The Lyrics:

i got my head but my head is unravelling
cant keep control can't keep track of where it's travelling
i got my heart but my heart's no good
you're the only one that's understood
i come along but i dont know where you're taking me
i shouldn't go but you're wrenching 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

you are the perfect drug
the perfect drug [2x]

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 just wants to say hello to you
my fears want to get inside of you
my soul is so afraid to realize
how very little good is left of me

and i want you

you are the perfect drug
the perfect drug [2x]

take me with you

without you everything just falls apart

it's not as much fun to pick up the pieces

(6-4-98)
It's pretty obvious what this song means: HE WANTS A GIRL!! This girl that he wants is like a drug: he can't get enough of her. He wants her _so_ bad, and I think he's telling her about his feelings towards her. "Without you everything falls apart". This is how he truly feels about her. He's pouring his whole soul out to this woman. He really loves her...
I heard that this was written for his dog, Maise. But, I really think that this is about a girl.

(6-4-98)
the perfect drug is about a girl. the lyrics "i've got my head but my head is unraveling" is saying basically "i'm here with you but you are driving me nuts!"
and the words "i come along but i don't know where you're taking me" is like saying "i'll go with you anywhere...because i love you", but the words "i shouldn't go but your reaching/grabbing/shaking me" is saying, "sometimes you do the wrong things, i don't want to go, but i feel that i must".
then he talks about turning off the sun and pulling dfown the stars, basically saying he'll do anything for her...but he's smothering her and spending time with only her:
"the more i give to you, the more i die!"..."and i want you" is obvious.
"you are the perfect drug" is obviously saying that you (she is) are perfect to me and i love you.
then comes the "my blood wants to say hello to you, my fears want to get inside of you" part, which is saying, i want to be a major part of your life and vice-versa.
but then "my soul is so afraid to realize how very little good is left in me"...that is saying he is so involved with her that it's ruining him...
"without you everything falls apart" is saying he has finally become so involved that the person almost controls him, without her...he is nothing.......
all and all this song is about a girl. like many of trent's songs (something i can never have, thats what i get, hurt, eraser, sin, sanctified, closer).

(6-4-98)
I think the Perfect Drug is one of the easier songs that Trent has created in the ways of meaning and depth. However I do feel that it still has meaning to it. I think he is speaking about a woman, calling her "the perfect drug" trying to create an image for us. Equating a great drug ( whichever it may be ) with her love or sex, it may go deeper, but that is how I see and feel about that particular song.

(7-20-98)
The perfect Drug is something that has touched me deeply. Reznor's songs have lots of meanings, this one is {what I believe} about relationships the main primal scream that appears is that the closer you come the more damage you could get. Just a taste of it is enough you want it you need it your addicted.

(7-20-98)
in the first portion of this song it seems as if one is being mentaly and physically dragged around by another. the person seems confused, hurt, and emotionally unstable. the person is trying desprately to cling on to what he/she feels most comfortable, being hurt...this person has given all, and recieved only enough to servive. this song in my opion is about a relationship between two people. where this ones lover is dominant, keeps the other on a choke leash emotionally.

(9-14-98)
Well... I'll just jump right in here. To me, (I'm not going to say obviously, because that would be saying I know what Trent is thinking, when this could be a song about a piece of toast in reality or something) this song is about love...like most Nin songs are, I guess. The person is spending all their time thinking about a certain someone and it's driving them crazy.
"I got my head but my head is unwraveling, can't keep control, can't keep track of where it's traveling"
This person will blindly follow their love, no matter how much it hurts him, because he loves them so much.
"i come along but i dont know where you're taking me
i shouldn't go but you're wrenching 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"
The song goes on to praise this person, saying how he wants to be with them, get inside of them, how he's a better person when they are around, let them see the real him, etc etc. The ending of the song gets really sad and depressing, and it makes one think that He never got the girl, or she left him. (which is what I think). Saying his life is incomplete without her, he needs her, everythings funner when she is around.
The lyric "You are the perfect drug" seems to have a different meaning to me, and I will try and explain it as best I can. I hope whoever is reading this understands it...anyways. He keeps saying, you are the perfect drug...drugs in themselves are harmful substances, and they are disguised into "good" to users of them, because of they highs they sustain from them, when they really just end up bringing you down in the end. So, this person is the perfect destruction, maybe? They are the perfect temporary happiness? i don't know, but it's something to think about...

(9-14-98)
The interpretation for this song is simple to me. "The perfect drug" is the woman that Trent Reznor desires. He states this by saying "And I Want You". The hard "techno" beat in the middle of the song is his frustration because she is out of his reach. The beat changes when Reznor goes into realization that he cant have her.(Take me if you want)