Where do I take this pain of mine?
I run but it stays right my side

So tear me open, pour me out
There's things inside that scream and shout
And the pain still hates me
So hold me, until it sleeps

Just like the curse, just like the stray
You feed it once and now it stays, now it stays

So tear me open but beware
There's things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me, until I'm clean

It grips you, so hold me
It stains you, so hold me
It hates you, so hold me
It holds you, so hold me
Until it sleeps (until it sleeps, until it sleeps)

So tell me why you've chosen me
Don't want your grip, don't want your greed, don't want it

I'll tear me open, make you gone
No more can you hurt anyone
And the fear still shakes me
So hold me, until it sleeps

It grips you, so hold me
It stains you, so hold me
It hates you, so hold me
It holds you, holds you, holds you
Until it sleeps, until it sleeps
Until it sleeps, until it sleeps, until it sleeps

I don't want it
I don't want it, want it, want it
Want it, want it, no

So tear me open but beware
The things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me 'til I'm clean

I'll tear me open, make you gone
No longer will you hurt anyone
And the hate still shapes me
So hold me, until it sleeps
Until it sleeps, until it sleeps
Until it sleeps, until it sleeps


Lyrics submitted by fennsk, edited by Ashram

Until It Sleeps Lyrics as written by Lars Ulrich James Alan Hetfield

Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing

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Until It Sleeps song meanings
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    General Comment

    This song is absolutely brilliant. The lyrics are appropriately generic enough so that different people see distinct, oftentimes deeply personal, meanings in it; it depicts a person in a incredibly fragile position, suffering from an unamed evil, bellowing that he/she will do something nasty about it but incapable of escaping a terrible ordeal (which is also something quite different from the usual output of Metallica). This is the rock'n'roll equivalent to the Book of Job, or the final moments of Christ on the cross (... "So tell me why you've chosen me"). I keep coming back to it on difficult times.

    [Edit: ]
    MMAlveson April 05, 2024   Link

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