Lyric discussion by nemesis 

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.

tl;dr:

Read For Whom the Bell Tolls, and this song'll make sense... but it's prolly tl for you to r :P

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