Back in the 80s when this came out there wasn’t much mental health awareness. We had to just keep going without help. Songs like this let us know we weren’t alone.
@@ronparsons8786 I always wondered why I liked that song, it felt sad but I never really knew what the lyrics were talking about until I had a hard falling out with a girl and listened to it again, then it hit me
This song has helped so many kids over the decades - it helps them see that they’re not alone, they’re not freaks, they don’t need to end their life even when that seems like it’s the best option for a fleeting moment in their lives.
100%. Metallica got no commercial media play until 'One' 5 years and 2 albums later. Independent collage radio stations however played their stuff. When released this song was unceremoniously banned across all collage stations. The reason being, idiotic powers that be thought it was a glorification of suicide. In fact it's the complete opposite and like you said saved many lives. Understanding you are not alone and even a heavy metal band knows the feeling helps you reconnect with the life around you.
These geniuses wrote this masterpiece at the tender age of 20-21….crazy 🔥🔥🔥🤘🤘🤘…..greatest band ever 🤘🤘🤘….MORE METALLICA….their lyrics are so deep and combined with the otherworldly instrumentation they are unbeatable…..PURE LEGENDS 🤘🤘🤘🔥🤘🤘
This song has kept me alive, with really bad depression, and it got me through 2006-2007. Lost my dad and stepmomin 2006, had a stroke, went through a divorce, and lost my brother to suicide in 2007. This song helps a lot to help me get through.
100%. I told many, emotionally bleeding to this song let me feel the feelings, then I felt like I had just enough strength to make it a little while longer. A life saver
I always imagine the last "goodbye" with the reverb feels like somebody said goodbye while falling off a tall building. As the music gets more intense towards the end, it feels like the memory of that person is flashing before his eyes and eventually fade to black. I guess the person in the song did take the plunge at the end so that whoever is listening to it doesn't have to.
It’s 10/10 for sure , parents in the 80’ were thinking Metallica and metal are causing kids harm . But it really was exactly the opposite, Metallica gave kids the words to describe the feeling they had and normalizing it. You must listen to “ master of puppets “ and “one” with lyrics!!!
Like so many have said I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Metallica. This song makes you not feel alone. Between the lyrics and the song the way they play the instruments the build up just gives you this new release on life for that moment. It's pulled me out of some dark moments. I choke up everytime I here this song.
After he says goodbye, the instrumental part, for me, had all the rage about feeling that way. When I was a teenager my anger at the world is what kept me from killing myself. If I did it then the world would win. I stayed alive to spite the world that hated me.
When James was a kid he was extremely shy. Music gave him his voice an allowed him to speak about his thoughts and fears. And it gave us some of the best music I have ever heard.
Favorite Metallica song ever. When I've seen them in concert, they've either started or ended this song with talking about getting help for depression, and there is always another solution. They really advocate for people suffering with the thoughts described in this song. Thank you for doing a react to this!
These lyrics are so straight forward and sometimes can be relatable I think that’s why this song is timeless even with young generations and same can be said and comparable with some of the new heartfelt rap songs. It’s the same pain but different sound
This song saved my life as a teen, i was in a really dark place and hearing this song helped me so much to get out of it. Part of being in a suicidal place is the feeling of Helplessness and Hopelessness, in that is a feeling of being irreparably broken in a way that no one could understand or empathize for. Mental Health is still something that has a stigma and people don't want to share, that puts them in a bubble with just those thoughts. This song allowed me to see i was not alone in my struggle, that if there are others that feel exactly what i am feeling i am not alone in it, that there are others out there i could talk to. Thanks to this song i did seek out others to talk to, first with friends, then a therapist, then family. I remember the backlash this song got for supposedly "Glorifying" suicide when its the complete opposite, it exposes a light on this touchy issue in a way to make you feel what the person in this song is feeling. Heck even Metallica in the shows sometimes stops the song before the final bit and tells the crowd that life is worth living and these feelings everyone has either felt or known people that felt them, that its okay to talk about it, talk to family, a friend, a therapist or even a stranger. Talking itself is the first step to getting out of that void.
