"The Perfect Drug" is a song by

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

written for the

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

film '' Lost Highway''. It was released in 1997 on the ''Lost Highway'' soundtrack as well as a single from the score. Remixes of the song were released as an EP, ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions''. Though ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions'' acts as a single for the titular song, the original version does not appear on the EP. The track has also been included on international singles " We're in This Together, Part 3" and " Into the Void" without the ending truncated; the only audio release of it in North America being on the ''Lost Highway'' soundtrack. A music video for the song, directed by

Mark Romanek Mark Lee Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American film, music video and commercial director and photographer. He is best known for directing the films ''One Hour Photo'' (2002) and ''Never Let Me Go (2010 film), Never Let Me Go'' (2010) ...

, was included with the VHS compilation '' Closure'' and in '' The Work of Director Mark Romanek''. In September 2018 the band performed the song live for the first time at

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Red Rocks Amphitheatre (also known colloquially as simply Red Rocks) is an open-air amphitheater in the Western United States, western United States near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the c ...

Overview

"The Perfect Drug" was described by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' as a "

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

-infused industrial

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' also noted the drum and bass influence in the song. In May 2004, a fan posted on the band's website to ask whether the track had not been performed live because "the

drum solo A drum solo is an Solo (music), instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance. In Rock music, rock, drum solos are unique in that traditionally they are minimally ...

would make Jerome's arms fall off". Then-drummer

Jerome Dillon Jerome Dillon (born July 16, 1969) is an American musician, best known for his tenure as drummer with industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails from 1999–2005. History After his departure from Nine Inch Nails, his own project, Nearly, releas ...

replied that they "never rule out the possibility of playing any of the songs live". While guest hosting an episode of the British late-night ''Rock Show'' on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in April 2005, Nine Inch Nails frontman

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. T ...

answered questions sent in by fans. When asked to name which of his works he was least satisfied with and why, he responded, "The only thing I think I really don't like that much is 'The Perfect Drug' song. It was one of those things where you have a week to do a track for a movie. The mindset that you kind of adapt in that situationor I didwas, 'Let's go in and experiment and see what happens, and it's not, y'know... whatever comes out of it, it's not the end of the world.' And I think what came out of it, married with a bloated, over-budget video, feels like the least ikelything that I would play to somebody if they said, 'Play me, y'know, the top hundred songs you've written.' That probably wouldn't be in the top hundred. I'm not cringing about it, but it's not my favorite piece." Despite being a single, "The Perfect Drug" was not performed live by Nine Inch Nails until September 2018, over 21 years after its release.

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the single was directed by

and released on January 18, 1997. The theme was inspired by the illustrations of 20th-century artist

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for book ...

, with familiar Gorey elements including oversized urns and glum, pale characters in full Edwardian costume. The most obvious reference to Gorey is the boy sitting on a cushion in front of a painting. Other references include an unidentified painting resembling

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

's '' The Kiss'' (1907–1908) and a "Scanning Machine" designed by Frenchman François Willème in 1860.

Charlie Clouser Charles Alexander Clouser (born June 28, 1963) is an American keyboardist, composer, record producer, and remixer. He worked with Trent Reznor for Nine Inch Nails from 1994 to 2000, and is a composer for film and television; among his credits are ...

Danny Lohner Daniel Patrick Lohner, frequently known as Renholdër, is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle. In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Ni ...

, and

Chris Vrenna Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1988 until 1996, and was ...

also appear in the video, most notably playing string instruments at the beginning of the video. The first half of the video was filmed with a blue tint, switching to a flashing green light during the drum breakdown and reverting to blue for the remainder of the song.

Joanne Gair Joanne Gair (born c. 1958), nicknamed Kiwi Jo (alternatively Kiwi Joe), is a New Zealand-born and -raised make-up artist and body painting, body painter whose body paintings have been featured in the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' from 1 ...

's work with Nine Inch Nails on "The Perfect Drug" won her the makeup portion of the award for best hair/makeup in a music video at the Music Video Production Awards.

EP

''"The Perfect Drug" Versions'' is the eleventh official Nine Inch Nails release and consists of five remixes of the song "The Perfect Drug." The European, Australian, and Japanese releases append the original version of the song, while a promotional

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

set adds an exclusive sixth remix, by

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

Track listing

Available as

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

or EU single.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions and samples

In 2002, American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

band the Blood Brothers sampled the song in their song "Kiss of the Octopus". American

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...

band

Fit for an Autopsy Fit for an Autopsy is an American deathcore band from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 2008. The band consists of guitarists Will Putney, Pat Sheridan and Tim Howley, drummer Josean Orta, lead vocalist Joe Badolato, and bassist Peter "Blue" ...

covered the song for the split EP ''The Depression Sessions'' in 2016.

In media

In January 2023, the song was licensed for the game '' Hi-Fi Rush'' and was featured as the theme for the final boss fight against Kale Vandelay.

References

External links

''The Perfect Drug''
at nin.com, the official website

with

discogs.com: ''The Perfect Drug'' (US CD5" Promo)discogs.com: ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions'' (US CD5")discogs.com: ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions'' (EU CD5")discogs.com: ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions'' (EU 3x12")
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Drug, The 1997 songs 1997 singles 1997 EPs Nine Inch Nails songs Songs written by Trent Reznor Music videos directed by Mark Romanek Nothing Records singles Interscope Records singles Songs written for films Drum and bass songs Song recordings produced by Trent Reznor