In the documentary Instrument, there is a video of them performing the song, and when Ian MacKaye starts to sing, "I break the surface so I can breathe" He touches his inner arm in about the spot where a drug needle would be inserted(Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jTjALyY8NM and fast forward to about the 4:25 mark. Not that this makes the song definitely about drugs, but it lends evidence that this was the bands intention. Considering MacKaye's straight edge stance, a song about a drug related tragedy makes sense, and I would guess that was his original intention.
Of course, the song is worded so that other interpretations are possible, and if it means something else to anyone, I wouldn't say you're wrong to interpret it that way.
In the documentary Instrument, there is a video of them performing the song, and when Ian MacKaye starts to sing, "I break the surface so I can breathe" He touches his inner arm in about the spot where a drug needle would be inserted(Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jTjALyY8NM and fast forward to about the 4:25 mark. Not that this makes the song definitely about drugs, but it lends evidence that this was the bands intention. Considering MacKaye's straight edge stance, a song about a drug related tragedy makes sense, and I would guess that was his original intention.
Of course, the song is worded so that other interpretations are possible, and if it means something else to anyone, I wouldn't say you're wrong to interpret it that way.