I am currently undergoing psychotherapy due to depression, and James Hetfield knew exactly what he was talking about. I don't feel sad, I just feel empty. There's no point to any of this, there's no point in life. Nothing _really_ matters. The future is offering nothing. This is my 4th time of being diagnosed with depression, although I've been battling it throughout my entire life. It's mostly due to me being born and raised as a Jehovah's witness. I left that religion back in 2006, but it has never truly left me. All the promises that were made about future paradise earth and eternal life as a flawless, perfect human being, were lies. Not intentional lies, but lies nevertheless. So, I finally found a therapist who has a Master's degree in Theology and who has previously treated patients with similar background. We're only just getting started, but I hope to eventually find some kind of a purpose to my life.
As an adult with severe drug resistant depression and a couple of suicide attempts to my credit, this song really does a fantastic job of describing what it feels like to be so depressed that suicide looks like the only solution. I couldn't see any future for me. Nothing interested me anymore. Family, friends, none of those things mattered anymore. It's NOT a solution, but James and Co. did a great job writing lyrics to accurately describe the hopelessness you feel. And if you don't think Fate has a wicked sense of humor, just two weeks after being institutionalized this past Christmas for "suicidal ideation" I was diagnosed with terminal bone, brain and lung cancer. I only have a few months left, but I'm glad that I have those months. Seriously, if a dork like me can get through this kind of Hell, you can. Please get help if you need it.
I don't even wanna imagine where I'd be right now if this song was never written/released. I will be eternally grateful to Metallica for just this song alone, not to mention all the others.
Metallica are about so much more than just their lyrics (which are still very powerful). They’re truly master songwriters. Would love to see more from them!! I recommend Dyers Eve from the And Justice for All album (though it’s very heavy haha)
Seconded on Dyer's Eve - that song captured my teenage anger, specifically at dysfunctional parental stuff, better than just about any other. And what a balls-out shredder too.
I third Dyer's Eve, that was a deeply emotional and furious condemnation of James' family life, something which none of us as teens had any awareness of, and one of their best thrash songs, it's a diatribe and cathartic.
When my dad was a teenager he had been writing out these lyrics when it played on the radio, and my grandma saw it and thought it was a suicide note, which fortunately wasnt true
Because back when this song was new on the radio there WAS no internet to just copy and paste the lyrics. If you didn’t already have the lyrics printed on an insert, you had to just listen and write them down.
James has dealt with his own issues in the last 20 years and a couple years ago he began saying this before the bridge of the song "This song goes out to all those who struggle inside but you're afraid to say it. Don't be afraid to say something, you are not alone". James has said about the new single "Screaming Suicide" how important it is for the subject of suicide to be discussed in a healthy way. We have all (or mostly) had dark thoughts like that and mental health is a big deal, whether it's suicide, addiction, or depression. Metallica is my therapy and a 12 step program, the music has helped me greatly.
the ironic part is, the first time I played it while feeling suicidal I thought the song would just be a nice way to send myself off. The second time I think I was desperately trying to find a reason not to.
James writes lyrics in a way that each listener can interpret them unto themselves and their own life’s experiences. At their shows James talks to to the audience before they start this song and tells them that they are not alone and to always ask for help. James had a hard life and has struggled through many things and continues those struggles to this day. I think that’s why his lyrics hit so many people because we all have our struggles. We can relate. And then add in just how beautiful this song is musically. Masterpiece. They were barely 20 when they did this. Truly talented group. Go down the rabbit hole of Metallica. Many many songs have deep emotional meaning. The 3 unforgiven songs are truly James spilling his heart and soul out.
