The Needle And The Spoon

Album: Second Helping (1974)
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  • Thirty days, Lord, and thirty nights
    I'm coming home on an airplane flight
    Mama waiting 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 feeling so sick inside
    Got to get better, Lord, before I die
    Some doctors couldn't help my head, they said
    You'd better quit, son, before you're dead

    Quit the needle, quit the spoon
    Quit the trip to the moon
    They gonna take you away
    Lord, they 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
    I hope you people, Lord, can hear what I say
    You'll have your chance to hit it some day

    Don't mess with a needle or a spoon
    Or a trip to the moon
    They'll take you away

    Lord, their gonna bury you boy
    Don't mess with the needle
    Now I know, I know, I know, I know, I know 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.
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