellows into an acoustic guitar-led passage in 6/8, with machine-like loops and synthesized chorus pads sampled from Reznor's voice. The quiet portions of the song also contain a backwards sample from the film ''Angel Heart'' where the character is repeatedly yelling "I know who I am!" There is a final outburst of noise and screaming before returning to the acoustic section, which crossfades with the opening of "[[I Do Not Want This]]". The bassline on this track was done with a prototype of the Oberheim OB-Mx synthesizer, called the Obermoog.[http://nindestruct.com/mags/KeyboardMar94.html] While the melody is different, the rhythm and structure of the acoustic sections is reminiscent of the outro bassline on "[[Piggy]]". ===The Becoming (Instrumental)==='''''Running Time: 6:24''''' Released by Reznor via his [[remix.nin.com]] account, this unmastered instrumental version is extended in length, as it does not fade out the ending, rather looping the acoustic guitar riff many times until stopping.

'''''Running Time: 4:30''''' This version appears on the ''Still'' CD, which was Disc 2 disc two of the Deluxe Edition CD of ''And All That Could Have Been'' . Simpler in its instrumentation and without the sample loops, it transitions immediately from the end of "[[The_Fragile_%28song%29#The_Fragile_.28Still.29|The Fragile]]" and ends suddenly after the final "noisy" section. Though he is absent from the credits, [[Danny Lohner]] is currently available through NIN.comclearly seen performing in the video.