For Whom the Bell Tolls (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Bee Gees song, see For Whom the Bell Tolls (Bee Gees song).
| "For Whom the Bell Tolls" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Cover of Ride the Lightning | ||
| Song by Metallica | ||
| from the album Ride the Lightning | ||
| Released | November 16, 1984 | |
| Recorded | Sweet Silence Studios Copenhagen, Denmark, 1984 | |
| Genre | Thrash metal | |
| Length | 5:09 | |
| Label | Elektra Records | |
| Producer(s) | Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen , Mark Whitaker | |
| Ride the Lightning track listing | ||
| ||
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a song by Metallica, the third track from their second album Ride the Lightning. The song is composed by Cliff Burton, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich. The chromatic introduction (which is usually mistaken for an electric guitar) is in fact Cliff Burton playing his bass guitar through distortion and wah-wah. After the introduction, the bass settles into a steady triplet rhythm.
The song is about a section of the novel For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, where five republican soldiers of the Spanish Civil War attempt to escape the fascists with their stolen horses and are killed by enemy aircraft on a hill on which they were surrounded.
The main riff was lifted from Angel Witch's "Angel of Death", where the title of that song is sung in the same rhythm Metallica uses to sing the line "Time marches on".
It also appeared on Metallica's live 1999 Album "S&M" Live, in which Metallica performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
The live versions of For Whom The Bell Tolls are traditionally started off with a bass solo in memory of Metallica's first bassist Cliff Burton.
A remix by DJ Spooky appears on the Spawn soundtrack.
A song by W.A.S.P. which appears as a bonus track on "The Headless Children" also shares the same name.
A song by The Bloodhound Gang called "Mope" features the chromatic introduction riff in a part of the song.
Dronesters Sunn O))) recorded a loose cover of the song on their album Flight of the Behemoth, entitled "F.W.T.B.T (I Dream of Lars Ulrich Being Thrown Through the Bus Window Instead of My Mystikal Master Kliff Burton).", the spelling of "Kliff" is a reference to the metal term Kvlt.
| Metallica |
| Members |
|---|
| James Hetfield - Kirk Hammett - Robert Trujillo - Lars Ulrich |
| Former members: Cliff Burton - Dave Mustaine - Ron McGovney - Jason Newsted |
| Discography |
| Albums and extended plays: No Life 'Til Leather - Kill 'Em All - Ride the Lightning - Master of Puppets - Garage Days Re-Revisited - ...And Justice for All - Metallica - Load - ReLoad - Garage Inc. - S&M - St. Anger - Some Kind of Monster - Ninth studio album |
| Videography |
| DVDs and videos: Cliff 'em All - 2 of One - A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge - Cunning Stunts - S&M - Classic Albums: Metallica - The Black Album - Some Kind of Monster - The Videos 1989-2004 |
