Metallica: Low Man's Lyric Meaning

Low Man's Lyric Lyrics

My eyes seek reality
My fingers seek my veins
There's a dog at your back step
He must come in from the rain
I fall cause I let go
The net below has rot away
So my eyes seek reality
And my fingers seek my veins

The trash fire is warm
But nowhere...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   Incognito

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   Oct 14th 2013 !⃝

   Sorry this will be pretty long...
   
   My eyes seek reality (He tries to see the truth)
   My fingers seek my veins (He feels for his veins, so he can stick himself with a needle)
   There's a dog at your back step, He must come in from the rain (He tries to find shelter from the harsh conditions he finds himself in
   I fall 'cause I let go (He gives up)
   The net below has rot away (Nothing/no-one is there to catch him as he falls, all his chances are up)
   
   The trash fire is warm (The only comfort he has is that of a trash fire giving him heat and light)
   No one's safe from the storm (No-one is safe from the effects of drugs)
   And I can't bare to see, What I've let me be, So wicked and worn (He himself does not know who he has become and shows fatigue from the abuse of drugs)
   
   So as I write to you (He is writing the suicide note/letter)
   What is done and to do (What he has done in his life, and what he is going to do to end it)
   Maybe you'll understand (Understand all the pain he has been through)
   And won't cry for this man, 'cause low man is due (He is not worth your tears)
   Please forgive me (Self explanatory really, he wants forgiveness)
   
   Touch clean with a dirty hand (He is cleaning the needle)
   I touched the clean to the waste (Injects the “clean” needle into his “wasted” skin)
   
   So low the sky is all I see (He is in his grave looking up)
   
   So you bring this poor dog in from the rain,
   Though he just wants right back out again (You can give him shelter and put him in rehab, but he just wants to get back out there and look for his next fix)
   
   And I cry, to the alley way, Confess all to the rain (With no other shelter, he rests in an alleyway and confesses his sins in the form of the note/letter)
   But I lie, lie straight to the mirror (He even lies to himself that everything will be alright)
   One I've broken, to match my face (His abuse of drugs has taken its toll physically)
   
   Again, sorry it's so long
   Cheers guys

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 14th 2011 !⃝

   its about suicide. ''so as i write to you'' a letter, ''of what is done'' as in by the time the someone reads the letter it will be done, ''and to do'' he has not commited suicide yet, but by the time someone does read the letter he wil be dead. ''touched clean with a dirty hand'' he sees suicide as a way to clean whatever he is going through, ''with a dirty hand'' the act of suicide.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

   It means the guy in the song is a free and spiritual person that sees beyond what others see (my eyes seek reality), he is a healer (touch clean with a dirty hand) he is a wanderer (the trash fire is warm) but he is an addict and is not safe from himself (nowhere safe from the storm) , doesn't dwell in all the struggles of life- he can't. the one he loves always takes him back after he goes on a meth run (you bring this poor dog in from the rain, but he just wants back out again), she doesn't understand, but he wants her too, so he writes her a letter (as i write to you, of what is done and to do), he shoots up meth (my fingers seek my veins)
   
   an addict that has a free spirit but is trapped in his flesh (drugs)
   he has always had a way out, but he doesn't know how (the net below has rot away)
4. Vicki1980

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   Sep 29th 2020 !⃝

   This is a song about heroin addiction. Although the protagonist isn't specifically committing suicide, he knows less killing himself with every injection. It doesn't matter if the needle is clean because his hands are dirty, either literally or figuratively (what did he do/steal to get the drugs), and his body/blood is dirty. IV duh users have a high rate of communicable diseases like hiv and hep c.
   He seeks forgiveness from those he's hurt/is hurting, but knows the it doesn't matter if "they" help him. He's not strong enough/willing to stay away from the drugs. He confesses to the train because there is NO ONE in his life too confess to anymore. All he sees is the sky is because he is on his back looking up high/strung out. The broken mirror matches his face and what he sees. It's cracked/distorted/ugly/BROKEN.
   
   
   This song breaks my heart because I'm the person being asked for forgiveness over and over again. My forgiveness won't keep my "dog" in either.
   
   The next time you see a homeless addict, remember that someone loved/loves that person. I'm not asking you to give them money or feed them. Just say hello and look then in the eye.
5. anonymous

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   Feb 18th 2014 !⃝

   Touches on multiple subjects including addiction, homelessness and forgiveness but primarily conveys a sense of regret. The protagonist desires forgiveness not only for what he has done but what he knows he will continue to do.
6. anonymous

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   Apr 12th 2011 !⃝

   This person is begging forgiveness. Being in a similar situation, I understand what it is like to desteratley plead. From the words 'my fingers, seek my veins', I have to wonder if there is heroin involved and he is at his lowest point.... thereby "Lowman's Lyric". I know when I was at my lowest point nearly 10 years ago, it had nothing to do with drugs, but I so understand the desperation. It is about completely submitting yourself to whatever it takes to get that forgiveness from those you love!

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