the perfect drug
i got my head, but my head is unraveling
can't keep control, can't keep track of where it's traveling
i got my heart but my heart is no good
and you're the only one that's understood
i come along but i don't know where you're taking me
i shouldn't go but you're reaching, dragging, shaking me
turn off the sun, pull the stars from the sky
the more i give to you, the more i die
and i want you and i want you
and i want you and i want you
you are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
you are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
you make me hard, when i'm all soft inside
i see the truth, when i'm all stupid eyed
the arrow goes straight through my heart
without you everything just falls apart
my blood wants to say hello to you
my feelings want to get inside of you
my soul is so afraid to realize
every little thing is a part of me
and i want you and i want you
and i want you and i want you
you are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
you are the perfect drug, the perfect drug, the perfect drug
take me, with you
take me, with you
without you, without you everything falls apart
without you, it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces
of all his songs, i think this is trent's first love song (and no, big man with a gun doesn't count). but, of course, this is a
love song with a song with a reznorian twist: the one he loves is either gone away or dead (i'm thinking dead in hopes
that he's finally gotten over that chick from pretty hate machine). he is really distraught and confused and all his life
force is now going into remembering and all the ones from pretty hate machine can be seen in the lyrics "without you,
everything falls apart/without you, it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces." for a change, the lyrics don't talk of hate,
but love. this woman helped him (or rather the narrator) pick up the pieces of his life and he had fun making a life with
her, only to be shattered again the loss of her.
-broken
I think that this song is about someone he loves. In the line "you are the perfect drug" he is saying that the "perfect drug"
is the one he loves. You can tell by the way he says "you are," it sounds as though he would be talking about more than
just a drug. In the line "without you everything just falls apart" shows that the one he loved is no longer with him and it's
hard for him to go on with out his love. And near the end of the song he sings "take me, with you" which he might
means that he wants to kill himself to be with his love (if his love is dead).
-moo cow
Unlike his former songs of hatred and despair this represents a significant happy point in time. This song can be
construed as a proclamation of love. Even though he does not know where the relationship will go ("i come along but i
don't know where you're taking me and i shouldn't go but you're reaching dragging shaking me") he is satisfied. Also he
professes his deeper feeling when he says: "You're the only one that's understood" and with the words: "and i want you
and I need you."
-crystal
Classic song telling of a self-destructive relationship....he wants her but is destroyed by her... she either can't stop or
doesn't want to stop tormenting him. The pain conveyed by his words reflect the feelings he has when he is with
her...she makes him euphoric but also drags him through a mire of intensely involving emotions she is a "drug" he thinks
he controls her but it is she who possesses him. Without her "everything falls apart". She is his everything...his addiction
will destroy him and he doesn't care anymore. He needs her...craves her....she is the only thing that can make him
feel.
-DivinE
Most of these interpretations deal with TPD being about love; I disagree. I feel that TPD is a tongue-in-cheek (like a lot
of Trent's work) look at religion and its effect on our society. Read this line: "Turn off the sun, pull the stars from the
sky". Who has the power to turn off the sun or pull the stars from the sky? God. OK OK, I know... Trent doesn't believe
in God. But what he is referencing is the societal stereotype of "God." I don't believe in God either, but the word still
has meaning and power. That line is immediately followed by "The more I give to you, the more I die.", which seems to
be Trent's view (if his earlier songs are any evidence) of Christianity. And the chorus: "You are the perfect drug." Was it
not Karl Marx who said, "Religion is the opium of the masses"? Here, Trent is echoing a brilliant philosopher (although I
feel failed sociologist). At the end of the song: "Without you, without you everything falls apart" is the confused
Christian crying out for help. So, perhaps, as opposed to earlier works such as "Heresy", Trent is making a statement
against Christianity from a different perspective: as a Christian.
-Macbeth
this is much more hopeful somehow than other nin songs, but i disagree that it's happy. it's the same kind of sexual
control game trent always writes about. he is losing control of himself because of the power this girl (or whatever) has
over him. he gives her so much of himself that he is lost, falling apart, dying. it's a classic reznorian (is that a word?! :)
power struggle, except that here he has stopped struggling. he's content to be addicted to her, to let her take him where
he "shouldn't go". he sees no other way to feel security or happiness, so he gives over his self totally and completely so
that she will give him these things.
-alexakhisis
