| BPM = 116
| versions =Ruiner<br>Ruiner (Version)<br>Ruiner (Demo)
| live =[[Self Destruct Touring Cycle]] <br> [[Performance 2007]]<br>[[Wave Goodbye Tour]]<br>[[Peel It Back Tour]]}}'''"Ruiner"''' is the sixth track on ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]].'' In 2004, a demo version was released with the 10th Anniversary 2-disc Deluxe Edition of ''The Downward Spiral.''It is one of the many songs to include the phrase "[[Nothing Can Stop Me Now|nothing can stop me now]]."
[[Trent Reznor]] stated it was "the hardest song to write" for the record in a 1994 interview. "I still don't know if I got it right," he said. "I have such a bad vibe from that song now--from it sucking in so many different ways. That was actually two different songs stuck together."[http://nothing.nin.net/int20.html]
==Versions==
===Ruiner===
This is the original album version. Dominated through its verses and pre-choruses by a danceable drum loop and accompanying synthesizers, the verses are sung somewhat maliciously, only to become quite fast and layered in the pre-choruses. In contrast, the chorus uses much simpler instrumentation, relegated only to a simpler drum loop and loud, powerful synthesizer chords, with Reznor talking quietly yet intensely on top. The heavily distorted synth melody during the chorus is similar to that heard on "[[Pinion]]", though it has a lower pitch. The bridge of the song goes in a completely different direction, slowing it down with a panned bassline, manipulated live drum takes, and a fuzzy guitar solo. Returning to the chorus afterward, the song ends suddenly on the word "stop." The song's drum beat is [[samples|sampled]] from "Beat Box" by Art of Noise. The bridge features a pitched-up sample of the elephant sounds from the opening scene of [[David Lynch]]'s ''The Elephant Man'', and a buried scream from the film ''Parents''.
The bridge of this song features a rare guitar solo by Reznor. In the April 1994 issue of ''Guitar World,''[https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=555] he was asked about it:
==Live==
"Ruiner" was performed live on the [[Self-Destruct Tour]] but would be retired until the [[Performance 2007]] tour, when it was played again for the first time in almost 13 years.
It was then performed as a reworked version with augmented lyrics on the [[Peel It Back Tour]]. The song would start with Reznor alone on a digital piano, but would add atmospherics, bass, and beats as [[Alessandro Cortini]] and [[Atticus Ross]] joined Reznor on the B-stage.
==Lyrics==
You didn't hurt me nothing can hurt me
You didn't hurt me nothing can stop me now
During the Peel It Back Tour, Reznor did not sing the pre-chorus; instead incorporating similar lyrics into the newly extended verses. For the first verse, the lyrics are as such:
You had all of them on your side, didn't you?
You believed in all your lies, didn't you?
Now he's found a way for you to believe, didn't you?
Now I see you're wearing his disease, didn't you?
For the second verse, the lyrics are as such:
You had to give them all a sign, didn't you?
You had to covet what was mine, didn't you?
Farther than I ever thought you would go, didn't you?
But maybe that hurt me more than you would ever know, ever know