King Nothing

"King Nothing" is about getting everything you ever wanted (or thought you wanted) and finding out that it sucks. The song comes across as an angry condemnation of someone in that scenario, but that might have more to do with the Metallica sound than it does with the actual intent; in the Metallica emotional range, even compassion sounds kind of nasty. The lyrics clearly paint the scene of a person who is obsessed with wealth and fame. Dig for gold Dig for fame You dig to make your name Are you pacified? To be pacified means "to be put at peace." The word is at the root of the Pacific Ocean's name, by the way. The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan dubbed that water the "Mar Pacífico" (the "peaceful sea") in 1521. Anyway, getting back to "King Nothing," the unnamed person in the song discovers that their ambition has led them to lose themselves in an empire of emptiness. The song contains a warning to those who might try to follow this path to personal happiness. Careful what you say Careful what you wish you may regret it Careful what you wish you just might get it

With this song, frontman James Hetfield may be referring to Metallica themselves, or at least to himself. Though the band was riding high at this point, behind the scenes Hetfield was dealing with his lifelong anger and substance abuse issues. Later, after entering rehab during the recording of St. Anger in 2002, he began talking openly about the stress that came with fame, but also about his own persistent issues around his overly controlling personality, his temper, and his drinking. In that way, Metallica's monstrous fame and success didn't bring him any inner peace, and he did indeed resemble the character in King Nothing. The self-analysis thesis is further bolstered at the 5:17 point in "King Nothing," when Hetfield quietly sings, "We're off to never-never land." That line is a reference to "Enter Sandman," which was an earlier (1991) hit for Metallica. This self-referential lyric suggests Hetfield was indeed thinking about Metallica, himself, or both.

Drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist Kirk Hammett wrote the song with Hetfield, but Hetfield did the lyrics, as he did for the vast majority of their songs.