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| live = [[NIN songs never played live|UnperformedCold And Black And Infinite Tour]]through present

<blockquote>"At that time I was listening to a lot of Drum 'n' Bass and Jungle and stuff. And I think that's the most I've ever seen external influence come out in my own music. And it was a transition period, that's what I want to stress, it was time when I was feeling out what I wanted to do artistically and given the liberation of working within the context of a soundtrack, it's not like a major work. I always treated that as an area to be freer and try things. I'm glad it was in that context. There was never any consideration to include that on [''[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]]'']. It really was an area where I was feeling out the landscape to see what I wanted to do."[http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xint52.shtml]</blockquote>

*Assistance: [[Brian Pollack]]

This is the original version that can be found on the ''Lost Highway'' soundtrack as well as some editions of ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions''. It features prominent acoustic guitars playing a quick, ascending riff similar to the chorus of "[[The Wretched]]". It is backed by frantic and complex drum machine programming commonly associated with the drum 'n' bass genre, which opens up into simpler patterns for the pre-choruses. The drum sound in the pre-chorus is highly reminiscent of that on "[[Eraser]]". The chorus features heavy guitars backed by more frantic drums, while the bridge is composed mainly of percussion patterns and percussive synthesizers and guitar riffs, which build in intensity to give way to a slower, simpler, quieter codawhich features what is likely a Mellotron.

From the third ''We're In This Together'' single and international ''Into The Void'' single, this version is the same as the original, but does not cut off at the end, rather repeating further and fading out.

This remix is almost a dub mix: it is very light on lyrics and emphasizes the percussion beat of the song. The word "annihilate" is added at some points and leads this remix out of the breakdown and into the ending portion. "The only lyrics in this version are "And I want you" and "You are the perfect drug."The drums are [[samples|sampled]] from "Amen Brother" by The Winstons.

This remix begins with Reznor whispering "You are the perfect drug," distorted and slowed down. A dance beat and wind are added over the vocals to form the first section. The lyrics are then sung about a third of the way through, as the beat becomes heavier and the synths build in volume. By the middle of the song, the music becomes much louder as the lyric "Take me with you" is whispered over it. Vocal instrumentation, albeit distorted, is also incorporated into this remix. Perhaps the most notable aspect of this remix is the use of the "[[Closer]]" synth voice treated piano sound to replicate the melody at the end of the song.

This remix is exclusive to the vinyl edition of ''"The Perfect Drug" Versions.'' It's set in a different key than the other remixes and has a fast, electronic beat. As with most of the other remixes, it is light on lyrics, consisting only of "can't keep control/can't keep track," "taking me," and "you are perfect." The track as released in 1997 was mastered at a slower speed. An MP3 of this version was uploaded by Reznor to the Rare & Unreleased playlist on remix.nin.com. The original, unaltered track was eventually uploaded to Soundcloud by DJ Aphrodite, who stated: "This is the original speed the remix was made at. For the vinyl, [[Nothing Records]] slowed it down to around 160bpm, perhaps to lower the vocals, and at the time the general music loving public were still not used to the speed and energy of Jungle/D&B."

"The Perfect Drug" was not played live until [[NIN songs never played live2018/09/18_Morrison,_CO|has never been played liveSeptember 18, 2018]] despite its popularity with many NIN fansat Red Rocks, Colorado, though it was attempted during rehearsals for a few previous tours. It was widely speculated that the complex drum solo in the song is was responsible for this, although it was probably not out of the range of drummers [[Josh Freese]] or [[Ilan Rubin]]. It is also likely possible that Reznor does did not personally like the song very much, as he concedes that it was produced quickly for the ''Lost Highway'' soundtrack.

Then-current drummer [[Jerome Dillon]] said the band has "never rule[d] out the possibility" of playing the song, in response to a fan's question posted on [[nin.com/access]] on 2005-07-19:[[Image:2005_07_19Questions2.gif]] NIN fan Trollmanen was able to ask ex-drummer [[Josh Freese]] about the rehearsal process for the song:<blockquote>"The one question I asked him was about playing The Perfect Drug live, and how the rehearsal process went for that song and why it never worked out. The first thing he said, without hesitation was that the song itself isn't that difficult to play live on the drums. He said something about the programmed beats part was the only thing that was sort of complicated (it was a little hard to hear him at times, crappy connection), but that it worked live with him playing it. The drumming sounded good and everyone was happy with that. He said the problem with the song was the ending. The whole song was really rocking and pushing through, then you get to the ending and it just never seemed to work. He said they tried four or so different endings to the song. They tried it kinda mellow sounding, and that didn't work. They tried a really aggressive ending, and that didn't work either. They did a simple ending, same result. They just couldn't find an ending to the sound that seemed to do it justice. The thing was that the song sounded really good, but to get to the ending and just not sound good, it was kind of a let down. He said [Trent Reznor] just seemed uninterested with it after a while and they just gave up on it."</blockquote>

Reznor answered a question about playing "The Perfect Drug" live directly during a 2017 Q&A in Chicago. He said:

<blockquote>"We've tried it. The unsexy answer is it just doesn't sound that good live. And it's hard to sing, and it ends up making me angry, so we don't do it."</blockquote>

[[Mark Romanek]], who also directed "[[Closer]]," directed the [[Nine Inch Nails music videos|music video]] for "The Perfect Drug" in 1997. It was one of the most expensive videos at the time, costing over $850,000 to make. Building the two main Two sets (a refrigerated set and a rooftop set) were built and commissioning the giant hand sculpture numerous props were some of the larger expensesinvolved.[http://www.nin-pages.de/perfect_drug_video_quelle.htm]

The concept of the video is widely interpreted as Trent Reznor portraying a man mourning the death of a child and detaching himself from reality through absinthe. [[Charlie Clouser]], [[Danny Lohner]], and [[Chris Vrenna]] appear in the video, most notably playing string instruments at the beginning of the video. The aesthetics were heavily influenced by the illustrations of 20th-century artist Edward Gorey (1925–2000), the most obvious reference coming from the boy girl sitting on the cushion in front of the painting.

  [[Category: NIN Songs]][[Category: NIN Songs Never Played Live]][[Category:Music Videos]][[Category:Rare NIN Songs]]