Changes

| versions = Closer<br>Closer (Instrumental)<br>Closer (Clean Pussy Radio Edit)<br>Closer (Demo)<br>Closer To God<br>Closer (Precursor)<br>Closer (Further Away)<br>Closer (Deviation)<br>Closer (Internal)<br>Closer (Thrust)<br>Closer (Unrecalled)<br>Closer (''[[And All That Could Have Been (halo)|And All That Could Have Been]]'')<br>Closer (''[[Beside You In Time (halo)|Beside You In Time]]'')| live = [[Self Destruct Touring Cycle]] through [[Wave Goodbye NIN 2013 Festival Tour]]<br>[[NIN 2014 Europe/UK Tour]] throught present}} '''"Closer"''' is the fifth track on the 1994 release ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]'' and is perhaps the most well-known song by [[Nine Inch Nails]], as it received much airplay both on radio and music video television. The subject matter seems to be about a feeling of worthlessness being quelled through control over others using sex. The song was at the number 2 position on AOL's "69 Sexiest Songs of All Time," mostly due to the explicit frankness of its chorus.

*''[[In_pop_culture#Film|Se7en]]'' (1995)*''[[In_pop_culture#Film|The Hitcher]]'' (2007)

*''[[Use in Video Games#Guitar_Hero:_Warriors_of_Rock|Guitar Hero: Warriors of Of Rock]]''*''[[Rock BandUse in Video Games#Rock_Band|Rock Band 3]]'' (available for download)

This is the original album version, found on both ''The Downward Spiral'' and ''Closer To God.'' It begins with an electronic beat, of which the bass drum is sampled from the Iggy Pop song "[[Nightclubbing]]"." 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 To God,'' however, allows the final piano note and background noise to ring out completely. 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. 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:

'''''Running Time: 6:26''''' Released by Reznor via his [[remix.nin.com ]] account, this is an unmastered and complete version of the album cut, sans his vocals.

===Closer (Demo)To God===Exclusive to the [[Uncoiled]] release.'''''Running Time: 5:05'''''

You can have my absence of faith, you can have my everything

On the DJ promo vinyl for its release, the track runs roughly 5:29, fading out at the end. "Closer to To God" is one of the only remixes that has been performed live (on the [[Dissonance]] tour). On the DJ promo vinyl for its release, the track runs roughly 5:29, fading out at the end.

'''''Running Time: 7:16''''' This is an atmospheric remix, made up of heavily distorted synth and percussion loops that sound like machinery. The line "I want to fuck you like an animal" is repeated heavily in the last half. When the song reaches its ending, it changes from the mechanical sound of the rest of the remix to a stripped down form, consisting of only the first verse lyrics, a piano, and the synth drone from the beginning and end of the original song. This remix A special edit was featured used in the opening credits for the of [[David Fincher]] film, 's ''Se7en.''.

'''''Running Time: 5:54''''' This remix didn't make it onto the ''Closer To God'' EP, but can be streamed or downloaded from [[remix.nin.com]]. This is essentially a variation on "Closer (Internal)".

 Video ===Credits:===

"Closer" had has been regularly performed live since 1994. Starting from [[Live: With Teeth]] tour, the instrumental breakdown of "The Only Time" was incorporated into the breakdown of "Closer's" breakdown. Also, the second to last line of the song has been sung as "I am the honey inside your hive" instead of "I drink the honey inside your hive." An example of this can be seen on ''Beside You In Time.''

After being in setlist rotation for 14 years, Reznor stated in a web interview that the song is "nowhere on the setlist" for the [[Wave Goodbye Tour]], despite it later being played a handful of times on that tour, with Trent 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]]".