Pays to remember too, this was 1984, a time when there was sooo much stigma attached to saying “Hey, I’m not ok can I get some help with this” couple that with less of a medical understanding of the brain and it’s idiosyncratic nature, brain chemistry changes etc, I feel most of our understanding here is within the last 20-30 years, psychosis and severe depression were treated in a very heavy handed way, so most tried to struggle on. James had a very difficult childhood and found Heavy Metal(well what was around before the arrival of Thrash Metal) identified with the lyrics in some sense. One of his earlier influences was the Band Diamondhead, mainly the guitarist Sean Harris who had a White Flying V guitar and held his pic with two fingers and a thumb rather than fore finger and thumb, as it made playing faster easier through less movement within the pic, and one of the best songs on Kill ‘em All was a track called Am I Evil, first 2 lines of the song: My Mother was a witch She was burned alive. This gives you an idea of where the lyrics in Fade to Black come from.
James Hatfield's mother died when he was 16 years old. He had to move in with his older brother and his family because his father took off when James was 14. He has said that he never had greaved the loss of his mother. Then their band equipment got stolen, and some of his gear was stuff given to him by his mother. Metallica has said that fans tell them all the time that this song has helped them through hard times. What I love is now that when they play this song live, James says if you're hurting or having a hard time speaking up and getting help.
Well the song is about a man suffering with depression. It's relatable bc I suffer with it. Also they wrote this as a result of their gear being stolen.
As s Psychotherapist you would also appreciate Until It Sleeps, The Unforgiven, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Sad But True, My Friend of Misery, Mama Said and Master of Puppets by Metallica
this song got me through so much trama and darkness just knowing someone else was feelin it. It stopped me from going through with it every time. It shows what can happens when you do that. thanks for reacting to this one. please do “One”. that and “ Confusion” gets me through my PTSD from the wartime I went through.
We all know what it's like to try to describe an emotional value. When listening to Metallica, especially their earlier albums, you have to understand that the instrumental is a representation of the emotions that can't be put into words...When the music speeds up, I see a person who is about to do the most horrible, yet is terrified of what they are about to do, then the apex of when they are so close, then it slows for the second verse as if they couldn't go through, and are trying to rethink...ultimately it ends in sorrow as the music represents the adrenaline of a choice made that you can't come back from. This song's purpose is to show that we are not alone. Sometimes we seclude ourselves in our world, which becomes very selfish, and we feel alone. The hope of this song is to give people something to relate to, and show that they are not alone. This song is a genius masterpiece, and my favorite of all of their songs. You really should check out "Master Of Puppets"
Everyone now sees Metallica as rock gods but it wasn’t always so. They originally had to pay for studio time. The were in Europe had most of their equipment stolen and tour to pay for everything fell through. Rock bottom so they wrote this song. Love the ride out the power to lift yourself from the darkness. The brutal honesty of how depression feels helped me so much in my teen years
Metallica' s lyrics are so deep, that you definitely need to dive down their rabbit hole for sure. They are maybe the greatest song writers and lyricist in the history of metal.
If Metallica caught your interest through their lyrics and wanna check out more of them, you should definitively consider adding the songs "One" and the "Unforgiven" trilogy. Nice reaction!
For Metallica songs about struggling, Master of Puppets, One, Trapped Under Ice, Escape, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, To Live Is To Die and Dyers Eve. You should also give a listen to HELLYEAH songs Hush and Better Man.
This song saved me from the depths when I was young. It showed me you can feel THAT bad but pull through it somehow some way, he wrote the song, lived to sing it, and charged on! SO DID I! 30+ years later I am happy, healthy and productive in no small part due to this song.
This song is why music is so subjective! James wrote this song after the band had it's equipment stolen and they fired their manager! It was all about his feelings at that moment, feeling has as if he had lost everything! I remember the media and the PMRC losing their minds over this song! Saying it was causing kids to commit suicide!
This song is chock-full of great lyrics. But my favorite line has always been, “I was me, but now he’s gone.” For me, when I was younger and first started dealing with depression and bipolar disorder that went undiagnosed, it described the way I felt when my mood would shift and I suddenly felt like my true self was gone. And that’s how it was for decades: I would be me, bipolar depression would hit, and he would be gone. All these years later, when I was finally diagnosed at age 40 and started getting the right medication, the line took on a whole new meaning. Now I feel like it describes the opposite end of my journey. The undiagnosed me that suffered for all those years is the one that is gone. I can finally start working on getting back to the me that I lost when I was a teenager.
