Metallica - All Nightmare Long

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Justin

Thanks Joe. The statement above actually answers the question in it's entirety. This is exactly what others would ask when they wanted to put Snoop Dog music on the forum.

I'm changing the title of this thread to reflect the actual content and then moving it into new member questions forum with a descriptive heading.

Hey Justin

So I guess what we are talking about here is the subject of the music and or video. I understand that you dont want to open the flood gates. So I will post the lyrics of the song and the philosophical outlines of the video. If this still does not warrant your admission of the video, I will accept it. lol


"All Nightmare Long" by Metallica

(One, two...)

Luck runs out.

Crawl from the wreckage one more time,
Horrific memory twists the mind,
Dark, rutted (rugged?), cold and hard to turn,
Path of destruction, feel it burn.

Still life,
Incarnation,
Still life,
Infamy.

Hallucination,
Heresy,
Still you run,
What's to come?
What's to be?

'Cause we'll hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down All Nightmare Long,
Feel us breathe upon your face,
Feel our shift, every move we trace.

Hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down all nightmare long, yeah.
Luck runs...
And you crawl out again,
But your luck runs out.

(One, two...)

Luck runs out.

The light that is not light is here
To flush you out with your own fear,
You hide, you hide,
But will be found,
Release your grip without a sound,

Still life,
Immolation,
Still life,
Infamy.

Hallucination,
Heresy,
Still you run,
What's to come?
What's to be?

'Cause we'll hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down all nightmare long,
Feel us breathe upon your face,
Feel our shift, every move we trace.

Hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down all nightmare long, yeah.
Luck runs...
And you crawl out again,
But your luck runs out.

(Solo #1)

(Solo #2)

Then you crawl back in,
Into your obsession,
Never to return,
This is your confession.

Hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down all nightmare long.
Feel us breathe upon your face,
Feel our shift, every move we trace.

Hunt you down without mercy,
Hunt you down all nightmare long, yeah.
Luck runs...
And you crawl out again,
But your luck runs out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for the video, here is the link to watch it:

YouTube - Metallica - All Nightmare Long

I think it has plenty of merit as a Philosophical music video. Many undertones of Science, Politics, Ethics, and Logic. With that said, I think your main reasoning for not posting this video is on the assumption that it will bring bad content. I disagree with this method of approval. When one assumes something, it is never thought out very throughly and honestly.

Thanks for listening Justin.

[Justin]

Sorry, not on this forum. Everyone with a thinking mind has a philosophy and some of these people can even make what others would consider music, that does not mean it is. Again, this is perception.

There are no assumptions here so I think you are mistaking. I disapproved the Metallica video before the forum ever opened so there was very careful thought and consideration to the method of approval.

If you want my opinion, this is not music and I don't think the lyrics are anything special or inspiring. It may mean something or have an underlying meaning but then again, everything does. This video can stay here for discussion but not in the Video section of the forum.

Likewise, thanks for listening and understanding.

[Aedes]

I like Metallica well enough, but honestly the lyrics in this song are pretty vapid. In fact I can't really think of a Metallica song in which they're particularly meaningful, though as the group has aged their lyrics have become a bit less blunt and a bit more poetic.

Listen to some Tom Waits or some Bob Dylan if you want stunning songwriting with multi-layered messages and ideas.

[Theaetetus]

I though that older Metallica at times had decent lyrics (especially some songs on ...And Justice for All). Honestly with lyrics like this and the failed attempt on Metallica's part to relive their glory days, I wish they would retire already.

"The light that is not light is here
To flush you out with your own fear,
You hide, you hide,
But will be found,
Release your grip without a sound,"

Seriously, I think some of my peers were writing better poetry by 7th grade.

[Aedes]

On the new album, I like the lyrics in "Unforgiven III", which (like Unforgiven and Unforgiven II) seem like a giant metaphor. I'm ok with not exactly knowing what a song is about as long as there is poetry to it. I mean music does not HAVE to communicate ideas -- it's more charged with communicating emotion.

...And Justice for All is hardly "older" Metallica, I mean the group had been around for 6 years and made 3 previous albums by then. The lyrics on that album are more political than any other of theirs, but they're not subtle. I mean "Eye of the Beholder", "Blackened", "...And Justice for All", there is very little subtlety -- and a lot of anger.

But again, they've got nothing on the superlative songwriting of some other artists. I mean of popular modern rock groups they don't even touch Radiohead, or U2, or even Nirvana.

And then think about some of the really superlative ones:

"Ain't it just like the night to play
tricks when you're trying to be so quiet.
We sit here stranded
though we're all doing our best to deny it.
And Louise holds her hand full of rain
tempting you to defy it.
Lights flicker from the opposite loft,
in this room the heat pipes just cough,
the country music station plays soft,
but there's nothing really nothing to turn off..."

Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna)

I mean who is better at telling a story and setting a scene than that?? Amazing.


