Released: September 14, 2004

Songwriter: Dave Mustaine

Producer: Jeff Balding Dave Mustaine

[Intro]
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

[Verse 1]
Back when I was just seventeen
I thought that I knew everything
I could make it in this scene
To be a rising star that only gleamed
But all the answers disagreed
With the questions held for me

[Verse 2]
I was legal now at twenty-one
I knew the way the world should run
My God, just look what I had done
Simply drunk and having fun
Looked for friends, but I found none
All alone at twenty-one

[Chorus]
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

[Verse 3]
At twenty-five I was surprised
That I was even half-alive
Somehow I managed to survive
I felt my body doing time
And in my back a hundred knives
From my friends at twenty-five

[Verse 4]
And now as Gabriel sounds my warning bell
I'd buy your life, if you would sell
A year or two if less compelled
So live your life and live it well
There's not much left of me to tell
I just got back up each time I fell

[Chorus]
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus]
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men
The fire burns on and on
That drives me on until all is gone
Except the simple plans
Of mice and men

Megadeth

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):