Needle In The Hay

Album: Elliott Smith (1995)
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  • Your hand on his arm
    Haystack charm around your neck
    Strung out and thin
    Calling some friend tryin' to cash some check
    He's acting dumb
    That's what you've come to expect

    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay

    He's wearing your clothes
    Head down to toes a reaction to you
    You say you know what he did
    But you idiot kid, you don't have a clue
    Sometimes they just get caught in the eye
    You're pulling him through

    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay

    Now on the bus
    Nearly touching this dirty retreat
    Falling out
    6th and Powell, a dead sweat in my teeth
    Gonna walk, walk, walk
    Four more blocks, plus one in my brain
    Down downstairs
    To the man, he's gonna make it all okay
    I can't be myself
    I can't be myself and I don't wanna talk
    I'm taking the cure
    So I can be quiet whenever I want
    So leave me alone
    You oughta be proud that I'm getting good marks

    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay
    Needle in the hay Writer/s: Steven Paul Smith
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

  • Chonginstrong from The North.Anybody who has had a heroin addiction will tell you, this song is about being strung out on heroin and going to score, it feels like your never gonna get to the man " 4 more blocks and the one in my brain" he talks about getting the bus to go and score his s--t, and the track marks " you oughtta be proud that I'm getting good marks" it's a big f--k you I'm a smack head song! Beautiful, first song I ever learned to play.
  • Fatjopa from Cookeville, Tnand, Bad Astronaut made it famous...thank you Joey Cape.
  • Joe from Roseville, CaThe line, "I'm taking the cure" is an allusion to William S. Burroughs' heroin retrospective, "Junkie." In the book, "taking the cure" refers to a voluntary stay in a jail/rehab to get oneself off of heroin.
  • Frank Zappa from Baghdad, -2002 interview with Q magazine. Smith said "this song is about having sex with your mum"
  • Ryan from College Park, MdYet again, this song was written long before his problems with drug addiction.
  • Amanda from Titusville, PaThis is my favorite song. I love Elliott Smith and especially listen to him when I am depressed. For those of you that cant get enough of Elliott Smith check out the band he was in before his solo career it was "Heatmiser" the name of the album to check out is "Mic City Sons"
  • G from Paris, FranceWho is this Mark from Kansas, and why won't he spare us his insight?
  • Kristene from Nowhere, TxThis is an amazing song that he supposedly wrote while trying to recover from his drug addiction. Note the title, 'Needle in the Hay', which is probably in reference to, what else, the lost cause of trying to find a needle, or hope, perhaps, in this case, in a haystack, or in life, sobriety. I don't know, that was just my guessing. Anyway, this is a great song, and he was the most amazing artist to ever walk the planet.
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