Well the title refers to amyl nitrate, which is not really used as a drug, the one used as a "popper" is the amyl nitrite. But; as we have Brett's accent; he pronounces the "a" in nitrate pretty much like an "i", so there we go with the popper theory.
Well, here's what Brett said himself.
Brett Anderson explained the story behind the song to NME May 11, 2013: "The idea for 'Animal Nitrate' came when I was going through a period when drugs were taking the place of people. Sex was just a hollow, vacuous thing which was made full and three-dimensional by the fact that I was taking a huge amount of drugs. It wasn't actually anything to do with amyl nitrate, it was other sorts of drugs - coke, ecstasy. My mind was in a stormy period, I was going quite insane.
"It definitely has a veneer (of gay sex) but there's a very sad undertone," he added. "People think about gay sex and never really think about it romantically. They see sadness, romance and loss as purely a hetrosexual thing. There's a definite domestic violence feel to 'Animal Nitrate.' But behind that there's a real sadness."
So yeah.
Dad raping his son, drugs, gay sex (like his dad you know that he's had animal nitrate in mind / now you're over 21), dad beating his son. Voilà.
Well the title refers to amyl nitrate, which is not really used as a drug, the one used as a "popper" is the amyl nitrite. But; as we have Brett's accent; he pronounces the "a" in nitrate pretty much like an "i", so there we go with the popper theory.
Well, here's what Brett said himself.
Brett Anderson explained the story behind the song to NME May 11, 2013: "The idea for 'Animal Nitrate' came when I was going through a period when drugs were taking the place of people. Sex was just a hollow, vacuous thing which was made full and three-dimensional by the fact that I was taking a huge amount of drugs. It wasn't actually anything to do with amyl nitrate, it was other sorts of drugs - coke, ecstasy. My mind was in a stormy period, I was going quite insane. "It definitely has a veneer (of gay sex) but there's a very sad undertone," he added. "People think about gay sex and never really think about it romantically. They see sadness, romance and loss as purely a hetrosexual thing. There's a definite domestic violence feel to 'Animal Nitrate.' But behind that there's a real sadness."
So yeah.
Dad raping his son, drugs, gay sex (like his dad you know that he's had animal nitrate in mind / now you're over 21), dad beating his son. Voilà.