Song of the Day 17 – The Needle and the damage done

There have been many a song written about Heroin over the years, Unfortunalty a lot of my favourite artists from the 60s 70s and 80s suffered from Heroin addiction and it was something that just couldn’t be ignored in the music industry. I am going to write an article about all the different songs about Heroin but for the sake of my song of the day series I am going to write about Neil Young’s – The Needle and the damage done.

Neil young stated that he had seen many musicians pass away from Heroin overdoses before they ever had the chance to become famous, and then it started happening to well-known musicians so he decided to write a song about it.

It is a short but powerful song at only 2minutes and 3 seconds long.  The song wasn’t released as a single it was featured on one of Neil Young’s Harvest album in 1972. The album didn’t do well critically at the time of release but has gained acclaim over time and is now thought to be one of Neil Young’s best works. It was voted 64^th best album of all time by readers of Q magazine. Rolling Stone magazine who initially slated the album voted it 78^th best album of all time in 2003.

Here are the lyrics:

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.

What do you think of these lyrics, I think they really depict the heart ache that heorin causes without being too obvious or crude. What do you think of songs like this? A lot of people find them ofensive due to the subject matter but I think these are the things that music should be used to highlight.