Changes

}}'''"Reptile"''' is the twelfth track on 1994's ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]].'' At 6:52, it is the longest track on the album. In an [http://thetentosaga.com/theninwebpit/axcess.html interview], [[Trent Reznor]] stated that he would have liked the song to have been released as a single. In 2021, a [[Hoaxes_and_jokes#nin.com_Memorial_Day_sale|fake cassette single]] of "Reptile" was put up for sale on the [[nin.com]] store as a joke.

This is the original album version. Characteristic of the band's mid-90s industrial rock sound, it opens with an eerie and quiet machine-like sound collage [[samples|sampled ]] from the film ''Leviathan'', which transitions into an imitative musical composition. The structure, repetitive in nature, contains three distinct but similar sections, all driven by machine-like percussion loops and undulating rhythm guitar and synthesized bass. The choruses reflect a brighter mood with prominent melodic synthesizers and glimpses of guitar. The three sections are joined by two quiet instrumental breaks, a technique used later on "[[Even Deeper]]." The ascending synth melody from 5:13 to 5:20 seems to be a reference to or an interpolation of "Laura Palmer's Theme" from the television show ''Twin Peaks''. During this same section, there is a looped sample of a woman saying, "Kirk, help?" from the film ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre''. The "gong" sound that appears midway through the track and after the bridge is also used near the end of "[[Hurt (song)|Hurt]]", but the pitch is changed. The drums used are the same as on "Fell From Heaven" by Lead Into Gold (a Paul Barker side-project, and one whose music video for "Faster Than Light" features a cameo from Reznor.) This may be strictly coincidence, given that some of the same or similar instruments may have been used, or it could be an actual sample.

The song has always been performed with the beep melody as an introduction, though sometimes without the machine loop collage. During the second quiet bridge, Reznor often sings "please don't hurt me," followed by a desperate cry. Reznor sometimes alters the final line of the first verse to say "a thousand lovers" instead of "a thousand others." During the [[Self Destruct Touring Cycle|Self Destruct tours]], the band would be bathed in green light and reptilian "scales" would be projected onto them. On the [[Year Zero Warm-Up Tour]], the intro was further extended with a more articulate sound and Reznor whispering over it.

This song was also reworked and featured in the [http://www.nin.com/current/radioshows/index.html Boston, Massachusetts radio performance], ([[Peter Murphy]], Reznor, [[Atticus Ross]], and [[Jeordie White]]) on [[2006/06/23 Boston, MA (Radio show)|June 23, 2006]], with its ending transitioning into a cover of "Haunted When the Minutes Drag" by Love and Rockets. The drum loops used in this iteration seem to use the same sound set and a similar beat as those in "[[The Good Soldier]]."