Lyrics for Don't Tread On Me as interpreted by King Nothing

Don't Tread On Me Lyrics
Don't tread on me!
Say, don't tread on me!

Liberty or death,
what we so proudly hail.
Once you provoke her,
Rattling of her tail.

Never Begins it,
never, but once engaged.
Never surremders,
showing the fangs of rage.

Say don't tread on me.

So be it.
Threaten no more.
To secure peace is
to prepare for war.
So be it.
Settle the score.
Touch me again with the words that you will hear evermore.

Don't tread on me.

Love it or leave it,
She with the deadly bite.
Quick is the blue tongue,
forked as the lightning strike.
Shining with brightness,
always on surveillance.
(The eyes, they never close)
Emblem of Vigilance.
Oooh, no,no,no

Say, don't tread on me.

So be it.
Threaten no more.
To secure peace is
to prepare for war.
So be it.
Settle the score.
Touch me again with the words that you will hear evermore.

Don't tread on me!

So be it.
Threaten no more.
To secure peace is
to prepare for war.

Liberty or death,
what we so proudly hail.
Once you provoke her,
rattling of her tail.

So be it.
Threaten no more.
To secure peace is
to prepare for war.
So be it.
Settle the score.
Touch me again with the words that you will hear evermore.

Don't tread on me!

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King Nothing
05-05-2002

Rated 0 
Well this song totally contradicts to the whole basic idea of the "...And Justic For All" album, but it's not a bad song. It's about how the Minute Men battled for freedom. They were represented by a flag similar to the design on the cover of the Black Album. It was actually the first American flag. I found myself listening to this song a lot in the first few months after the incident on 9/11.

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Prodigal
05-10-2002

Rated 0 
Useless fact: In the intro Metallica plays tunes of a song from the musical "The Westside Story" called "I Like To Be In America".

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Sephiroth
05-22-2002

Rated 0 
Metallica is showing its patriotic signs witht his song referring to the Revolutionary War's Minutemen who beared a white flag with a snake the ha dthe words "Don't Tread On Me" on it. When I hear this song I think about a one man army preparing to go into battle with a victory being seemingly impossible but the man beats the odds, and comes out on top

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Emo_Kid_
07-25-2002

Rated 0 
a flag, a war, who cares, this song rocks, metallica rocks!

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SLayerforever
08-28-2002

Rated 0 
its a solute to the men and woman who have died for this country, its saying that they have pride in those people.


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Tremontifan3s3
09-02-2002

Rated 0 
yeah, sephiroth is right. you said it all. i love the song, love the band, what more can i say :D

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RealFnShow
03-06-2003

Rated 0 
Sephiroth, i'm with you man, right on! I also found myself listening to in after 9-11

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Matlock
06-13-2003

Rated 0 
this song does not contradict ...and justice for all in any way. That cd is about curroption of politicians and the judicial system. The is a song honoring the soliders who died for the country. In one he criticizes the bad and in the other he remembers the good

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Matlock
06-13-2003

Rated 0 
this song does not contradict ...and justice for all in any way. That cd is about curroption of politicians and the judicial system. The is a song honoring the soliders who died for the country. In one he criticizes the bad and in the other he remembers the good

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yllas
05-07-2004

Rated -1 
I've always thought the song was subversively questioning extreme patriotic values. The literal content certainly is very patriotic (liberty or death, don't tread on me, etc), however, two things suggest that they may actually be satirizing this view:

1: THE SNAKE
I know the snake was on the Minute Men’s flag but I think the snake imagery is used for a second reason:
America is usually symbolized by the bald eagle which has connotations with strength, pride and majesty. Snakes, on the other hand, are associated with slyness, treachery (think The Garden of Eden) and being extremely dangerous and unpredictable. So this snake metaphor may depict a less flattering image of America.

2: THE TUNE FROM "AMERICA" IN THE INTRO.
In this song in A Westside Story, the woman portrays and over-idealized view of how great America is, while the man replies with a cynically to everything she says. Perhaps in the same way, this song is showing that some over-idealized elements of patriotism can be questioned or treated with cynicism.

Having said all of this, i don't think the song is anti-American at all, rather it is against extreme patriotism. They are different things.

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1 Reply
nechronius
06-10-2004

Rated 0 
Good analysis, yllas. This song is certainly presenting an extreme (and not entirely positive) message about patriotism, not like simple anthems by country/western singers. Metallica is too complex to resort to such blatant feel-good tactics.

Also the song being in support of soldiers isn't entirely correct. The song refers to minutemen and militia who come from private citizen volunteers who took up their own weapons in order to combat invaders. I think most people have forgotten that fact as they sit in front of their couch watching MTV, comfortable in teh knowledge that Mexico and Canada aren't looking to expand their empires anytime soon.

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Mr.ArMaGeDdOn
11-19-2004

Rated 0 
Don't kick me around without expecting my revenge.Thats what the song is about.Or, if u look at this song from another point of view:It may be about the Amrican War for Independence

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MartinBlank
04-02-2005

Rated 0 
Don't mess with me/us, we won't mess with you. Seriously though, if it weren't for our military and the UN's military the entire world would be in shamble...wait a second....that's right....the UN's army IS OUR military....in blue helmets...complete misunderstanding.....I did go to a public school, after all.

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lyricstudent
04-07-2005

Rated 0 
I disagree with yllas.. this song is not being satirical about liberty or death.. it is living the liberty or death..

