There's no doubt in my mind that this song is 100% about the classic 1950 film "Sunset Boulevard", directed by Billy Wilder. I KNOW (and I've never heard any of the guys in Metallica mention it, but I just KNOW) that this was absolutely intentional. They saw the film one day, and decided to write a song about it. If you've ever seen this amazing film (which I HIGHLY recommend to everyone), then it would be completely obvious to anyone who's seen it. It's about a past-her-prime silent film actress, Norma Desmond, (played superbly by Gloria Swanson), who believes that she is still a great star, still as famous as she ever was, and still wanted by all the studios and directors. The blatant references/hints/clues are ALL over the song.
The chorus...
"Fortune, fame
Mirror vain
Gone insane
But the memory remains"
sums up Norma's whole persona and mindset throughout the film. She has fortune, has (had) fame, is constantly looking in mirrors, very vain, and very much insane. She attempts suicide multiple times, imagines fans around her, and in the end of the film... commits a murder.
"Heavy rings on fingers wave
Another star denies the grave
See the nowhere crowd
Cry the nowhere cheers of honor"
Throughout the film, Norma wears large gaudy jewelry, including rings. But the part about the "nowhere crowd cry the nowhere cheers of honor" is even more fitting. She still receives much fan mail every week, completely oblivious to the fact that it's not real, and actually all being sent by her ex-husband. Also, she watches screenings of her own old films in her mansion, and even though she is alone, or only with one other person, in her mind there is a cheering crowd with her every time, watching and cheering and calling for her. And speaking of her mansion...
"Like twisted vines that grow
Hide and swallow mansions whole
In light of an already
Faded prima donna"
Her huge and ancient mansion, up in the hills off Sunset Blvd, is terribly run-down, and almost completely overgrown and covered with twisting vines. When Joe, the protagonist (and narrator) of the film, first arrives there, he thinks the house must be abandoned and empty. But this isn't enough proof, you say? Circumstantial and coincidental? Well here's where Metallica really hits us over the head with it and screams "It's the film Sunset Boulevard!"...
"Heavy rings hold cigarettes
Up to lips that time forgets
While the Hollywood sun sets
Behind your back"
Not only does Norma actually have a large ring in the film that has a hoop/clip on it, and actually doubles as a cigarette holder, but just read the last part of that stanza! "While the Hollywood SUN SETS behind your back"! That line alone makes it absolutely definite in my mind.
"And can't the band play on
Just listen, they play my song
Ash to ash
Dust to dust
Fade to black"
The band reference... In the film, Norma throws a New Years party at her mansion. But the thing is... much to the surprise of the audience and the narrator (Joe)... the whole party is only for two guests. Norma and Joe. Who happens to be about 30 or 40 years Norma's junior. At the party is a full band that she has hired. It is one of the most surreal scenes in the film (which is full of those). A giant grand ballroom, with a full orchestral band, on New Years Eve, and only the two people there, as Norma tells the band to play on while she insists on dancing with Joe, telling him, (quite insanely, or pathetically, depending on your opinion), that she is in love with him, and that the band is playing "their song".
"Fade to black", while yes, it is another great Metallica tune, I think here refers to just the end of the film. When a film is over, it fades to black. A very common film term. Yes, it carries a double meaning here, as a sly winking reference to their classic song of the same name, but it also carried the film meaning.
"Dance, little tin goddess"
Well, I've explained the dancing. It's a big scene at the turning point in the film. And "little tin goddess" is a goddess of film. Norma Desmond. Referring to the little tin, the small film canister, that film reels are stored in.
Anyway, if you want to tell me that I'm wrong, then please, go find this completely perfect film, (one of the greatest of all time), rent it (or just buy it! You won't regret it), watch it, then listen to "The Memory Remains" again... and then see if you still want to tell me I'm wrong.
@FilmScorpio Glad to see I am not the only person on the planet who had this interpretation of the song. Thought this the moment I first heard it many years ago now. Totally agree with your analysis. Would be nice to think we were right on this, but I have never heard anything to confirm it.
@FilmScorpio Glad to see I am not the only person on the planet who had this interpretation of the song. Thought this the moment I first heard it many years ago now. Totally agree with your analysis. Would be nice to think we were right on this, but I have never heard anything to confirm it.
