"Needle in the Hay" is a song released in 1995 by American singer-songwriter

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

. It was the sole single from his second studio album, ''

''.

Recording

Trumpet and harmonica were recorded for the song but were omitted from the final mix. A mix featuring the extra instrumentation was released in March 2012.

Release

"Needle in the Hay" was released as a 7" vinyl single on January 1, 1995, by record label

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...

. It is the lead track on the album ''

'', released that May.

Live performances

During later shows with a full band, the song was given more of a "

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

" arrangement and featured drums and bass, with Elliott Smith singing the vocals an octave higher.

Legacy

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

'' ranked the song 27th in its list of the 200 best songs of the 1990s. "Needle in the Hay" appeared in

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. Wes Anderson filmography, His films are known for themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Due to his films' eccentricity, distinctive visual and narrative ...

's 2001 film ''

The Royal Tenenbaums ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American tragicomedy film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen Wilson. ...

'' in a scene featuring a suicide attempt by Richie Tenenbaum (

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor. Wilson's prominent film roles have included '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Blue Streak'' (1999), '' My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums' ...

). Smith was reportedly unhappy about the song being used this way. The song appeared on the film's soundtrack. In 2017, Australian music and culture publication ''Happy Mag'' launched an annual vinyl competition named after "Needle in the Hay."

Cover versions

The song has been covered by numerous artists, including

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Bad Astronaut Bad Astronaut is an American indie/alternative rock band founded in 2000 by Joey Cape, singer from Lagwagon. In Bad Astronaut, Joey Cape explores a style of alternative rock, with lyrics often about deep and intricate personal matters. The ba ...

for their 2001 album ''Acrophobe''; drone metal duo Nadja on their 2009 covers album '' When I See the Sun Always Shines on T.V.'';

Mélissa Laveaux Mélissa Laveaux (born 9 January 1985) is an independent Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist of Haitian descent previously signed to No Format!. Her music has been described as a mix of roots, folk, and blues using her signature percussive f ...

on her 2006 album ''Camphor & Copper''; and

Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area. She was formerly a member of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. Hatfield also fronted her own band, The Ju ...

in 2014's ''I Saved Latin! A Tribute to Wes Anderson'', a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

of songs used in the director's films. It was also covered in a

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

of a parody of

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...

character

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created in 1955 and originally performed by Jim Henson. An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host o ...

, referencing the use of the song in The Royal Tenenbaums. In July 2018, singer-songwriter

Vanessa Carlton Vanessa Lee Carlton (born August 16, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her debut album, '' Be Not Nobody'' (2002), was released by A&M Records and peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200. It spawned the hit song " A Tho ...

digitally released her recording of "Needle in the Hay"; Carlton selected the track among a variety of songs that were unveiled as part of her "Six Covers / Six Months" showcase.

Track listing

# "Needle in the Hay" – 4:17 # "Alphabet Town" – 4:12 # "Some Song (Extended Intro)" – 2:21

References

{{authority control Elliott Smith songs 1995 singles 1995 songs Songs about suicide Songs written by Elliott Smith Songs about heroin