The Needle and the Damage Done

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"The Needle and the Damage Done" is a song by Neil Young that chronicles his Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten's descent into, and eventual death from, heroin addiction. It first appeared on the Harvest album in 1972. The song was recorded live rather than in the studio. It appears on the compilation albums Decade and Greatest Hits. On the handwritten liner notes included in Decade, Young had this to say about the song: "I am not a preacher, but drugs killed a lot of great men". A recording from 1971 has recently been released on the Live at Massey hall album (2007).

Bands that covered this song on studio albums include Our Lady Peace, Green River, Duran Duran, Lior, and The Pretenders; The Pretenders lost members to drug-related deaths. Punk rock band The Bronx recorded a cover which can be found as a b-side on the "False Alarm" single.

Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has covered it while on tour in Japan. Alternative metal band Seether covered it during a performance on Last Call with Carson Daly.

Cross Canadian Ragweed also covered this song on their 2006 release Back To Tulsa - Live and Loud at Cain's Ballroom.

[edit] References in Popular Culture

A reference to its title can be found in the song "Understanding in a Car Crash" by Thursday.

The title was also used as the album title for the second installment of the Nirvana:Outcesticide bootleg series.

Furthermore, it was the inspiration for The Sisters of Mercy's first 7" single, "The Damage Done".

"Song To Say Goodbye" by the group Placebo includes the lyrical reference "your needle and your damage done".

Episode seven of the fifth season of Will & Grace was titled "The Needle & Omelet's Done". In the episode, Will gets botox for the first time (hence the needle). Grace goes to brunch with her boyfriend, during which she unwittingly meets his parents (hence the omelet).