‘Just What I Needed’ is a song by American rock band the Cars from their self-titled debut album (1978). The song, which first achieved radio success as a demo, took inspiration from the Ohio Express and the Velvet Underground. The song is sung by bass player Benjamin Orr and was written by Ric Ocasek.
It was released as the band's first single in 1978, prior to the release of The Cars album, backed with ‘I'm in Touch with Your World’. The song peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as number 38 in New Zealand. The single was the Cars' most successful of the songs on their first in the United States, with follow-up singles ‘My Best Friend's Girl’ and ‘Good Times Roll’ charting at numbers 35 and 41, respectively.
Like several other tracks on The Cars album, ‘Just What I Needed’ originated as a demo tape recorded by the band in 1977. Ocasek had originally written the song in the basement of the commune he lived in at the time. Cars keyboardist Greg Hawkes recalled the first time he heard the song in an interview, saying, "I remember hearing 'Just What I Needed,' thinking ... 'Wow, that's pretty cool. It's got something sort of unique about it, its, like, nice and consise and ... fairly short pop song format' ... so I still remember hearing that for the first time."
The song first appeared in 1977 on Boston radio stations WCOZ and WBCN from the demo tape, along with its future follow-up single ‘My Best Friend's Girl’. DJ Maxanne Sartori, who was given the tapes of these songs by Ocasek, recalled, "I began playing the demos of 'Just What I Needed' and 'My Best Friend's Girl' in March during my weekday slot, from 2 to 6 p.m. Calls poured in with positive comments." Shortly thereafter, it became one of the stations' most requested songs.
Ultimate Classic Rock named the song the best Cars song as well as the best Benjamin Orr Cars song, saying "On a near-perfect debut album, the Roy Thomas Baker-produced "Just What I Needed" was a near-perfect song." The site also ranked it the 35th best classic rock song of all time. The song was also ranked among the band and Ocasek's best by The New York Times, NME, Esquire, and Inquisitr.
In 2021, Rolling Stone added ‘Just What I Needed’ to their list of "500 Greatest Songs of All Time," ranking it at 369 and writing that the song "defined [the band's] mix of precision-tuned sleekness and creepy mystery."
Label – Elektra
Songwriter – Ric Ocasek
Producer – Roy Thomas Baker
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I don't mind you comin' here
And wastin' all my time
'Cause when you're standin' oh so near
I kinda lose my mind
[Pre-Chorus]
It's not the perfume that you wear
It's not the ribbons in your hair
And I don't mind you comin' here
And wastin' all my time
[Verse 2]
I don't mind you hangin' out
And talkin' in your sleep
It doesn't matter where you've been
As long as it was deep, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
You always knew to wear it well and
You look so fancy I can tell
And I don't mind you hangin' out
And talkin' in your sleep
[Chorus]
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to feed
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to bleed
[Verse 3]
I don't mind you comin' here
And wastin' all my time, time
'Cause when you're standin' oh so near
I kinda lose my mind, yeah
[Pre-Chorus]
It's not the perfume that you wear
It's not the ribbons in your hair
And I don't mind you comin' here
And wastin' all my time
[Chorus]
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to feed
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to bleed
[Chorus]
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to feed
I guess you're just what I needed
(Just what I needed)
I needed someone to bleed
Yeah, yeah, so bleed me
[Outro]
(You're just what I needed)
(You're just what I needed)
(You're just what I needed)
Yeah, yeah, yeah