I've been a Metallica fan for nearly a decade.
Although I might not have the entire discography,
I have a personal favorite and personal least favorite.
I think, for a guy who has no real degree or diploma in anything, James Hetfield
is a pretty decent song writer. What am I talking about, he's one the best!
But, with "death magnetic" and "St. anger" having mostly God-awful lyrics, clearly, his ability to write God-awesome lyrics is decaying.
I mean, just look at this sample from "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
In case you don't know, the lyrics are loosely connected to a chapter from the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway.
Here it goes :
Make his fight on the hill in the early day
(Constant chill deep inside)
Sounding gun, on they run through the endless gray
On they fight, for they are right, yes, but, who's to say?
For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know
(Suffered wounds test their pride)
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
Take a look to the sky just before you die
(It is the last time you will)
Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
Stranger now, are his eyes, to this mystery
(He hears the silence so loud)
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they will see what will be, blinded eyes to see
Now, that is good ain't it.
Probably not as inspiring as Jonas brothers lyrics or whatever it is young people are listening to nowadays.XP
Here is one the WORST CASE OF LYRICAL MALFUNCTIONS in Metallica's history.
What went wrong, I will never know.
The song is called My Apocalypse.
I don't know whether it's supposed to be about dying or whether it's trying to kill me with lyrics this confusing:
Claustrophobic
Crawl out of this skin
Hard explosive
Reaching for that pin
Feel thy name extermination
Desecrating, Hail of Fire
So we cross that line
Into the crypt
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse!
Deadly vision
Prophecy revealed
Death magnetic
Pulling closer still
My apocalypse... Go!
Crushing metal, Ripping Skin
Tossing body mannequin
Spilling Blood, Bleeding Gas
Mangle flesh, Snapping spine
Dripping bloody valentine
Shattered face, spitting glass
Split apart
Split apart
Split apart
Split
Spit it out!
What makes me drift a litter bit closer
Dead man takes the steering wheel
What makes me know it's time to cross over
Words you repeat until I feel
See through the skin the bones they all rattle
Future and past they disagree
Flesh falls away the bones they all shatter
I start to see the end in me
See the end in me...
Claustrophobic
Climb out of this skin
Hard explosive
Waiting for that pin
Violate, annihilate
A loser to my eyes
Obliterate, exterminate
At last accept, deny
Feel thy name as hell awakens
Destiny, Inhale the Fire
Tyrants awaken my apocalypse!
Demon awaken my apocalypse!
Heaven awaken my apocalypse!
Suffer forever my apocalypse!
Face it, there IS something wrong with the lyrics.
It's as if Metallica is trying to be hardcore again.
In truth, they never really wrote lyrics THIS ugly ever.
Even Master of Puppets which is a very hardcore song has lyrics better than For whom the bell tolls.
***************************************************************
Now here is a similar case exhibited by Lamb Of God.
In their EARLY years, they used to write hardcore stuff.
But no one cared, because no one understood the singing.
Then, the lessened their hardcore-ness on their 2nd and 3rd albums.
They began writing more political songs and sometimes songs that are just plain fun like ruin,11th Hour, and Omerta.
Omerta is the Italian Mafia Code of Silence.
Basically, whoever betrays the mafia, will be silenced.
The song begins with a brief explanation of what Omerta means:
Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward.
Whoever cannot take care of themselves without that law is both.
For a wounded man shall say to his assailant,
'If I live, I will kill you. If I die, You are forgiven.'
Such is the rule of honor.
Right after that phrase is spoken, the song kicks in, and so do the awesome Code of Silence inspired lyrics. very well written. By the guitarist, Mark Morton, who has a GPA of 3.9.
Broken the paradigm an example must be set
Invoke the Siren's song and sign the death warrant.
This is what has been wrought for 30 pieces of silver
The tongues of men and angels bought by a beloved betrayer.
I am the result what's better left unspoken
Violence begins to mend what was broken
You've been talking, I've been all ears.
Words meant to dwell in darkness shall never see the light of day
Words can be broken, so can bones
Execute the mandate
Mouth full of dirt.
Your name is removed from the registry
St. Peter greets with empty eyes then turns and locks the gate.
I am the result what's better left unspoken
Violence begins to mend what was broken
You've been talking, I've been all ears
Omerta.
Cheaply venal, stupidly verbose
A slip of the tongue, a slit of the throat
Six feet under with no marker
Keep my name from your mouth forever.
Free speech for the living, dead men tell no tales
Your laughing finger will never point again.
Omerta.
After that 3rd album, they returned to the studio. This time, the singer did all the song writing. This time, the lyrics were introverted and all personal and stuff. I couldn't relate to it. Sure, some songs from the 4th album were cool, but the lyrics of the songs really brought the music down.
Take this example. The song had the most eerie (in an almost cool way) intro, but after listening to the lyrics, I thought the same thing I thought after listening to My Apocalypse by Metallica.
Store-bought attitude and spit,
A sugar-coated piece of ***t.
An instant rebel, just add greed.
Another useless commodity.
Broken glass and a broken jaw.
Lies are told in a southern drawl.
Poor-house poverty's your shtick.
The real thing would kill you quick.
Blood and fire used to fill the night,
Burnt and drowned by our very lives.
You missed a sinking boat by years,
Dollar signs, crocodile tears.
It's over now and long has been,
Those days are gone won't come again.
Another name crossed off the list.
The real thing would kill you quick.
There's nothing for you to fight against,
You're so unreal it's evident.
You'll never be one of our kind,
This ain't yours, **** you, don't try.
(This ain't yours, **** you, don't try) [5x]
This bridge was burnt before you could cross,
You reap the benefits of what's lost.
Go home son, hang your costume up,
A goddamn insult to the rest of us.
A thousand-yard stare across the south,
A fully belly and a lying mouth.
Mamma's boy plays heretic.
The real thing would kill you quick.
As you can see, it's full of F-bombs and S words.
Trying to be brutal by saying nasty words is cheap.
Omerta was more hardcore without even thinking of saying "shit".
Conclusion :
Subhash is the worst critic in the world. These artists work day and night looking for inspiration to write lyrics, which can only truly be appreciated by the artist himself. And Subhash, slob that he is, doesn't bother to save up cash to purchase the albums legally, instead opting for "shareware" and borrowing albums from friends. Shame on you Subhash, shame on you...
(I thought my last post would be a week ago, turns out, I was writing in my diary instead. So since I'll still be writing either way, I might as well post it)
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