Megadeth

Released: September 14, 2004

Songwriter: Dave Mustaine

Producer: Jeff Balding Dave Mustaine

[Intro]
This is breaking news
It appears that Air Force One was shot down
Somewhere over the Middle East this morning
By a sleeper cell of rogue terrorists, firing a Stinger Missile
The pilot and all passengers are unaccounted for
The President's whereabouts are presently unknown
And he is presumed missing
The Vice President, Secretary of State
And principles of the military are assembling
Our nation stands at DEFCON 3

[Verse 1]
The greatest crisis, will someone come for me
I "red, white and blew it"
Unleashed revenge, my body is detained
How could anybody do this
Betrayal, I peel away the days
Medals are useless, Uncle Sam's forgotten me
I'm not important no one will ever come
I'll never be found, God get me out of this hell

[Verse 2]
Nuclear battlefields energized
Cold wars are heating up again
The tensions mounting
People lift up your fists in revenge

[Verse 3]
The stage is set
Who will be the first to blink?
We can't go to war
Remember that "Vietnam thing"
Peace at any price
With a gun to your head, bang, bang
Weakness runs in your family
What runs in mine is death

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]
This is your 5-minute warning
Burn all your classified documents
And if cooler heads don't prevail
First strike from a political dead man

[Spoken]
"Appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive
He understands only one language — action!
And he respects only one word — force!
No sign of them stopping, no time for back channel communiqués
We need all the help we can get, air strikes and invasions
Retaliate, I say!"
"The will of good men can not counter the terrible strain of war"

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 5]
Blackmail the universe with the greatest of calamities
Awaken those sleeping giants in the dust of the ground
With their skin destroyed, unjust to innocence
Lawful possessor of the worlds last 24 hours

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 6]
Terror and ugliness reveal what death really means
And in hatred, you see men as they really are
If chosen over heaven, earth will have been for them
All along, only another region of hell

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

Warheads on Foreheads

From the albums

The System Has Failed (2004)
Warheads on Foreheads (2019)

Megadeth popular songs

Blackmail the UniverseMegadeth

Megadeth

Warheads on Foreheads