Changes

| versions = The Downward Spiral<br>The Downward Spiral (Instrumental)<br>The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)<br>The Downward Spiral (A Gilded Sickness)| live = [[Further Down The Spiral Tour]]<br>[[Lights In The Sky Tour]]<br>[[NIN/JA Wave Goodbye Tour]]}}''''"The Downward Spiral"''', thirteenth track on the eponymous [[The Downward Spiral (halo)|album]], is often seen as the final part of the story, in which the main character commits suicide with a gun. The introduction of the song contains a chromatic melody very reminiscent of the ending of "[[Closer]]" but in E Major rather than C Major.

This album version incorporates drones and the sound of flies surrounding a single acoustic guitar layered on top, playing the "Downward Spiral Motif." It also gains a repetitive two-note melody played on Mellotron. The music then moves into a second section and begins to build up, culminating in a third section with sounds of Reznor screaming in desperation, surrounded by thunderous drums, guitar and synthesizer playing the motif, all equalized and manipulated so as to sound distant and less powerful. Reznor recites the lyrics quietly on top. Finally, the song abruptly ends with an elongated cymbal crash and the sound of white noise, which segues into "[[Hurt (song)|Hurt]]". On the 5.1 surround sound version, the loud rock ending plays in the back speakers, leaving the front two to play the motif, and the center channel for Reznor's vocals. The intro [[samples]] the watery noise at the beginning from the film ''Alien'', and also pitched-down strings from the "Twins" cue on the ''Dead Ringers'' score. This song marks the final appearance of the motif on the album, played as follows:<br>

'''''Running Time: 7:28''''' This remix contains a percolating minor-key melody that incorporates the guitar part of the original album version, and it also samples "First Dark Ride" by [[Coil]] vs. The Eskaton. It can be found on ''Further Down The Spiral'' and the 2-disc Deluxe Edition of ''The Downward Spiral.''

"The Downward Spiral" made its live debut on [[1994/08/27 Rochester, NY|August 27, 1994]]. When performed on the [[Self Destruct Tour]], the projection screen would show remain black until the rock section, when streams of blood would slowly descend from the top. Once the screen was completely red, the curtain would rise, revealing the band performing the song. The vocals are absent from live performances, making it an instrumental lead-in, often to "[[Wish (song)|Wish]]." On the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], the song returned to the live set, this time with Reznor performing the acoustic guitar motif on keyboards. On the [[NIN 2014 Europe/UK Tour]], a pre-recorded version of the song was used as a show intro, combined with "[[The New Flesh]]".

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftbB4gqbg84 "The Downward Spiral" live in Toronto, ON 1994/12/01]*[https://archive.org/details/remix-nin-com-audio-02954 "The Downward Spiral" (Instrumental) at archive.org]