Closer to God

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"Closer to God"

Single by Nine Inch Nails
from the album The Downward Spiral
Released	May 30, 1994
Format	CD
Recorded	1993
Genre	Industrial
Length	52 min 38 s
Label	Nothing Records
Producer(s)	Trent Reznor
Chart positions
#11 (U.S. Modern Rock) #25 (UK) #35 (U.S. Mainstream) #41 (U.S. Hot 100) #3 (AUS)
Nine Inch Nails singles chronology
"March of the Pigs" (1994)	"Closer to God" (1994)	"Hurt" (1995)

"Closer to God" (also known as Halo 9) is a single by Nine Inch Nails released in 1994 for the song "Closer" from the album The Downward Spiral.

"Closer to God" is a rare example in music of a single's title differing from its name on the A-Side.

1 The song
2 The single
- 2.1 Releases
- 2.2 Track listing
  - 2.2.1 U.S. version
  - 2.2.2 UK version
    - 2.2.2.1 Disc 1: Further Away
    - 2.2.2.2 Disc 2: Closer to God
3 The video
4 Live performance
5 In popular culture
6 External links

[edit] The song

"Closer" is perhaps Nine Inch Nails' most well-known song. The song's chorus includes the famous line "I want to fuck you like an animal," the profanity being censored for radio play despite its prominent placement in the song.

The song exemplifies Trent Reznor's affinity for dissonance, with a four-note synthesizer riff featuring an augmented interval after the first chorus. It ends with a heavily chromatic piano motif, the same that recurs in the climax of "The Downward Spiral", suggesting that the lyrics should be interpreted beyond their literal meaning.

"Closer" has been covered by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, The Galan Pixs, Eric Gorfain, Maroon 5, Maxwell, Nine Inch Richards, Frank Rogala, Rosetta Stone, Ark Sano, S.I.N.A., Spiralmouth and Transient. "Weird Al" Yankovic included a polka version of the song in "Alternative Polka" from his album Bad Hair Day.

An uncredited edit of the remix "Closer (precursor)" is featured in the opening credits of the movie Se7en.

[edit] The single

The version of "Closer" on the single is longer than the album version by 13 seconds. On the album, the ending piano tune is abruptly cut to segue into the next track, "Ruiner". On the single, the piano and background sounds are played out.

In addition, the single contains five remixes of "Closer", a remix of "Heresy", an instrumental ("March of the Fuckheads"), and a Soft Cell cover ("Memorabilia", originally released on Non-stop Ecstatic Dancing). The UK version contains the same songs split into two discs.

[edit] Releases

TVT Records / Interscope Records / Atlantic Records 95905-2 - U.S. CD
TVT Records / Interscope Records 0694959052 - U.S. CD Re-release
Island Records CID 596 854 059-2 - UK CD 1
Island Records CIDX 596 854 061-2 - UK CD 2
Island Records 12IS 596 854 059-1 - UK 12" Vinyl 1
Island Records 12ISX 596 854 061-1 - UK 12" Vinyl 2

[edit] Track listing

U.S. version cover

[edit] U.S. version

"Closer to God" (remixed by Trent Reznor, Sean Beavan, Brian Pollack) - 5:05
"Closer (precursor)" (remixed by Coil, Danny Hyde) - 7:16
"Closer (deviation)" (remixed by Jack Dangers, Craig Silvey) - 6:15
"Heresy (blind)" (remixed by Dave Ogilvie, Anthony Valcic, Joe Bisara) - 5:32
"Memorabilia" - 7:21
"Closer (internal)" (remixed by Bill Kennedy, Scott Humphrey, John "Geetus" Aguto, Paul Decarli, Eric Claudiex) - 4:15
"March of the Fuckheads" (remixed by Adrian Sherwood) - 4:43
"Closer" (remixed by Kennedy, Humphrey, Aguto, Decarli, Claudiex) - 5:45
"Closer" - 6:26

[edit] UK version

[edit] Disc 1: Further Away

UK disc 1 cover

"Closer" - 6:26
"Closer (deviation)" (remixed by Dangers, Silvey) - 6:15
"Closer (further away)" (remixed by Kennedy, Humphrey, Aguto, Decarli, Claudiex) - 5:45
"Closer (precursor)" (remixed by Coil, Hyde) - 7:16
"Closer (internal)" (remixed by Kennedy, Humphrey, Aguto, Decarli, Claudiex) - 4:15

[edit] Disc 2: Closer to God

UK disc 2 cover

"Closer to God" (remixed by Reznor, Beavan, Pollack) - 5:05
"Heresy (blind)" (remixed by Ogilvie, Valcic, Bisara) - 5:32
"Memorabilia" - 7:21
"March of the Fuckheads" (remixed by Sherwood) - 4:43

[edit] The video

The music video was directed by Mark Romanek and first aired on May 12, 1994. It was cut down from its original length to 4:36. The video was popular and helped bolster the success of the band. It was also somewhat controversial due to its imagery which included a nude woman with a crucifix mask, a monkey tied to a cross, and diagrams of vulvas. Many think these images were inspired by the art of Joel-Peter Witkin. Scenes that had to be removed were replaced with a title card that said "Scene Missing" (this was done to make sure the flow of the song was not affected). The video also has a stylized, old-film look. The video is one of two directed by Romanek that the Museum of Modern Art has added to its permanent collection.

In mid-2002, the full-on unedited version of this video was aired on MTV2 as part of a special countdown showcasing the most controversial videos ever to air on MTV. This countdown was only shown late at night due to the graphic imagery of "Closer" and several other videos.

The video is included in Closure and Directors Label Volume 4: The Work Of Director Mark Romanek.

[edit] Live performance

There is a live performance of "Closer" on And All that Could Have Been.

In the tours following the release of With Teeth, Nine Inch Nails has been performing "Closer" with a new breakdown that cuts the track length by about a minute and a half. Instead of playing a prerecorded clip of Trent Reznor saying "all through every forest, above the trees / within my stomach, scraped off my knees / I drink the honey, inside your hive / you are the reason, I stay alive", Trent screams these lyrics live to the backdrop of "The Only Time", a track from Pretty Hate Machine.

[edit] In popular culture

In the episode of The Simpsons called Wild Barts Can't Be Broken, Homer is trying to recall the previous night's activites. He can't recall certain moments and these are replaced with the title card reading "Scene Missing".
Limp Bizkit parodied "Closer" (as well "The Perfect Drug") in their song "Hot Dog". The chorus goes: "You wanna fuck me like an animal, You like to burn me on the inside, You like to think that I'm a perfect drug, Just know that nothing you do will bring you closer to me." This is a testament to the feud between Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and Trent Reznor. Another line in the song is "Nine Inch Nail get knocked the fuck out!"