This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Make his fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, for the right, yes, but who's to say?
For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Take a look to the sky just before you die
It's 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
Hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, for the right, yes, but who's to say?
For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Take a look to the sky just before you die
It's 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
Hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see
For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls
Lyrics submitted by fennsk, edited by syko_brat, RyanWolfeh, LHGL
For Whom The Bell Tolls Lyrics as written by James Alan Hetfield Clifford Lee Burton
Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing
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To me this song is just about war in general. Soldiers go off to war, defending their country, and are willing to give their life for a cause that they may not completely agree with or understand. The part, "For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know" could mean men are defending a hill (strategic point on a battle field) and they are willing to kill the enemy but the overall cause of why they are fighting they do not know. The part in the song referring to the men going insane is just a typical side effect of men going off to war. All the blood, death, and screaming sounds on the battle field are enough to rattle any man's sanity. Last of all, "Take a look to the sky just before you die" is the typical thing many people are said to do before they die. As they are looking up at the sky their life flashes before their eyes and they get one last glimpse of this world and try to take it all in.
This song is based on the Ernest Hemmingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, and it is about 5 soldiers left to defend a hill and are killed in an airstrike.
Specifically, the song is about El Sordo's guerrilla band's final fight. That's pretty much exactly it. Metallica isn't commenting on anything really; just re-saying what's stated, either overtly or covertly in the book. <br /> <br /> <br /> tl;dr:<br /> <br /> Read For Whom the Bell Tolls, and this song'll make sense... but it's prolly tl for you to r :P
fight against terrorism is an illusion. usa will never win this war, and by the way, there isn't a 'good war'.. i agree with Insanitas.. patriotism in THIS way is crap! how can people be proud of killing others? i'm NOT deffending terrorism, but i'm not defending war either.
by the way, this song and all metallica songs rocks..
This song I've always understood to mean about the insanity of war. Obviously the title came from Hemingway. After reading the book, it would seem clear that the band members have read it too. In the book, you read of the moment that everything goes quiet, just before all hell breaks loose (hears the silence so loud) There is talk of defending a hill, and there is mention of the stiffening wounds suffered in battle. Near the end, the book's protagonist (the American whose name I forget) looks up to the sky while he is alone, dying.
Yes, war is insane. But sometimes, folks, war is justified. God bless America in her fight against terrorism.
JR
The American was named Robert Jordan.
The war on terror is so idiotic as to be laughable.
@JR I'd say wars can be justified, in the sense that sometimes they are brought to your door step (and therefore it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees). But in regards to terrorism, this is a "war" that can't be won (not in the traditional sense). Unfortunately governments haven't worked this out yet ... and until they do they will continue to lose that "war".
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
@JR god bless up your ass there is no god who justifies anything bcause there no gods or god no afterlife and no ood or evil no heaven or hell no angels no demons no devil no god just us and our madness and america F*@cking sucks
First of all, I think this is one of the best Metallica songs ever. It's absolutly brilliant and a good example for the band's and his lyrics' genius. When I first heard the song I just thought "WOW". I like the Ride The Ligtnig-version more than the S&M one (that church bell in the background is absolutly cool!).
@JR, 4saken4 and Bulkyone: could you please stop talking that patriotism shit?! That whole "defending our country", "holy cause" and "god bless america" is CRAP! There is no glorious war, no matter what people are fighting for. War was always the same and will always be the same: Senseless destruction and killing. I'me sure no one of you knows what war is like in reality. My mother often told me about my grandfather; about him sitting the whole night in his chair and crying because he couldn't forget what he saw on the front. So I hope you pray to god (or whoever you pray to) that you'll never know what war is like in reality. With the words of Benjamin Franklin: "There is no good war and no bad peace"
World War 2 was a terrible war, but it had to be fought. That's just one example. The policy of appeasement was a terrible mistake, and everybody knows it
@Insanitas War is war, and war will always be war. War is ugly, but wars need to be fought sometimes. If people want to fight a war against the United States, they're gonna get a few bullets to the face. And what, my dear pacifist, is wrong with patriotism? What's wrong with taking pride in one's country?
@Cl3AVER Patriotism is a form of biased egoism and it might not be completely rational, but it is not a reason to deem it morally illegitimate. <br />
@Cl3AVER Patriotism is a form of biased egoism and it might not be completely rational, but it is not a reason to deem it morally illegitimate. <br />
"Crack of dawn, all is gone, except the will to be" <=that might be referring to the chaos of battle: all that's left is your will to stay alive.
Badass riff and lyrics. So dark too. Vintage Metallica.
This is such a great song, and once I heard it I knew Metallica was something special. Lyrics like "On they fight, for they are right, yes, by who's to say? For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know" This shows that Metallica is a very intelligent band who realizes how idiotic war is especially because both sides think they're right, but neither knows what they are really fighting for and why it is worth killing another. This band is so deep, I love it. I hope everybody is affected by this song as much as I am.
yes, i agree with you guys ;) metallica fuckin rulez
\m/ METALLICA RULE!!!!!! we want a new album!