1984Released
6:36

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Ride The Lightning - Remastered. By Songfacts®.

This song is written from the perspective of an inmate who is put to death in the electric chair. We hear his scattered thoughts just before he meets his doom: "This can't be happening to me... What I am doing here?... I don't want to die." As in many Metallica songs, it's a metaphor for the struggles of the living. "'Ride The Lightning' is a song about being trapped in a situation you can't get out of," drummer Lars Ulrich told Metal Hammer. "Big Brother, The Man, fear and manipulation."

The phrase "ride the lightning" came from a Stephen King's book The Stand, which guitarist Kirk Hammett was reading at the time. It's used as a euphemism for being put to death in the electric chair. Here's the passage: Why, then you go on to Death Row at state prison and just enjoy all that good food until it's time to ride the lightning. King also used the phrase in his book The Green Mile, about a death row inmate. When Hammett came across the phrase, he told lead singer James Hetfield it would make a great song title. Hetfield agreed and the wrote the lyrics around it.

"Ride The Lightning" is the title track to Metallica's second album. The band made a big splash with their 1983 debut, Kill 'Em All, but that splash was into a small pond, as thrash metal was still very niche. But it did land them a European record deal that helped fund a more suitable studio and producer for their next one. Kill 'Em All was recorded on a very tight budget at a small studio in upstate New York with a producer who didn't gel with the band. For Ride The Lightning, they went to Denmark (Lars Ulrich's birthplace) and worked with producer Flemming Rasmussen, who was a great fit. The band made big strides musically and came away with an album that holds up very well. They recorded their next album with Rasmussen as well: Master Of Puppets, released in 1986. By that time there were a lot more metal fans and Metallica was ready for the big time. Ride The Lightning didn't go Gold until 1987, boosted by new fans that found Metallica through Master. It eventually went 6x Platinum for sales of over 6 million copies just in America.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Ride The Lightning - Remastered.
AKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
149BPM

Album

The album Ride The Lightning - Remastered is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Ride The Lightning - Remastered.
Blackened Recordings / Universal Music
© 2016 Blackened Recordings Inc., under exclusive licence to Universal International Music B.V.
℗ 2016 Blackened Recordings Inc., under exclusive licence to Universal International Music B.V.

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