Or:
"All night long on the broken glass
livin in a medicine chest
mediteromanian hotel back
sprawled across a roll top desk
the monkey rode the blade on an
overhead fan
they paint the donkey blue if you pay
I got a telephone call from Istanbul
my baby's coming home today"

Tom Waits (Telephone Call from Istanbul)


Or:
"When I was just a little young boy,
Papa said son, you'll never get far,
Tell you the reason, if you wanna know,
Cause child of mine, there isn't really far to go."

Grateful Dead (Dupree's Diamond Blues)

Point is, the ideas are a bit obscure, but they're delivered with poetry and poignancy. Fortunately for these three songs, the music is great too.

[Theaetetus]

I am a huge Tom Waits and Dylan fan and I love lyrics that are poetic--especially when the accompanying music is good as well.

My only point though was that ...And Justice for All had lyrics that served a purpose even if they were too transparent. They definitely rose above this garbage from their new song "My Apocalypse".
"Mangled flesh, snapping spine
Dripping bloody valentine
Shattered face, spitting glass."

I can't help but think of the kid that sits by himself in 4th grade because he picks his nose all the time, and then him writing this poem into a Valentines Day card for the girl he secretly has a crush on.

[Joe]

Metallica does not dive that deep into the soul when it comes to poetry. The reason I think people appreciate the band and their music, is the pictures they paint as a whole. They put out a symbol and it reflects very cleanly.

To say that Someones elses music is deeper, and therefore more meaningful, well if that were true, then it would be perfect.

Nothing is actually more meaningful, its all perception. I would say that Metallica's image requires little, in depth, perception.

By the way, The basis of this video has to do with some Russian event that caused an environmental stir and questioning. Its sort of like their Area 51.

[William]

If I might add a codger’s perspective. I am not a fan of metallica and to be honest this is the first time I have ever been exposed to any of their music, if you want to call it that. Now that I have, I don’t consider it music. Sorry. What I do know is the age of those who are listening to it, and that is what I think must be addressed. Not all have the astute understanding many have on this forum and could easily, in the drug induced state many are in who listen to this type of "noise", (as I hear it), miss any deeper meaning it is trying to put forth. There are other ways to communicate, and , as far as I am concerned, this is not one of them.

William

[Aedes]

William,
It's not for everyone, and it certainly doesn't appeal to me the same way in 2008 that it did 20 years ago when I first started listening to them. I'm a 34 year old parent now, but I still listen to them every now and then and I even know how to play one of their new songs on guitar. So don't assume that you know anything (let alone everything) about their fans -- I'm not some angry teenager (and I wasn't angry even when I was a teenager).

I have very diverse musical interests, though, and believe me it's possible for one rational person who has never used drugs once in his life to like Metallica, to like other thrash metal, but also be a huge fan of opera, of classical music in general, of various kinds of world music, and many other genera of rock music. I've already brought up Waits and Dylan, but I also love Verdi, Mahler, Bruckner, Mozart, Dvorak, and many others.

Another thing you might keep in mind that Metallica has much musically better songs than the ones discussed here. I can't listen to so-called "death metal", which is much more extreme than Metallica, it's just too much. But keep in mind that much of the appeal of heavy metal is the energy that it channels -- and that in itself is a kind of emotional expression.

[William]

Originally Posted by Aedes

William,
It's not for everyone, and it certainly doesn't appeal to me the same way in 2008 that it did 20 years ago when I first started listening to them. I'm a 34 year old parent now, but I still listen to them every now and then and I even know how to play one of their new songs on guitar. So don't assume that you know anything (let alone everything) about their fans -- I'm not some angry teenager (and I wasn't angry even when I was a teenager).

I have very diverse musical interests, though, and believe me it's possible for one rational person who has never used drugs once in his life to like Metallica, to like other thrash metal, but also be a huge fan of opera, of classical music in general, of various kinds of world music, and many other genera of rock music. I've already brought up Waits and Dylan, but I also love Verdi, Mahler, Bruckner, Mozart, Dvorak, and many others.

Another thing you might keep in mind that Metallica has much musically better songs than the ones discussed here. I can't listen to so-called "death metal", which is much more extreme than Metallica, it's just too much. But keep in mind that much of the appeal of heavy metal is the energy that it channels -- and that in itself is a kind of emotional expression.

I didn't say eveyone. If you will note, I excluded those "astute individuals" that are on the forum. That includes you. You have to remember, the large majority of Metallica's audience are very young and extremely naive and can be more prone to misinterpret any deeper meaning especially when delivered the way metallica is delivering it and the environment of those venues in which one can hear them personally. I am not familiar with all their work, I was only making an observation to this one piece. It has been my understanding and limited observation in that I have never been to a rock concert in my life, that to be drug induced is part of the regimen. I think, IMO, that might be the catalyst for that "emotional energy" you speak of. If that is indeed what it takes to "get into" their genre, I would just as soon pass. Again, I am not talking to you personally. It is a broad perspecive and yet I could be wrong.

William