Queensrÿche – The Needle Lies

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[ SPOKEN ] Nikki: "I've had enough and I WANT OUT!"
Dr. X: "You can't walk away now."

I looked back once
And all I saw was his face
Smiling, the needle crying
Walking out of his room
With mirrors, afraid I heard him scream
You'll never get away

Cold and shaking
I crawled down alleys to try
And scrape away the tracks that marked me
Slammed my face into walls of concrete
I stared, amazed at the words written on the wall

Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name

Wet and raving
The needle keeps calling me back
To bloody my hands forever
Carved my cure with the blade
That left me in scars
Now every time I'm weak
Words scream from my arm

Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name

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Lyrics submitted by Ice


The Needle Lies song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:In the context of the album it has to do with being drugged in order to do Dr. X's bidding. But in a general context it also is relevant to drug addiction.

    I got this album at age 12 and it's amazing how as a kid you don't really think about the lyrics until much later...
    Flag spacedyeon August 06, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:There's more to it than just his drug addiction. As you can clearly see by the lyrics "Wet and raving/ The needle keeps calling me back/ To bloody my hands forever", Nikki's heroin addiction is also the means by which Dr. X controls Nikki.

    The way I see it is that X has conditioned Nikki's mind to simulate heroin withdrawls through the use of the Mindcrime codeword. This leaves Nikki very susceptible to suggestion. Furthermore, his heroin addiction is a safety: should he leave, he'll be cut off.

    The literal of drug addiction controlling someone merges with the figurative level of one man utterly dominating another.
    Flag ThirdRevolutionon October 10, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Are you sure? The rest of this abum's storyline is pretty clear to me, but I don't remember any other refrence to drugs in it. I know this song is about Nikki trying to escape from Dr. X, but I don't fully understand the needle parallel. I think the heroin idea of it may be too literal, but I can't think of any other explanation.
    Flag Bank Robberon July 20, 2008   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • 0
    General Comment:In relation to the Mindcrime story, Nikki, tells X that he wants out but DRX says he can't leave cause he knows he's dependant on heroin and DrX supplies it for him. X tries to temp him with drugs but Nikki gets away. He wanders down alleys and notices words written on the wall. "Don't trust the the needle, it lies" He's so inspired by this that he carves the words into his arm and whenever he feels like a fix, he looks at his arm and it tells him not to. "Everytime I'm weak, words scream from my arm".
    Flag dtjesuson June 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Dr.X is Ronnie James Dio [from DIO].
    Flag p67on December 17, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song rocks yes its about heroin and how the Track marks stay on you forever! So dont trust the needle it lies. This song is way better then mr.Brownstone, also the solo ROCKS!
    Flag BlamedTonight314on June 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it basically saying the horrors of drug addiction.how even though the high might feel right and make a certain saddness or boredom go away it's still a lie. even though the thought of getting high is on your brain and it cries out to you, it's still a thought of fake happiness. this song is about how drugs can be the only way of coping with something to certain people, and how quitting the drug is even harder than coping with life itself. the lyrics in this song hit me so hard sometimes. it reminds me of my dad. though he may have only been addicted to weed. the drug hit my family so hard. so he went into rehab out of my family's cries and pleads. and five months later he comes home slightly damaged from all of the stress and depression our cracked portrait held. so this song really speaks to me. we can all still see the scars of sadness in each others eyes now. i really wish sometimes that we could all just disappear from life that drugs destroy. at least the person who wrote this does, and i can assure you that they are pleading with this song, and using it as a closed mouth warning to everyone who has ever though of using dagerous drugs like herion.
    Flag optimisticemoon June 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Wow, this song means to me.. I don't know, it hurts, and explains something. Drugaddiction is addiction. I think it's saying that when you're addicted, you're just addicted.. How the needle screams for you, while you're screaming for that needle, I think it tries to say that yu never start to do it (Logic), but in one way, it does really hurt me, the lyric though, never heard the song to be honest
    Flag Alikion June 14, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:No Comments?!?
    Geeze.

    Uh... it pretty much says to me "Drugs are bad, mmkay?"

    But of course it's much more than that.
    Flag discomushroomon June 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:No Comments?!?
    Geeze.

    Uh... it pretty much says to me "Drugs are bad, mmkay?"

    But of course it's much more than that.
    Flag discomushroomon June 14, 2006   Link

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