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.



Lyrics submitted by H-bomb

Track duration: 02:11

"The Needle and the Damage Done" as written by Mclaughlin/greenberg/cleveland

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Needle And The Damage Done song meanings
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55 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Some depend too much on drugs to fit in, to relieve boredom... That shows a lack of personality and character.
    Flag raejoon October 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:such a powerful song. it seems like this was one of the first songs about the negative and detrimental impact drugs were having on great people, just after hendrix, morrison and joplin had died and the 60s mood was over. for me anyway its one of the first times neil young was really brutally honest and heartbreaking in his songwriting, he doesnt care that this may not be commercially viable song material ("i know that some of you don't understand"). by rejecting the popular fanbase and success he'd acheived and just pouring out what he needed to say makes this song seem to me like a precursor to TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT - in my view his best album
    Flag daswgnon June 11, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:"Milk blood to keep from running out"
    Definite double meaning
    1) Re-injecting blood to get high
    2) Using/ stealing from family members to get dope money
    Flag Damicson February 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I used to hang out with a lot of people who did a lot of drugs. I was the nerd who didn't do much beyond smoke pot. Now they're all gone and I miss them terribly. Every junkie's like a setting sun, indeed.
    Flag DevastatorJr.on July 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: Junkies aren't stupid and they don't do dope because they have a death wish. They do it because it feels fucking great. It gives them the ability to dictate their emotions. When your average person wakes up in the morning they don't know how they're going to feel that day. They may be in a happy, angry,or sad. A junkie knows exactly how they're going to feel every day.
    Flag roguescholaron July 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:After they push down on the plunger they pull up more blood to clean out the inside of the rig to get every last drop that might be stuck on the inside thus milking blood.
    Flag roguescholaron July 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i always heard that this song was about Edie Sedgwick
    Flag coatcheckdreamsongon February 20, 2011   Link
  • -2
    Song Meaning:The needle is a guy's penis. This song is about being anally violated. First I'll go through a backstory, then we'll go through each verse. For those who have never lived it the story goes like this.

    I have a boyfriend. Neither one of us is gay. Because he's not gay he was never going to get the experience in life of doing somebody up their bunghole. He said he really liked me and if I really liked him then I should let him do me in the A. That way we'd have that experience in life. Friends do that for each other, otherwise we'd never get to do that since only gay people do that. It would be like living your whole life and never going to the Grand Canyon. Makes sense, right? He was real persistent about it and kept telling me how nice I was so I let him do it and then he kept coming back telling me what good friends we were and wanting to do me more. Pretty soon he was bringing more boys over so they could do me and get that life experience sort of checked off you know? I wasn't their bitch or anything and I did some of them too just to prove I wasn't gay and liked taking it in the butt or something. The guys with thin, skinny dicks we called needles because that's what it hurt like when they did you versus the guys with big equipment where it hurt like they were shoving their whole arm or a g.d. tree branch or something up there. Eventually we all took a big long extended trip to Oklahoma City, I don't even remember why. I think we just wanted to have some fun. Most of these guys started doing it so much with so many new boys that they turned gay, including my boyfriend. Now let's go to the song.

    First verse. The guy kept poking me around my bum with a big stiffie and telling me sweet nothings when we were supposed to be just having a nice nap. That was the start of all the damage he did to me emotionally plus it tears up your rectum too.

    Second verse. We lost all these nice boys in the city because they were taking the needle so much. They never did come back. They just turned gay and stayed in the city. Even my manfriend got affected.

    Third verse. Pretty self-explanatory. As far as the milk/blood thing that was really insightful. I was trying to keep the friendship going even though I was afraid he was turning gay and was spending more and more time in OKC. So I was taking his milky cum in my ass mixed with my own psychoemotional plus real physical blood (it tears) instead of just running away from the friendship.

    Fourth verse. Real bittersweet. Neil is telling us that anybody can get turned, there is a bit of latent homo in every guy. Funny, people only used to say that about women. These guys really did become sex junkies which ruined them and losing all these nice boys plus my friend was really like the sun going down.

    I am aware that superficially the song seems to be about drugs. Neil may have even thought he was writing a drug song but the imagery is too clear. This is called unconscious plagiarism and George Harrison got sued for it once. While he was alive. You are writing a song you think is about one thing but really you are being influenced by something else you aren't aware of. No this does not mean or prove that Neil Young is secretly gay. He wrote Southern Man but that doesn't mean he once owned slaves. Being a geologist doesn't mean you're a rock, it means you have an understanding and appreciation of them.
    No I'm not gay either and I had my girlfriend screw me up the butt a couple times to prove it.

    Thanks for your time and I hope you gained an appreciation of how to look beyond the obvious to see what the real meaning of a song could be. Every time I hear this song I still cry a little bit and my asshole hurts a little bit.
    Flagged HawaiiJackon February 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think i recall hearing this was written about Jimi Hendrix
    Flag grungebaby92on June 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:...and it is a brilliant song. I tear up everytime I hear it.
    Flag JohnnyBallsackon May 28, 2010   Link

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