Changes

A very simplistic instrumental in two parts, "The Frail" shares its progression with the guitar solo in "[[The Fragile (song)|The Fragile]]," and was inspired by the form of [[Keith Hillebrandt]]'s remix of that track (per its description when it was posted to [[remix.nin.com]]). This half-note progression and background chorus synthesizers that appear to be based on samples of Reznor's voice (heard from the end of "[[The Day The World Went Away (song)|The Day The World Went Away]]") are the sole elements of this song. The piece seems to have been recorded free of a specific tempo. A new, deeper progression and chorus pads seemingly based on (or in tribute to) [[David Bowie]]'s "[[Subterraneans]]" slowly build to a synthesized vocal harmony, leading into "The Wretched."

*Manipulation: [[Benelli]]

"The Frail" made its live debut on [[1999/11/14 Barcelona, Spain|November 14, 1999]]. This song is frequently performed live, as on the album, leading into "The Wretched." Reznor has been known to improvise and expand upon the basic piano part in a live setting. More recently, Reznor has occasionally used this song as an intro to "[[The Good Soldier]]," "[[Closer]]," "[[Reptile]]," "[[La Mer]]" and "[[Metal]]." It was also partly incorporated as an outro in a performance to the 2018 live rendition of "[[Subterraneans]]".