Remembering isnt relating in any way? I disagree with that.. If you do not remember you cannot relate, if you can remember, you can relate. Thats the point of personal experience. If we were talking about smoking a cigarette, and you said you just started smoking today, and I said I last smoked 2 years ago, you don't think I can relate at all to the idea of smoking one? Of course I can, because I experienced it first hand. I might even have a better relationship to the idea of smoking because I had a longer time to think about the experience.
Metaphor for women sure, but also the spirit of drugs are almost always feminine. So a song that seems to be about a women could also be about a drug aswell. Some of the best rock songs about "women" are really about drugs, this has been a theme. The feminine plant drug, the heroine, the seducer of men,
just to name some from NIN..
of course there are other songs, and other lyrics within these songs that refer to something drug related.
these have themes of drug usage in them, does it make them any less important when Trent performs them since he doesn't use drugs anymore? I personally don't think so. The difference between Knowledge and Wisdom with drugs (or hearing and experience).