There's no doubt in my mind that this song is 100% about the classic 1950 film "Sunset Boulevard", directed by Billy Wilder. I KNOW (and I've never heard any of the guys in Metallica mention it, but I just KNOW) that this was absolutely intentional. They saw the film one day, and decided to write a song about it. If you've ever seen this amazing film (which I HIGHLY recommend to everyone), then it would be completely obvious to anyone who's seen it. It's about a past-her-prime silent film actress, Norma Desmond, (played superbly by Gloria Swanson), who believes that she is still a great star, still as famous as she ever was, and still wanted by all the studios and directors. The blatant references/hints/clues are ALL over the song. The chorus...
"Fortune, fame Mirror vain Gone insane But the memory remains"
sums up Norma's whole persona and mindset throughout the film. She has fortune, has (had) fame, is constantly looking in mirrors, very vain, and very much insane. She attempts suicide multiple times, imagines fans around her, and in the end of the film... commits a murder.
"Heavy rings on fingers wave Another star denies the grave See the nowhere crowd Cry the nowhere cheers of honor"
Throughout the film, Norma wears large gaudy jewelry, including rings. But the part about the "nowhere crowd cry the nowhere cheers of honor" is even more fitting. She still receives much fan mail every week, completely oblivious to the fact that it's not real, and actually all being sent by her ex-husband. Also, she watches screenings of her own old films in her mansion, and even though she is alone, or only with one other person, in her mind there is a cheering crowd with her every time, watching and cheering and calling for her. And speaking of her mansion...
"Like twisted vines that grow Hide and swallow mansions whole In light of an already Faded prima donna"
Her huge and ancient mansion, up in the hills off Sunset Blvd, is terribly run-down, and almost completely overgrown and covered with twisting vines. When Joe, the protagonist (and narrator) of the film, first arrives there, he thinks the house must be abandoned and empty. But this isn't enough proof, you say? Circumstantial and coincidental? Well here's where Metallica really hits us over the head with it and screams "It's the film Sunset Boulevard!"...
"Heavy rings hold cigarettes Up to lips that time forgets While the Hollywood sun sets Behind your back"
Not only does Norma actually have a large ring in the film that has a hoop/clip on it, and actually doubles as a cigarette holder, but just read the last part of that stanza! "While the Hollywood SUN SETS behind your back"! That line alone makes it absolutely definite in my mind.
"And can't the band play on Just listen, they play my song Ash to ash Dust to dust Fade to black"
The band reference... In the film, Norma throws a New Years party at her mansion. But the thing is... much to the surprise of the audience and the narrator (Joe)... the whole party is only for two guests. Norma and Joe. Who happens to be about 30 or 40 years Norma's junior. At the party is a full band that she has hired. It is one of the most surreal scenes in the film (which is full of those). A giant grand ballroom, with a full orchestral band, on New Years Eve, and only the two people there, as Norma tells the band to play on while she insists on dancing with Joe, telling him, (quite insanely, or pathetically, depending on your opinion), that she is in love with him, and that the band is playing "their song".
"Fade to black", while yes, it is another great Metallica tune, I think here refers to just the end of the film. When a film is over, it fades to black. A very common film term. Yes, it carries a double meaning here, as a sly winking reference to their classic song of the same name, but it also carried the film meaning.
"Dance, little tin goddess"
Well, I've explained the dancing. It's a big scene at the turning point in the film. And "little tin goddess" is a goddess of film. Norma Desmond. Referring to the little tin, the small film canister, that film reels are stored in.
Anyway, if you want to tell me that I'm wrong, then please, go find this completely perfect film, (one of the greatest of all time), rent it (or just buy it! You won't regret it), watch it, then listen to "The Memory Remains" again... and then see if you still want to tell me I'm wrong.
@FilmScorpio OH shit you are right! so Youre telling me Marianne Faithful is supposed to play the role of Norma, singing at the end?
@FilmScorpio OH shit you are right! so Youre telling me Marianne Faithful is supposed to play the role of Norma, singing at the end?
@FilmScorpio Glad to see I am not the only person on the planet who had this interpretation of the song. Thought this the moment I first heard it many years ago now. Totally agree with your analysis. Would be nice to think we were right on this, but I have never heard anything to confirm it.
@FilmScorpio Glad to see I am not the only person on the planet who had this interpretation of the song. Thought this the moment I first heard it many years ago now. Totally agree with your analysis. Would be nice to think we were right on this, but I have never heard anything to confirm it.