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It can be argued that the song is heavily infuenced influenced by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mer_(Debussy) Debussy piece of the same name]. Both songs build up to create a sonic atmosphere, and both are (obviously) titled the same.

When asked about any classical composers who have inspired him, Trent Reznor said in a Yahoo! Chat in December 1999[https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=899]:

<blockquote>"DebusseyDebussy. I was sitting in Big Sur, losing my mind. His contribution was that you need to be regimented, with whatever you decide to do. When I was sitting there, Debussey Debussy and I had a mind meld for a second. I felt the need to plagiarize the title, '"La Mer'". He revolutionized the Mozart bullshit world of everything was rigid and stabilized."</blockquote>

"La Mer" made its live debut on [[1999/11/14 Barcelona, Spain|November 14, 1999]]. On ''And All That Could Have Been,'' it is performed live against the backdrop of three visual screens that display images of the sea. Towards the end of the song, Reznor presses against the screen on the center and moves his hands across the panel, as the blurry image of a woman is revealed before the screen fades to black. The imagery was provided by Bill Viola. During the [[Fragility v2.0]] tour, the main piano melody was played on a Martin Backpacker mini acoustic guitar.