The Needle And The Spoon

Album: Second Helping (1974)
Play Video
  • Thirty days, Lord and thirty nights
    I'm comin' home on an airplane flight
    Mama waitin' at the ticket line
    Tell me, son, why do you stand there cryin'?

    It was the needle and the spoon
    And a trip to the moon
    Took me away, took me away

    I've been feelin' so sick inside
    Got to get better, Lord, before I die
    Seven doctors couldn't help my head, they said
    You better quit, son, before you're dead

    Quit the needle, quit the spoon
    Quit the trip to the moon
    We're gonna take you away, Lord, gonna take you away

    It was the needle and the spoon

    I've seen a lot of people who thought they were cool
    But then again, Lord, I've seen a lot of fools
    Well, I hope you people, Lord, can hear what I say
    You'll have your chance to hit it some day

    Don't mess with the needle or a spoon
    Or any trip to the moon
    It will take you away

    Lord, they gonna bury you, boy
    Don't mess with the needle
    Now I know, I know, I know, I know, I know Writer/s: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

  • Phillip from Huntsville, AlMuch is made about the line about Neil Young in "Sweet Home Alabama", but Van Zant later said it was just a line in a song and he had no malice toward Young. Van Zant often wore a Neil Young "Harvest" T-shirt on stage.
  • Jenn from MassCompletely different song than the Savoy Brown tune.
  • Dead Lee from Trumptopiaoriginally by Savoy Brown, ca.1970
  • Brandon W from Miami FlHas anyone heard the Junkie demo? I think Needle & the Spoon sounds like a sped up version of Junkie, with different lyrics.
  • Cory from Nashville, TnI always find it so ironic when I listen to this song when Ronnie says "I'm comin' home on an airplane flight"...
  • Jd from Fairfield, OhI love the riff in this song, I've had it stuck in my head for a while!
  • Windle from Montgomery, Al"The Needle And The Spoon" is a song about Allen Collins.
  • Stefanie from Rock Hill, ScThe title of this song reminds me of the song "The Needle and The Damage Done" by Neil Young. I've never heard this song though. I know Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote "Sweet Home Alabama" as a response to the Neil Young songs "Southern Man" and "Alabama", so this other similarity is very interesting.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Cy Curnin of The Fixx

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.