Metallica

Released: August 25, 1988

Songwriter: Lars Ulrich James Hetfield

Producer: James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Flemming Rasmussen

[Verse 1]
Suspicion is your name
Your honesty to blame
Put dignity to shame
Dishonor
Witchhunt, modern day
Determining decay
The blatant disarray
Disfigure
The public eyes' disgrace
Defying commonplace
Unending paper chase
Unending
Deafening
Painstaking
Reckoning
This vertigo it doth bring

[Chorus 1]
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witchhunt riding through
Shortest straw
This shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Shortest straw has been pulled for you

[Verse 2]
The accusations fly
Discrimination, why?
Your inner self to die
Intruding
Doubt sunk itself in you
Its teeth and talons through
You're living Catch-22
Deluding
A mass hysteria
A megalomania
Reveal dementia
Reveal
Secretly
Silently
Certainly
In vertigo you will be

[Chorus 1]
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witchhunt riding through
Shortest straw
This shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
The shortest straw has been pulled for you

[Guitar Solo]

[Post Chorus]
(Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
Pulled for you (Shortest straw)
The shortest straw has been pulled for you

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3]
Behind you, hands are tied
Your being, ostracized
Your hell is multiplied
Upending
The fallout has begun
Oppressive damage done
Your many turned to none
To nothing
You're reaching your nadir
Your will has disappeared
The lie Is crystal clear
Defending
Channels red
One word said
Blacklisted
With vertigo make you dead

[Chorus 2]
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witchhunt riding through
Shortest straw
This shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you

Like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden before, Metallica has managed to transcend the genre from which it was originated. To their metal fanbase they are considered one of the Big Four bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer; however Metallica is also one of the most commercially successful bands in all of rock music, having sold 110 million records including the 16x platinum Metallica, which stands as both the highest selling metal album of all time and most successful album of the past 25 years.

Metallica was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advert in the classifieds newspaper The Recycler, which was answered by singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield. They were soon joined by lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who later formed Megadeth after being kicked out of the band because of his substance and alchohol abuse, and bassist Ron McGovney, a childhood friend of Hetfield. These two early members were replaced with Cliff Burton (who relocated the band to San Francisco) and ex-Exodus lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett to form the band’s classic line-up.

The band released three albums, 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, 1984’s Ride The Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets before the tragic and untimely death of Cliff Burton on September 27th, 1986.

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