Megadeth

Released: January 19, 1988

Songwriter: Dave Mustaine

Producer: Dave Mustaine Paul Lani

[Intro]
I don't want to set the world on fire...

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]
Red flash, clouds choking out the morning sky
They said it'd never come, we knew it was a lie
All forms of life die now, the humans all succumb
Time to kiss your ass goodbye, the end has just begun

[Verse 2]
Distorted figures walk the street, it's 1999
Weeds once underneath your feet have grown to vines
Bodies melted like a candle, a land without a face
No time to change your fate, no time left, it's too late

[Verse 3]
The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid they said
And if it comes, the living will envy the dead
Racing for power, and all come in last
No winning, first stone cast
This falsehood, worldly peace
Its treaties soon will cease

[Verse 4]
No one will be left to prove that humans existed
Maybe soon the children will be born open-fisted
We all live on one planet it will all go up in smoke

[Bridge]
Too bad they couldn't see this lethal energy
And now the final scene, a global darkening

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 5]
Dig deep, piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said "We'll use rocks on the other side."
No survivors
Set the world afire

[Outro]
No survivors, set the world afire

After being kicked out of Metallica, Dave Mustaine decided to form a Thrash Metal band that not only rivaled his former band, but played faster, more technical Metal. Along with bassist David ‘Junior’ Ellefson and a revolving door of guitarists and drummers, Mustaine set the world afire as Megadeth became known as the world’s state-of-the-art Speed Metal band throughout the 80s and the early 90s. One of the Big Four of Thrash Metal, Megadeth remains one of Metal’s most popular acts today.

However, Dave Mustaine’s fledgling band got off to a shaky start. Initially unable to find like-minded individuals, it was not until an altercation with his (underage) downstairs neighbours Dave Ellefson and Greg Handevidt, that led to him buying them beer and forming the first incarnation of the band with drummer Dijon Carruthers in 1983.

The band was named after a political pamphlet that referred to a “megadeath” (one million deaths by nuclear explosion):

more tracks from the album

Anthology: Set the World Afire

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Set the World AfireMegadeth

Megadeth

Anthology: Set the World Afire