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| BPM = 100| 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>[[Wave Goodbye Tour]]}}''''"The Downward Spiral"''' is often referred to as , thirteenth track on the final part of ''eponymous [[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiralalbum]]'s'' , is often seen as the final part of the story , in which the main character kills himself commits suicide with a gun. The intro to introduction of the song contains a chromatic melody very reminiscent of the ending of "[[Closer]]" but it is in E Major rather than C Major.

The final chapter in the This album, The Downward Spiral version incorporates white noise drones and the sound of flies, symbolizing the main character's arrival to "the bottom" of madness and [[Mr. Self Destruct|self destruction]]. A surrounding a single acoustic guitar is layered on top, playing the famous "Downward Spiral Motif." The music then moves into a second section and begins to build up, culminating in a third section with sounds of Trent Reznor screaming in desperation. A heavy drum line is added onto , surrounded by thunderous drums, guitar and synthesizer playing the screaming motif, all equalized and manipulated so as to sound distant and less powerful. Reznor recites the lyrics are whispered quietly on top. Finally, the song abruptly ends, with only an elongated cymbal crash and the sound of white noise providing a segue , 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. This song marks the final appearance of the motifon the album, played as follows:<br>[[Image:The_Downward_Spiral_Song_Motif_Tab.JPG|The Motif found on in "The Downward Spiral."]] A reversed version of the track is hidden on side B of the ''[[Not The Actual Events]]'' vinyl. ===The Downward Spiral (Instrumental)===Released by Reznor via his [[remix.nin.com]] account, this unmastered instrumental version is identical to the studio version, save the lack of vocals and transitions to and from other songs.

When performed on the [[Self Destruct Touring Cycle|Self DestructTour]] tour, the projection screen would show remain black until the rock section, when streams of blood would slowly descending 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, usually 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 Live performance of "The Downward Spiral"live in Toronto, ON 1994/12/01]