The God That Failed (song)

Infobox Song
Name = The God That Failed


Artist = Metallica
Album = Metallica
Released = August 12, 1991
Recorded = October 1990 – June 1991 at "One On One" studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre = Heavy metal, hard rock [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:q9txlfge5cqo Metallica Overview] , Allmusic.]
Length = 5:05
Writer = James Hetfield
Lars Ulrich
Label = Elektra
Producer = Bob Rock, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich
Tracks = #"Enter Sandman"
#"Sad but True"
#"Holier Than Thou"
#"The Unforgiven"
#"Wherever I May Roam"
#"Don't Tread on Me"
#"Through the Never"
#"Nothing Else Matters"
#"Of Wolf and Man"
#"The God That Failed"
#"My Friend of Misery"
#"The Struggle Within"

"The God That Failed" is the tenth track from Metallica's 1991 "self-titled album". The song was never released as a single, but was the first song of the album to be heard by the public. It was one of Metallica's first original releases to be tuned half a step down.

Composition and recording

Lyricist James Hetfield described the song as "very nice... Slow, heavy and ugly." [cite book |first=James|last=Hetfield|authorlink=James Hetfield|editor=Kitts, Jeff; Tolinski, Brad; and Steinblatt, Harold|title=Guitar World Presents Metallica|pages=pp. 18-19|year=1997|publisher=Music Content Developers|location=Wayne, NJ|isbn=0-7935-8079-X] Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett recalls the inception of his solo in the song: "I had this whole thing worked out, but it didn't fit because the lead was too bluesy for the song, which is characterized by real heavy riffing and chording."cite book |first=Kirk|last=Hammett|authorlink=Kirk Hammett|editor=Kitts, Jeff; Tolinski, Brad; and Steinblatt, Harold|title=Guitar World Presents Metallica|pages=p. 18|year=1997|publisher=Music Content Developers|location=Wayne, NJ|isbn=0-7935-8079-X] According to Hammett, he and producer Bob Rock worked out his guitar solo on the song. Together they composed a melody to which Hammett wanted to add harmony. The producer suggested that this would make the song sound too "pretty", and instead recommended playing the melody an octave higher. The final guitar solo was put together from over a dozen performances by the guitarist during the recording of the album. Hammett calls the resulting work one of his favorite solos on the album.

Meaning

The central theme of the song is faith and human reliance on it, and of unrewarded belief in a god that fails to heal. The lyrics and song material were inspired by Hetfield's anguish on the circumstances surrounding his mother's death. She died of cancer after refusing medical attention, solely relying on her belief in God to heal her. [ [http://www.encycmet.com/songs/sbtgodtf.shtml "Song info - The God That Failed"] , Encyclopedia Metallica.] Hetfield felt that, had she not followed her Christian Science beliefs she could have survived. [cite book |first=Ingham|last=Chris|title=Metallica: Nothing Else Matters: The Stories behind the Biggest Songs|pages=p. 108|year=2003|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|location=New York|isbn=1-5602-5536-6]

Baylor University Assistant Professor of Religion, Paul Martens points out that the song has been admired by some atheist groups, such as the websites "Alabama Atheist" and "The Secular Web". [cite book |first=Paul|last=Martens|editor=Gilmour, Michael J.|chapter=Metallica and the God That Failed: An Unfinished Tragedy in Three Acts|title=Call Me the Seeker: Listening to Religion in Popular Music|pages=p. 98|year=2005|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|isbn=0-8264-1713-2] Martens notes, however, that Hetfield does not celebrate God's failure in the song, but instead blames God, through his mother's faith and death, for contributing to the meaninglessness of life. [Martens (2005), p. 103.]

References

External links

* [http://www.encycmet.com/songs/sbtgodtf.shtml Metallica on "The God That Failed"]

Further reading

*cite book |first=Paul|last=Martens|editor=Gilmour, Michael J.|chapter=Metallica and the God That Failed: An Unfinished Tragedy in Three Acts|title=Call Me the Seeker: Listening to Religion in Popular Music|pages=pp. 95-114|year=2005|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|isbn=0-8264-1713-2