Fade to Black - Live / Seattle '89

This very bleak song from Metallica's second album, Ride The Lightning, is about wondering if life is worth living and wishing to be dead. It goes to a very dark place, as lead singer James Hetfield sings: There is nothing more for me Need the end to set me free Emotions are always heightened in Metallica songs, and this one explores the depths of despair. Fans of the band have found comfort in it the same way people who like depressing movies do: by seeing it from an outside perspective as a cautionary tale. "The takeaway message is that you're not alone, and that we're in this together," Lars Ulrich of Metallica explained. "I'm an only child. I've struggled with being an outsider and a loner all my life. And, you know, being in a band, playing concerts and all that is the best remedy for me to feel that I'm not alone."

Metallica wrote "Fade To Black" after their equipment was stolen, throwing them into a funk. The band was scheduled to play a show in Boston on January 14, 1984. The truck with their gear got their first, and when their road crew looked for it the next morning, it was gone. They had to cancel the show and postpone a planned tour of Europe. The thieves got Lars Ulrich's drum kit and James Hetfield's custom amp, which had a lot of sentimental value to him. It was under this cloud that Hetfield wrote the very grim lyric. Hetfield clarified that he was never contemplating suicide but was using this dark time as impetus for the song about a guy who does. The idea is that we can sometimes feel helpless when stricken by events outside our control, and while we're all allowed to wallow in our misery, it's up to us to turn it around. Metallica did just that. The Ride The Lightning album was a metal masterpiece and put them in a position to buy all the gear they could ever want.

Kirk Hammett improvised while playing the final solo. He just thought about very depressing things while playing.