Written by:

Mark E Smith, Craig Scanlon

Initial Release:
This Nation’s Saving Grace: Beggars Banquet BEGA67; BEGC67 Cassette; BEGA67 CD (later pressings: BBL67CD;

Date:
23 September 1985

Subsequent Releases:

This Nation’s Saving Grace : Beggars Banquet BBL 67CD (repressing in 1988 and 1997)
Fiend With a Violin, Receiver Records RRLP211 LP; : RRCD211 CD; 19 February 1996 (reissued on 24 September 2002 on DVD-Audio on Sanctuary/Silverline 288099)
Box One, Beggars Banquet Japan ALCB81/82/83/84, (includes This Nation’s Saving Grace); 1988
The Other Side Of… Receiver Records 3 CD box set: RRCD506; 14 October 1996 (same version as on Fiend With a Violin)
The Less You Look, The More You Find – Recall/Snapper Music CD: SMDCD132; 18 July 1997 (same version as on Fiend With a Violin)
This Nation’s Saving Grace, Vinyl 190 VIN180LP015 180gm vinyl; 29 June 2009
This Nation’s Saving Grace (Omnibus Edition), Beggars Banquet BBQCD 2067; 24 January 2011 [contains What You Need (Rough Mix)]
This Nation’s Saving Grace, Beggars Banquet BBQLP2134; 15 June 2015 (LP)

DVD release:

Live at the Hacienda 1983-1985 Cherry Red CRDVD67, 25 October 2004 (recorded at the Hacienda, Manchester; 9 October 1985)

Radio session:

24 March 1981, first broadcast 31 March 1981 (recorded 29 September 1985, broadcast 7 October 1985)
The Complete Peel Sessions 1978 – 2004, Castle/Sanctuary CMXBX982; 25 April 2005 (details as above)

Group on initial recording:
Mark E Smith – vocals; Craig Scanlon – guitar; Stephen Hanley – bass; Brix Smith – guitar; Simon Rogers – keyboards; Karl Burns – drums

Commentary:

Steve Hanley quoted in the booklet accompanying the Omnibus edition of This Nation’s Saving Grace (details above): “What You Need was Craig [Scanlon] It’s a classic Craig riff isn’t it? It’s really a bit catchy.”

Mark E Smith, from an interview in BravEar magazine, 1985: “What You Need is a Twilight Zone episode where this old peddler sells this guy what he needs. I got it mixed up with this other Twilight Zone episode which is “The Four of Us Are Dying”, where this guy could change his face by looking at a face in the newspaper and have it become his face. It’s just a crazy song, really, just images. But it’s also…the main theme of the song is that there are a lot of people in Britain, and a lot of people in America, too, telling people what they need. And in America, especially. I find this really scary.”

The alternative version on Fiend With A Violin (and subsequent further compilations – details above – was described in The Pseud Mag no. 16 (June/July 2007) as: “another studio outtake with some seriously out of tune guitar, annoying tambourine and a laboured constipated feel to the whole thing…I would guess this was an early run through.”

Most of the lyrics of the song (and the classic riff) were in place from the first performance

Mentioned in the song are brothers Miles and Stewart Copeland, and Geoff Travis all associated with former group record labels.