"The Needle and the Damage Done" is a 1972 song by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Neil Young. The lyrics describe the effects of heroin addiction on musicians Young knew, including his friend and Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whitten, who would die of an overdose the same year the song was released. The song would preview the theme of Young's 1975 album Tonight's the Night, which would reflect on the fatal heroin overdoses of Whitten and Bruce Berry, a roadie for Young and Crazy Horse.