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"The Becoming" is the seventh track on the 1994 album The Downward Spiral. A semi-acoustic version can be found on Still, which has an accompanying performance video released at the time on nin.com. The bassline on this track was done with a prototype of the Oberheim OB-Mx synthesizer. Trent Reznor stated in an interview that the idea for the metaphor of a person becoming a machine was inspired by Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man.
In a 2004 interview for Alternative Press, Reznor was asked about the use of the name Annie in this song: "Oh, and "Annie" was abstractly referring to a college sweetheart/heartbreak situation that, at the time I was writing that song, was a valid source of emotional pain to draw from. Her real name is Andrea Mulrain, and her phone number is (number deleted for privacy purposes. -Patriot Act Ed.)"
It begins in a 13/8 time signature with a manipulated piano line, then bursts into drum and sample loops of screams taken from the film Robot Jox. The drum loop pattern is also nearly identical in "The Way Out Is Through". At the 3-minute mark, it mellows into an acoustic guitar-led passage in 6/8, with machine-like loops and synthesized chorus pads sampled from Reznor's voice. The quiet portions of the song also contain a backwards sample from the film Angel Heart where the character is repeatedly yelling "I know who I am!" There is a final outburst of noise and screaming before returning to the acoustic section, which crossfades with the opening of "I Do Not Want This".
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