Metallica, You're my Loverman

A few days back, I was finishing up some work, and Metallica's Unforgiven was blasting through my speakers. And that’s when I realized Metallica’s ballads are brilliant. It’s truly a shame; I have been listening to these guys for, like…forever (admittedly, I’m more of a Megadeth girl), and it was last night when this thought struck me like some weird epiphany that saved me from my Writer’s Block.

Now a little about Metallica. One of my favourite childhood metal bands, alongside Guns n’ Roses, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Slipknot, Korn and others. Like most top-notch American metal bands, Metallica combined the pure cacophony and rage of the Sex Pistols and Ramones with the musicality of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the unbridled energy of Queen and they delivered this with the melodic chaos of Iron Maiden. Absolutely adore them.

Coming back to their ballads. Let’s start with 'Loverman' since that’s been stuck in my head for a long time, and I need to get it out of my heart (and ears. And mind). Now Loverman is a cover song by Metallica, originally written by Nick Clave. I did like the original version, but there’s something about Metallica’s cover that just, you know, it sort of tangled itself into the strings of my heart. While Nick’s singing brings out the pain in the song, Metallica adds more dimension to it. It’s passionate, sombre, sensual, magnetic, soulful and dark. Despite the carnality in the music, it was sinfully tender. And Papa Het’s voice. Guys, I cannot explain how his voice evokes those strange feelings in me, which rattle my heart, frazzle my mind, and awaken that appetite festering incurably on my- Okay, I’ll stop there.

‘Nothing Else Matters’ is, I believe, most beginner guitarists’ favourite song, maybe because of the simple, less convoluted chords (well, that’s why I tried playing them first), or perhaps because it’s a damn good song and a classic. And timeless. It’s beautifully haunting with that bittersweet melody and the tune. It’s so addicting. It’s a painful collision of clashing emotions that can break you open and tear you apart. It traps you in this seamless entanglement, and each melody hits you with such blistering tenderness it hurts. And I love it.

The Unforgiven Trilogy is a masterpiece that shows how a child becomes a lost soul after being beaten down by the conformist society; in part two, they are found by another lost soul, and part three deals with redemption.

‘Unforgiven’, my first Metallica song, the first song that could spring tears to the corner of my eyes. This song would give you a moment’s peace amidst all chaos and turmoil incessantly swarming around you, providing an effortless reprieve. Each lyric voiced some deep-rooted pain that would resonate with the listener. In fact, the strongest tether that attaches a band/musician to their listener (especially for bands like Metallica) is shared pain because often it is the music that acts as an invisible anchor for so many people, including me. And this song, in particular, tears you apart and leaves you a tangled mess of sentiments, exposed and known and vulnerable.

‘Unforgiven II’ is a song about a person who had their heart concealed under gridlocks and decides to hand over their keys and reveal the lock, unveiling each layer of the person one at a time, slicing them open and pulling each fabric of their being apart and crackdown to their core. It’s a song that will touch down into the depths of their soul and climb their bare bones. Because confiding one’s inner demons to someone else is difficult, especially when the whole world is ready to devour them.

More than its prequels, I think ‘Unforgiven III’ strongly alludes to acceptance. It’s raw, intense and relentless in its meaning. Bitterness is like a rotten plaque that sticks within the crevices of your brain, decaying slowly and painfully. I think ‘Unforgiveness III’ is the only thing that could scour that sheer bitterness because it unwinds an inflamed mush of resentment and spite that would spread and engulf you until you’re empty and numb.

‘Low Man’s Lyric’- what a bloody masterpiece. In short, the song is about a person who desires forgiveness for what they have done and what they know they will continue to do. It’s a song that will dwell in that specific place in your mind, where you flee when you’re overwhelmed with pain, aching all over. It’s a song that will swoop you in a frenzy, that looming dark cloud that suffocates you and sorrow blossoming from your chest. It’s a cold dark place to be in, and a lot of times, tears are the warmest things you can conjure. But the song also deals with possible drug addiction, meaning that sometimes people rely on an external source to feel that warmth or numb the pain and agony. It’s a song that tries to bring the tiniest bit of serenity into a person’s life.

Okay, I know ballads are mostly supposed to be songs with slow tempos with soft sounds, but we can definitely include pieces (especially by a metal band) with clean/acoustic riffs and more vocal-oriented. But that’s just my take, and that’s why I believe ‘The Unnamed Feeling’ does belong to this list. It’s powerful; it’s cathartic, and raw. The overwhelming wave of complex emotion flows with the song while trapped in the frustrating limbo between paranoia and melancholy. This one’s from their 'St Anger' album- Metallica's collection of their most crude, raw and unrefined songs with a spontaneous punch. Their most underrated and I think, the most hated album. But it's a very good album.

The last one, ‘Until It Sleeps’. Personal demons, dark emotions, self-loathing, intolerable emotional pain and the inability to cope with it- the song deals with it all. It describes that internal bleeding, that suffocating frenzy, nothing to soothe the ache of a fatigued mind or console the splitting cries of a wailing heart. It’s the line “, And the fear still shakes me//So hold me until it sleeps” that gets me every time. Every damn time.

So that’s its for this blog! Hope y’all enjoyed the read <3.

[Also, I'm a sucker for that 'Master of Puppets' scene in Stranger Things- it's badass. ]