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The Perfect Drug

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"The Perfect Drug"
Song

"The Perfect Drug" is a 1997 song by Nine Inch Nails. It was written for the David Lynch film Lost Highway and originally appeared on the Lost Highway soundtrack. Remixes of the song were released in an EP, "The Perfect Drug" Versions (also known as Halo 11).

Though "The Perfect Drug" Versions acts as a single for the titular song, the original version does not appear on the American single. A slightly extended version of "The Perfect Drug" has also been included on the foreign singles "We're in This Together, Part 3 (Halo 15)" and "Into the Void", but the only audio release of it in North America has been on the Lost Highway soundtrack. The music video for song was directed by Mark Romanek, and is on the Closure video compilation and The Work of Director Mark Romanek.

Song

Despite being a single, "The Perfect Drug" has never been performed live. On the official NIN website, "Sara" asked whether this is because "the drum solo would make Jerome's arms fall off." Then-drummer Jerome Dillon replied that they "never rule out the possibility of playing any of the songs live."[1]

On April 6, 2005, despite its fast-moving worldwide success, while presenting the late-night BBC Radio 1 Rock Show in the UK, Trent Reznor stated that "The Perfect Drug" was his least favorite creation. His reasons were the short production time and the "overblown" video.[2]

"The Perfect Drug" was released as a track for the video game Rock Band on February 26, 2008 for Xbox 360 and on February 28 for PlayStation 3. It is available as a standalone download or as part of the 'Nine Inch Nails' song pack along with "March of the Pigs" and "The Collector". It is viewed as one of the hardest songs to play on drums in the game. It later appeared in Rock Band Unplugged.

"The Perfect Drug" has been covered by Die Krupps and The Chordials. Lab 4 sampled the chorus for their track "Perfect Drug".

The song is one of 31 music files in RIAA v. Tenenbaum case, which resulted in finding the individual file-sharer guilty of copyright infringement in July 2009, demanding an award of $22,500 a song.

Music video

File:The Perfect Drug music video.jpg
Reznor in the "The Perfect Drug" music video.

A music video for the single was directed by Mark Romanek and released on January 18, 1997. It portrays a despairing father played by Reznor who mourns a dead child in his gothic estate, losing himself in the consumption of absinthe. The theme was inspired by the art of Edward Gorey. It also references The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Other references include Gustav Klimt's painting The Kiss (1907 - 1908) and a "Scanning Machine" designed by Frenchman François Willème in 1860.

Charlie Clouser, Danny Lohner, and Chris Vrenna appear in the video, most notably playing string instruments at the beginning of the video.

Joanne Gair's work with Nine Inch Nails on "The Perfect Drug" won her the makeup portion of the best hair/makeup in a music video at the Music Video Production Awards.[3]

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 set adds an exclusive sixth remix, by Aphrodite.

Track listing

Available as United States, Australia, Japan or EU single.

  1. "The Perfect Drug (Remixed by Meat Beat Manifesto)" – 7:24
  2. "The Perfect Drug (Remixed by Plug)" – 6:53
  3. "The Perfect Drug (Remixed by Nine Inch Nails)" – 8:19
  4. "The Perfect Drug (Remixed by Spacetime Continuum)" – 5:42
  5. "The Perfect Drug (Remixed by The Orb)" – 6:12
  6. "The Perfect Drug (Original Version)" – 5:16 Non-US releases only

Chart positions

Chart Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Sales [4] 17

The single is the most successful single in Canada, after sitting in the Canadian charts for 208 weeks.[5]

References

  1. ^ Trent Reznor (2004-05-10). "Access". nin.com. Archived from the original on 2006-10-29. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  2. ^ Trent Reznor. Rock Show. BBC Radio 1. April 6, 2005.
  3. ^ "Videos Honored". Rolling Stone. real.com. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  4. ^ [1]. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  5. ^ CANOE - JAM! Music SoundScan Charts
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