Metallica: Fade To Black Meaning
Song Released: 1984
Fade To Black Lyrics
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free
Things not...
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this song is about severe depression(clinical depression) and it clearly describes some of the ways a a person suffering from this may think. including feeling like he or she "needs the end to set he or she free"
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It is about a person committing suicide
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This song was written after all there stuff was stolen ...james hetfeild had an amp among those things thatwere stolen , and it had sentimental value to him because that was the amp his mom had bought him before she passed away he felt like dieing after that, that was the only thing she had to remind him of his mom ........lars ulrick has even said that in a interview.
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In an interview with drummer Lars Ulrich on the set of the production "MTV Icon: Metallica" in 2003, he recalls how he and bandmate James Hetfield were obsessed with death at the time the album and song were produced.
The song's lyrics address suicidal feelings. It begins with an acoustic guitar introduction and becomes progressively heavier as the song goes on, similar to their future songs, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One", and "The Day That Never Comes". James Hetfield commented on the song in a later interview,
"That song was a big step for us. It was pretty much our first ballad, so we knew it would freak people out... Recording that song, I learned how frustrating acoustic guitar can be. You could hear every squeak, so I had to be careful. I wrote the song at a friend's house in New Jersey. I was pretty depressed at the time because our gear had just been stolen, and we had been thrown out of our manager's house for breaking shit and drinking his liquor cabinet dry. It's a suicide song, and we got a lot of flak for it, as if kids were killing themselves because of the song. But we also got hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song and that it made them feel better."
Since its release, "Fade to Black" has been a fixture in Metallica's live performances. It was also the last song that Metallica performed live with former bassist Jason Newsted before he left the band. Newsted's last gig was at the VH1 Music Awards on November 30, 2000. It was one of his favorite Metallica songs, and was said to be of great sentimental value to him, although it had been written before he had joined the band. His previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam, performed a song called "Fade to Black" on their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver before he left to join Metallica.
While on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992, James Hetfield accidentally stepped into the path of one of the chemical flames that had been rigged to shoot from the lip of the stage while playing "Fade to Black". Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the fire engulfed his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery. -
It's about death and suicide.
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This song was written after James' guitars were burnt in a fire and LOSING EVERYTHING, the main meaning of the song.
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1984 all of Metallica's equipment was stolen and so was James' amp. That was his first and favorite and the band almost broke up after that. They had to restart from the beginning and this song is about this happening.
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Oh I did forget to say this. but if you did look on the website i provided earlier, then you might have caught it, but this was just a little bit more up of what james and Kirk said:
What the song was really written about:
The song was actually written by James just after the band's equipment was stolen in Boston. Among all the stuff which has been stolen was a Marshall amp very special, because they had to search on two continents for a replacement amp with quite the same sound. So the song has to do with loosing all gear to keep on moving. And therefore the song seems to be about a person who decides suicide.
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Well I found this website, and it is a direct quote to what this song means. It is what james hetfield said:
Here is the website: http://www.encycmet.com/songs/srfade2b.shtml
And here is what he said: Him and Kirk too:)
Metallica about "Fade To Black"
Kirk Hammett: I was still using the black Flying V, but on "Fade To Black" I used the neck pickup on my guitar to get that warm sound. I played through a wha-wha pedal all the way in the "up" position. We doubled the first solo, but it was harder to double the secong solo in the middle because it was slow and there was a lot of space in it. Later I realized that I harmonized it in a weird way in minor thirds, major thirds and fifths. For the extended solo at the end, I wasn't sure what to play. We had been in Denmark for five or six months, and I was getting really homesick. We were also having problems with our management. Since it was a somber song, and we were all bummed out anyway, I thought of very depressing things while I did the solo - and it really helped. I played some arpeggios over the G-A-B prgression, but we widn't double track that solo. When that was finished, I went back and did the clean guitar parts behind the verse. James played an arpeggiated figure while I arpeggiated three-notes chords. We ende up getting a very 'Dire Straits'-type sound.
James Hetfield: That song was a pretty big step for us. It was pretty much our first ballad, so it was challenging and we knew it would freak people out. Band like Exodus and Slayer don't do ballads, but they've stuck themselves in that position we never wanted to do; limiting yourself to please your audience is bullshit.
Recording that song, I learned how frustrating acoustic guitar can be. You could hear every squeak, so I had to be careful. I wrote the song at a friend's house in New Jerey. I was pretty depressed at the time because our gear had just been stolen, and we had been thrown out of our manager's house for breaking shit and drinking his liquor cabinet dry. It's a suicide song , and we got a lot of flack for it; kids were killing themselves because of the song. But we also got hundreds and hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song and that made them feel better.
(source: GuitarWorld issue of '91)
The thing that I can believe is that other kids that have heard this song, have actually killed themselves, but for the other people it has somewhat guided them in a way. But as for me, it has in a way mede me feel better, and That is why I Love Metallica. -
This song is written about suicide and depression. Simple as that. LOL
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fastfordfocus thats more the meaning of "the unforgiven" This is about a person thinking about suicide not wanting to but its the only choice out of his life. it starts off slow to show how the person feels then picks up and by the fading part of the solo hes dead well thats just my interpretation
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Could also be an interpretation of the bands future. when they lost their equipment, its not like they had a shitload of money to replace it. The band could have died in Jersey then and there. and, to point out, almost all of the songs on RTL are about death, just being killed in different manners
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this song was never really "written". it was a suicide note from james hetfields best friend in high school. like "i have lost the will to live" means obviously suicide.
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