10 Classic Rock Songs That Were Written About Drugs
3. The Needle and The Damage Done - Neil Young
From day one, Neil Young never seemed to be comfortable in any one band for too long. Uncle Neil always does whatever the hell he wants, and it's no surprise to see him going in as many different artistic directions as he can, with or without Crazy Horse or with his friends in Crosby, Stills, and Nash. He always cared for his bandmates though, and seeing one of his former creative partners wither away made for one of the most open hearted songs he has ever written.
Although Danny Whitten had already been junking up his brain on heroin for a little while, the Needle and The Damage Done is about as naked a song has ever been about the topic, with Neil just playing a simple acoustic guitar and giving off the tone of a tired junkie doing whatever he can just to get a little taste of the the fix that he needs. Since it's a live song, the little imperfections just seem to add to the arrangement as well, with Neil's voice cracking either over the emotion that has towards his fallen bandmate or playing a character that's on the verge of tears for not being able to get what he needs.
Neil's words did strike a chord with a lot of people, but it was too late for Danny, eventually succumbing to his drug addiction and Neil getting even more emotional talking about his old friends on albums like Tonight's the Night. The needle might not seem that powerful at the outset, but when you look at all its consumed in its path, it's too late to go back to the way things were.