This is a wonderful song, I love the Americana that it portrays, that old school Civil War type of brutality..

That American ethic.. Give me Liberty or Give me Death..

It's something that every American can perhaps identify with, or be affected by... That if we would be attacked.. on the ground... That deep down inside we know what to do... Most importantly we know who we are, we know who the "us" is, and who the "them" is, and we know there is only going to be one survivor. Deep down, we know it is us... and so do they..

The rattling of her tail has really been inflamed ... since 9/11... And we are ready to strike, and I hope we aren't provoked..

All this mockery by the French and the Germans.. such stupidity.. They (and their stupid citizens) didn't realize that the whole point of there foriegn policy is to look good to the American people, regardless of what some politicos are doing with our foriegn policy..

But the overall impression is that French and German leaders openly declare the American public as bafoons... Hello! that's obvious!, What about the french and german public? Total idiots, such self-dishonesty they have.. The only conclusion is that the real idiots is not so much George Bush, as it is the European leaders..

America is the only friend to have..

Unfortunately, the future is not garaunteed.. Ground wars are won with the passion, lethal deadly sting of hate and vengeance..

But the real dominance is of technology... It is a real interesting question .. what is going on with Japan and America on the question of technology..

But at this point I stop.. The public should not be aware.. it is confidential.. and our fangs must forever strike the deepest fear into the rest of the world.. We should not abuse ourselves with freedom of speech -- use the speech for love and spirit..

But to secure peace is to prepare for war.. we must dominate technology -- through Americas other strength -- we are the final frontier of Western (scientific) Enlightenment.. and that vein must be nourished in our young men who are to become scientists..

Ok, enough for now.

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unclerico007
04-09-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with everyone here.

The first time I heard this song, I thought it was about the end of the Cold War (But I also thought they were saying SOVIET, not so be it). Everyones interpretation makes a lot of sense.

But I entertained the thought of the Cold War, since it ended in '91 about the same time the song came out.

"To secure peace is to prepare for war. " means the nuclear arms race and the idea of mutually assured destruction as a deterrent to war.

Dont tread on me sounds like they are mocking the Soviets for losing the war.

The snake implies pure evil and the Soviet Union was portrayed as evil in the US media and propaganda.

"Never Begins it, never, but once engaged" means that the two sides never actually fought each other, and the one time they actually fought was in Berlin, even though no shots were fired, they did battle over how Germany would be divided.


"Never surrenders," means that the Soviets never officially surrendered, but their government and economy collapsed.

Yeah thats about it. I know this is all wrong because it has been disproven above, but this was my thought on the song.

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FIXXER73
04-10-2005

Rated 0 
This song says dont fu.k with america or we will kick your ass.

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Arctica
07-19-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with you, "yllas". Finaly someone with some insight, thanks.

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stryker311
07-20-2005

Rated 0 
did anyobody else know that 311 has a cd coming out titled "don't tread on me" and a single with the same title backing it up? i wonder if theyre connected. Anyway, yes this song is fcuking sick, and i agree with FIXXER73, conservatism all the way.

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Papafrye
08-02-2005

Rated 0 
The songs meaning is obvious

AMERICA KICKS ASS. AND IF YOU FUCK WITH US...NO...IF YOU EVAN LOOK AT US FUNNY WE WILL PUT A BIG LEATHER, MADE IN THE U.S.A., BOOT IN YOUR FACE. "Never but once engaged" thats right fuckers! you only get one chance with us unc it's started we finish it!!!! we kick ass we take names, and if we dont like the name we give it an American twist.

God bless america

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Burtonite
12-30-2005

Rated 0 
I cant wait till america is no longer the greatest superpower

just to see the looks on all you uber-patriotic buggers faces

sweet

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1 Reply
rockaddict55
01-11-2006

Rated 0 
whats wrong with america? and besides why are u looking at a proamerican song if u dont like america?

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Nameless123
01-12-2006

Rated 0 
you crazy Americans have to calm down...Yes in WWII you guys were a huge help and the greatest nation at the time, without America the war would have been lost. So thank you America......but since then America has gone downhill and you can argue and say it hasn't but it's the truth. Anyways good song none-the-less

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1 Reply
rockaddict55
01-14-2006

Rated 0 
mmmk. but just wondering, what country r u from?

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Letaur
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
You are all idiots here. Except yllas and Arctica. Listen to the AJFA album. Listen to One, For whom the bell tolls, Disposable heroes. Do you honestly think that James and co. would change their views on war that radically within 3 years??? And even if they did, would they go back to their original ideas within 4 more years (Where the wild things are).
This song is satirical. James sings this song sarcastically. He mocks patriotism, that's what he does in this song. NOT preach it!
Metallica were never the "Great American Hero Band".
They actually had intellects. And that shows in this beautiful piece of mockery.

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Pipe-Les
05-26-2006

Rated 0 
It's a song with a double meaning I think. It obviously draws from the bible, where after Adam and Eve eat the fruit of knowledge at the insistence of the snake, humans are cursed to tread on serpents, and serpents to bite the heel. This song is operating on the principle that it was the serpent that set the humans free.

With the symbolism the serpent represents the general populace and the man in his position of dominance represents the authority/government. It was the populace/serpent that ensured the government and people in charge to obtain freedom, but because they are in a position of power they feel they can "step" on the populace. This song warns that although they are in power, we (the populace) are still in a position to damage them.

Definitley not patriotic bull****.

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