Neil Young - Needle and the Damage Done
To look at Neil Young you may think he's an old hippie who's baked his mind on drugs, but that is not the case at all. The fact is, he was one of the first people to stand up against hard drugs, with this anti-heroin song that came out in 1971 (a point in time when drug use in society was very popular and rampant in the music scene).
The song tells the story of when Neil was recording his first album with Crazy Horse. One of the guitarists was always so strung-out on heroin that he could barely pick up his guitar. Neil finally had enough and kicked him out of the band giving him $50 for a ticket home. The guitarist used that $50 to buy heroin and died that night from an overdose.
In the liner notes for Decade, Neil writes, "I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men".
Neil Young
Needle & The Damage Done
I caught you knockin' at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done.
I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done.
I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don't understand
Milk-blood to keep from running out.
I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a settin' sun.
The song tells the story of when Neil was recording his first album with Crazy Horse. One of the guitarists was always so strung-out on heroin that he could barely pick up his guitar. Neil finally had enough and kicked him out of the band giving him $50 for a ticket home. The guitarist used that $50 to buy heroin and died that night from an overdose.
In the liner notes for Decade, Neil writes, "I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men".
Neil Young
Needle & The Damage Done
I caught you knockin' at my cellar door
I love you, baby, can I have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done.
I hit the city and I lost my band
I watched the needle take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done.
I sing the song because I love the man
I know that some of you don't understand
Milk-blood to keep from running out.
I've seen the needle and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's like a settin' sun.
