Closer Lyrics

As recorded by Nine Inch Nails
(From the 1994 Album THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL)
Words and Music by Trent Reznor
Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Synth 1'
Gtr II (E A D G B E) - 'Synth 2'
Gtr III (E A D G B E) - 'Synth 3'
Gtr IV (E A D G B E) - 'Dist. Guitar'
Gtr V (E A D G B E) - 'Synth 4'
Gtr VI (E A D G B E) - 'Keyboard'
Moderately Q=90
N.C.
Gtr I
Q H Q +Q Q H Q H Q +Q Q H
H H H Q Q Q H Q Q H Q
Verse Chorus
N.C. F
Gtr II
Wx16 E S S +S S e S S e S S E E S S +S S e S S e S S E 4x
|-------------||o---------------------------|---------------------------o||
|-------------||o---------------------------|---------------------------o||
N.C.
Gtr II
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| Gtr I
| Q H Q +Q Q H
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| Q H Q +Q Q H
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| H H H Q Q
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| Q H Q Q H Q
N.C.
Gtr II
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||o-3-5-5-5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-5-3-5-5-5-|--5--6-6-6-6-6-6-6---------------------|
||o---------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Gtr III
| W H Q Q
||o---------------------------------|--6----------------(6)-------(6)-------|
||o---------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S 4x
|-3-5-5-5-5-5-3-5-5-5-5-5-3-5-5-5-|--5--6-6-6-6-6-6-6--------------------o||
|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------o||
| W H H 4x
|---------------------------------|--6----------------(6)----------------o||
|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------o||
Gtr II
E S S +S S e S S e S S E E S S +S S e S S e S S E 4x
||o---------------------------|---------------------------o||
||o---------------------------|---------------------------o||
| Gtr I
| q q q q q q q e e 4x
||o---------------------------|---------------4-----4-----o||
||o---------------------------|---------------------------o||
N.C.
Gtr I
Q H Q +Q Q H
| Gtr II
| S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| Gtr III
| W H Q Q
Q H Q +Q Q H
| S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| W H H
N.C.
Gtr III
W H Q Q W H H
||o----------|--6-----(6)--(6)--|----------|--6-----(6)----o||
||o----------|------------------|----------|---------------o||
Gtr III
W H H
| Gtr IV
| E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q
W H Q Q
| E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q
W H H
| E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q
W H Q Q
| E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q
W H H
| E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q
Gtr II
e S s +S S e S e S e S S e S s +S S e S e S e S S
||o---------------------------|---------------------------------|
||o---------------------------|---------------------------------|
| Gtr III
| W H Q Q
||o---------------------------|--6--------------(6)-----(6)-----|
||o---------------------------|---------------------------------|
e S s +S S e S e S e S S e S s +S S e S e S e S S 4x
|---------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|---------------------------|-------------------------------o||
| W H H 4x
|---------------------------|--6--------------(6)-----------o||
|---------------------------|-------------------------------o||
N.C.A5 Bb5 B5 Db5 Eb5E5
Gtr II
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
||o-3-5-5-5--5---5--3-5--5--5-5--5--3--5--5-5-|
||o-------------------------------------------|
| Gtr III
| W
||o-------------------------------------------|
||o-------------------------------------------|
| Gtr IV
| E E +S E. E. S +E E
||o-------------------------------------------|
||o-----0---(0)-/1------/2------/4-(4)---/6---|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| H Q Q
| E E +S E. E. S +E S S
|-------/9---(9)-/10------/11------/13-(13)---/13s14-|
|-------/7---(7)--/8-------/9------/11-(11)---/11s12-|
N.C.A5 Bb5 B5 Db5 Eb5E5
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
| W
| E E +S E. E. S +E E
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S
|--5--6--6-6--6----6--6-6-----------------------------o||
|-----------------------------------------------------o||
| H H
|--6-----------------------(6)------------------------o||
|-----------------------------------------------------o||
| E E +S E. E. S +E S S
|-----------------------------------------------------o||
|-------/9---(9)-/10------/11------/13-(13)---/13s14---||
|-------/7---(7)--/8-------/9------/11-(11)---/11s12--o||
N.C.
Gtr III
W H Q Q
||o-------------------------|--6-----------(6)------(6)---|
||o-------------------------|-----------------------------|
| Gtr II
| e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
||o-------------------------|-----------------------------|
||o-------------------------|-----------------------------|
W H H
|-------------------------|--6-----------(6)------------o||
|-------------------------|-----------------------------o||
| e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
|-------------------------|-----------------------------o||
|-------------------------|-----------------------------o||
Gtr III
W H Q Q
||o----------------------------|--6-------------(6)------(6)---|
||o----------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Gtr II
| e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
||o----------------------------|-------------------------------|
||o----------------------------|-------------------------------|
| Gtr IV
| Q. Q. Q Q. Q. Q
||o----------------------------|-------------------------------|
||o--5b7r=====3----------------|--5b7r=====3-------------------|
W H H
|----------------------------|--6------------(6)-------------o||
|----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
| e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
|----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
| Q. Q. Q Q. E +S S S S Q
|----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|----------------------------|----------------------8s7--6----||
|--5b7r=====3----------------|--5b7r=====3---(3)--3-6s5--4---o||
N.C.
Gtr II
e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
||o--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
||o--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Gtr IV
| Q. Q. Q Q. Q. Q
||o--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
||o--5b7r======3-------------------|--5b7r======3-------------------|
| Gtr V
| Q. E +H Q. E +H
||o--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
||o--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
e e e S S S e S e e e e e S S S e S e e
|-----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|-----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
| Q. Q. Q Q. E +S S S S Q
|-----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|-----------------------------|----------------------8s7--6----||
|--5b7r======3----------------|--5b7r=====3---(3)--3-6s5--4---o||
| Q. H E E E E E +H
|-----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
|-----------------------------|-------------------------------o||
N.C.
Gtr VI
Q. E +H Q. E +H Q. H E E E E E +H
Q. E +H Q. E +H Q. H E E E E
Duration Legend
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
(n) - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
- volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths