A Warm Place: The mystery continues..

[Prettybrokenspiral]

This has always fascinated me: the audio sample buried under the beginning of the track, repeated approximately six times before the ambiance fully kicks in..

Most believe it says "The best thing about life, is knowing you put it together"

While others on places like Reddit claim it's saying "The worst thing about life, is seeing where you ended it"

http://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comments...the_beginning/

Others have played around with the audio in search of clarification: https://m.soundcloud.com/2072trioptimumcom/life-35

Other possibilities: "The best thing about life, is always being near you" and "The worst thing about life, is no one wants to be with you"

Anyone have anything to add, or want to take a stab at it? The first two examples are the most fascinating, as you could presumably hear either, depending on how you view life..

[Shadaloo]

I recall hearing "The best thing about life is knowing you created it" when I really tried and cranked it up to 11 some years back. I gotta try again with the 2017 DE.

[sheepdean]

I just hear a looping message "buy war bonds"

[Kulerage]

I always heard "The best PART (not thing) about life is *dunno this*".

[Ryan]

Let's all spam Trent on twitter asking the same question.

edit: done

hashtag - #spamtrentwarmplace

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Don't think spamming the guy on Twitter is going to reap the best results here. Highly unlikely he'll respond.

Just to prove that theory, I DM'd him on Instagram asking him for clarification of the line, lol

I wonder what Management makes of this mystery: @Leviathant @ItsJustDave @Lt. Randazzo @orestes @marodi

[Ryan]

Dude, he's left us in the dark about Tension since 2013. The least he can do is unravel this mystery for us!

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Trying to be serious here; I really want to know what people think the voice is saying at the beginning of the track!

Fans have been debating this elsewhere for years. I'm surprised it's never been discussed on ETS before..

[opal]

I'd say I subconsciously heard this sample before and knew it was there, but I really just had to go back and listen to it again to really hear it.

Crazy to think that more than 20 years after its release, you can still go back to that record and discover something new in there.

[reznovka]

[...] https://m.soundcloud.com/2072trioptimumcom/life-35

[...]

I don't understand anything clearly but it sounds creepy as f*** when it's on repeat. Kinda like a satanic cult trying to brain wash me...I'm curious what's said there. Maybe Trent will give us an answer in 20-30 years or so.

[Kulerage]

\

Others have played around with the audio in search of clarification: https://m.soundcloud.com/2072trioptimumcom/life-35

\

I swear that I can hear another voice in the background, as if the line was recorded at some party and it picked up the people in the background

[botley]

A LOT (I'd say, like, >40%) of the background sound design elements on The Downward Spiral are just random clips of movies sampled from videotapes and manipulated into background loops. Chris Vrenna did a lot of this work, maybe we should ask him what it might be.

[sweeterthan]

Trying to be serious here; I really want to know what people think the voice is saying at the beginning of the track!

Fans have been debating this elsewhere for years. I'm surprised it's never been discussed on ETS before..

It probably has been discussed before but we had a board reset in 2011 after a server crash.

[quietime]

Others have played around with the audio in search of clarification: https://m.soundcloud.com/2072trioptimumcom/life-35

"The worst thing about life for most of you will be here."

[Jon]

This has always fascinated me: the audio sample buried under the beginning of the track, repeated approximately six times before the ambiance fully kicks in..

Others have played around with the audio in search of clarification: https://m.soundcloud.com/2072trioptimumcom/life-35

Is that 3-note melody part of the sample? I had never noticed that until now.

[Leviathant]

My personal take: This content of the sample is not relevant to the composition of the song or the album that it appears on. It's a piece of soundscape, nothing more.

[BenAkenobi]

Fans have been debating this elsewhere for years. I'm surprised it's never been discussed on ETS before..

I'm offended. I was trying to debunk this shit several times, uploaded amplified segment of the track. Finally about 2 years ago i thought it finally settled in as a "nin urban myth" of sorts. It's almost physically painful to read about this argument yet again
p.s.
I examined the "definitive mix" when it came out too, it doesn't help. Too muffled to be of any resemblance to the "best thing about life is bla-bla-bla..."

[frankie teardrop]

it's actually "the best part of waking up is folgers in your cup."

[marodi]

Don't think spamming the guy on Twitter is going to reap the best results here. Highly unlikely he'll respond.

Just to prove that theory, I DM'd him on Instagram asking him for clarification of the line, lol

I wonder what Management makes of this mystery: @Leviathant @ItsJustDave @Lt. Randazzo @orestes @marodi

Just to clarify: I was Management on nin.com; I never was on ETS.

As to the question: I can't make it out. I don't have the best audio equipment and anyway, since I'm very old, my hearing has deteriorated. But hey, good luck with asking the big guy!

[Detunez]

at first listen to the loop my brain feeds me the words: "worst ... in my life is seeing that you are not there".

After letting it settle i get:
"worst thing in my life is feeling that i am nothing"
"worst thing in my life is seeing that you are not there"

[henryeatscereal]

I guess we can all agree that it says: "Life..." at some point...

I knew about the sample and i always thought it said the "positive" line; never gave it much attention until now; it makes sense that it's saying a "positive thing", since the song is called "A Warm Place", then again this is the "NIN universe", so anything's possible.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

My personal take: This content of the sample is not relevant to the composition of the song or the album that it appears on. It's a piece of soundscape, nothing more.

I want to believe that's not the case...that the sample was obviously put there for a reason; in an instrumental track, no less.

All of the interpretations that have been posited for years or have been offered in this thread could easily tie in to the TDS narrative arc, I think..

[Prettybrokenspiral]

I'm offended.

Haha what else is new

I was trying to debunk this shit several times, uploaded amplified segment of the track. Finally about 2 years ago i thought it finally settled in as a "nin urban myth" of sorts. It's almost physically painful to read about this argument yet again
p.s.
I examined the "definitive mix" when it came out too, it doesn't help. Too muffled to be of any resemblance to the "best thing about life is bla-bla-bla..."

I'd be interested to hear why you think it's irrelevant to the track/album in general and why you've relegated it to a myth, if you're willing to explain.

It's obvious something is being said six times at the beginning of the track, and that every interpretation we've heard has been deep af, which could be said about the album in general.

Not saying you're wrong to believe it's nothing, just curious as to why..

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Is that 3-note melody part of the sample? I had never noticed that until now.

Hard to say..

It sounds cool as hell though. Maybe just something picked up in the sample, maybe something else.

What we know for sure: something is being said. Somebody wanted it there six times at the beginning of the track. Somebody involved in the creation of the album (Trent, Chris, Flood, Sean Beaven, etc.) knows what's being said and its meaningfulness in the context of the track.

Otherwise, why include it at all?

[Microwave Jellyfish]

"The best thing about life? Singing and [cut/missing part from sample] touring together." is my bet.

Probably something out of some band interview or documentary, if not just three random audio clips thrown together.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

"The worst thing about life for most of you will be here."

"The worst thing in my life is seeing that you are not there"

The worst thing about life is knowing you'll be here/there.. ?

[Volk]

The best thing in life is to crush enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women

[Leviathant]

I want to believe that's not the case...that the sample was obviously put there for a reason; in an instrumental track, no less.

Remember how people went nuts trying to figure out what the 'sample' in The Wretched was, and it turned out to just be radio interference that got left in the mix?

I'm betting it's something like that. Maybe the ambient noise in the sample was the main reason for including it, and the quiet dialogue was just too difficult (in 1993/1994) to filter out.

[Krazy]

I honestly never even knew this was in the song... will have to listen to it soon on headphones. Roughly how many seconds into the TDS version of this is it in?...

[Halo Infinity]

@Krazy - It seems like it can be heard with in the first 22 seconds of the song.

This has always fascinated me: the audio sample buried under the beginning of the track, repeated approximately six times before the ambiance fully kicks in..

Most believe it says "The best thing about life, is knowing you put it together"

That's exactly what I've been hearing too. However, I would still find it interesting to be proven otherwise.