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→Closer
==Versions==
===Closer===
This is the original album version, found on both ''The Downward Spiral'' and ''Closer To God''. It begins with an electronic beat. A keyboard pattern and sixteenth-note cymbal pattern join in along with the vocals. Layers are continuously added before dropping out at the end, leaving a simple chromatic piano melody to end the song and segue into "[[Ruiner]]". The version on ''Closer To God'', however, allows the final piano note and background noise to ring out completely. The snare drum comes from a Roland R-70 drum machine[http://nindestruct.com/mags/KeyboardMar94.html], and the bass drum is [[samples|sampled]] from "[[Nightclubbing]]" by Iggy Pop. The track also features a reversed and heavily processed sample from "Take A Chance With Me" by Roxy Music, which is most easily heard during the ending (starting from 5:52.) The sample is also used as an intro when the song is played live. Per [[Brian Liesegang]] on Gearspace[https://gearspace.com/board/showpost.php?p=16934256&postcount=1311], the bassline on this track was done with a prototype of the Oberheim OB-Mx synthesizer, called the Obermoog.
Being the third song on the album to contain the famous "Downward Spiral Motif," "Closer" plays the motif in similar structure to "[[The Downward Spiral (song)|The Downward Spiral]]", but in a different key:
After being in setlist rotation for 14 years, Reznor stated in a web interview that the song was "nowhere on the setlist" for the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], despite it later being played a handful of times on that tour, with Reznor playing the breakdown from "The Only Time" instead of [[Alessandro Cortini]]. During the [[Tension 2013 Tour]], "Closer" was referenced during some live performances of "[[All Time Low]]".
Starting in 2014, it again became a regular in setlists, and was also regularly performed as a remixed version in collaboration with [[Boys Noize]] on Act III of the [[Peel It Back Tour]]. This version stays relatively similar to the album version, though with a clearer techno/EDM influence, including the use of a vocoder.
==Covers==