The Day the World Went Away


"The Day the World Went Away" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on July 20, 1999, as the lead single from their third studio album The Fragile. The song was the band's first Top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 17, which remains their highest charting single.

Background

"The Day the World Went Away" contains no drums. It was Reznor's highest charting composition until "Old Town Road" hit number 1 in 2019. The song was a staple in the encore during the Fragility tour, and has been performed in many shows since.
The compact disc single contains three songs: the original version, a "quiet" remix of "The Day the World Went Away", and "Starfuckers, Inc.", another song from The Fragile. The 12-inch vinyl single replaced "Starfuckers, Inc." with another version of "The Day the World Went Away", this one remixed by the electronic music duo Porter Ricks. The main version of the title track featured on the single is approximately 30 seconds shorter than the version found on the album and contains slightly different vocals.
The version of "Starfuckers, Inc." featured on the single is almost identical to the album version, except that this version ends with the sound of Paul Stanley yelling "Goodnight!" to a cheering crowd. The yelling and crowd cheering are sampled from a Kiss concert recording. The opening to "Complication", the track which follows "Starfuckers, Inc." on The Fragile, can be heard faintly alongside the crowd noise, augmented to sound like part of the concert.
The flower depicted on the cover of the single is a Kangaroo paw.

Music video

[image:TDTWWA music video.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Trent Reznor in "The Day the World Went Away" music video.]
A music video was made for the song but was never released. Still images that were used on the official NIN website indicate that the video takes place at a funeral.
An alternate video for the song, using live audio and a combination of live and original footage, is included as an Easter egg on the second disc of the And All That Could Have Been DVD.

In other media

The song has been featured in the third trailer of Terminator Salvation, additionally the song also appears at the end of the episode of the same name of the Sci-fi crime drama series Person Of Interest. And at the beginning of the episode "Omelette" of the second season of The Bear.
Ramin Djawadi also composed a cover version of the song for the trailer of the fourth and final season of the Sci-fi drama series Westworld, as well being also featured in the fifth episode "Zhuangzi"

Formats and track listings

CD single

Nothing Records / Interscope Records INTDS-97026
  1. "The Day the World Went Away" – 4:03
  2. "Starfuckers, Inc." – 5:24
  3. "The Day the World Went Away " – 6:20

12-inch single

Nothing Records / Interscope Records INT12-97026

Side A

  1. "The Day the World Went Away" – 4:01
  2. "The Day the World Went Away " – 6:20

Side B

  1. "The Day the World Went Away " – 7:04

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Canada 1
US Billboard Hot 10017