Closer

Nine Inch Nails were building on the momentum of their 1992 EP Broken when Trent Reznor wrote the material for The Downward Spiral, the band's second studio album, released in 1994. "Closer" appeared on that record and came out in May 1994 as its second single, becoming Nine Inch Nails' most successful single up to that time. It reached No. 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 25 in the United Kingdom, and No. 3 in Australia.

The song's drum track was built around a heavily modified sample of the bass drum from Iggy Pop's 1977 song "Nightclubbing", which had been performed by a Roland drum machine. The samples were produced using two Akai S1100 samplers, each with an expander, effectively making four, and combined with beats from a Roland R-70 drum machine. A manipulated sample of Roxy Music's "Take a Chance with Me" can be heard at the close of the track. Lyrically, the song dealt with self-hatred and obsession, but its sexually aggressive chorus led many listeners to hear it as a lust anthem, a misinterpretation that dismayed Reznor.

The single carried an unusual arrangement of titles. Most versions were called "Closer to God", a rare case of a single's title differing from that of its A-side, and that name also belonged to an alternate version on which the vocals were completely re-recorded. The release was the ninth official Nine Inch Nails record, earning it the designation "Halo 9" in the band's numbering system.