Esta canción habla del suicidio y mucha gente al parecer no entiende que precisamente Fade To Black ha salvado a millones de personas que la han oído durante estados depresivos e incluso gente con serios pensamientos suicidas. Hablar de un tema tan duro, tan complejo, pero desde un un punto tan bello, tan particular, lo hace accesible y además tiene el poder de hacer re pensar a quién la escucha sobre sus propios pensamientos. Metallica ha salvado vidas a través de Fade to Black... así de simple...
The first four albums from Metallica are just beyond epic!!! And justice for all, kill em all, master of puppets and obviously ride the lightning. Being a drummer and guitarist... This song always brings a tear to my eye with how well every note was placed. "One" is a really good song. But like I said... Any song by Metallica that is over 6 minutes long. Is the only real Metallica song. Great mental health swap!!! I Love your videos and the positive vibes you always give off!
This song describes what I have become, and the “Unforgiven” trilogy, especially parts one and three - why. Existing with a therapy-resistant chronic depression is not fun. I’ve tried multiple medications, was in a mental hospital for about nine months, tried several different therapies and treatments, but none of them were effective. A complete burnout in my academics and my inability to come out of a closet killed my mental health, and the outbreak of a war in the land of my birth was the final nail in its coffin.
Metallica and mental health. Well ... there's a lot more to discover. 😀👍james hetfield has gone through some stuff. He has grown over the years, and it reflects in the lyrics. Their latest release from this year is 'screaming suicide'. 40 years later, and it's a completely different take on the subject. And also a badass song.
Bro, only a few bands in history can take a depressing lyric song and turn it into something that keeps a smile on your face the whole song musically….I think of Metallica, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, even Marcy playground….but I just love songs like that.. songs that are sad but make you happy to hear them
Metallica has helped so many through their music. Their music gave me strength to fight cancer twice, and win. Also their songs helps with mental health. I loved your reaction to Fade to black, and would love to see you react to: One, Master of puppets, My friend of misery, Until it sleeps.. among other great Metallica songs. Theese 4 are all about different painful topics with amasing lyrics and music. Love your channel a lot!
there are a few songs that have helped those who are needing to know we are not alone. another one is Daddy by Korn. that is the darkest, hardest song I’ve ever heard and as one who was abused, it literally changed my life and helped me through it. it definitely gets the tear ducts going. just as an FYI, the singer Johnathan was abused as a child by a family friend (who also babysat him) and when he told his parents, they didn’t believe him.
Knew a guy in high school, troubled kid but not a bad kid overall, just had some "issues" and this was the '80's, our gen wasn't diagnosed, we weren't given proper counseling and parents largely ignored the mental health issue as a social stigma, "you'll figure it out" "Get over yourself, you're just a teen, things aren't that bad", etc. Talking with friends and music was our only real outlet and connection with our emotional and mental awareness. Anyways, just one random day, we're all talking about music, Metallica's new album Ride The Lightning became the topic, oh how cool, great album, love "Fade To Black", he says "I hate that song" I was like, huh? It's pretty powerful lyrically but it's a great track, has great emotional awareness for heavy metal, he said "yes, exactly, it reaches somewhere dark inside me, shows me things I'm not ready to face" ...he took his own life about a month later, that will forever stick with me, still haunts me, it's still very lucid in my memory; could we have done more as friends? That was his cry for help and it went unanswered.
Thank you for watching and reacting to this song. I remember being younger and hearing this when it released and loved the song and thought is was very powerful! Now, I had to watch your reaction in private as I can no longer listen to this song without breaking down. Thank you for your reaction and I am looking forward to watching your other videos.
This song has been a great piece of art which has been cathartic to (at least) thousands of people who have written Metallica letters over the years...
Many people have said that this song literally saved their life When they were feeling suicidal. Because now they knew they weren't alone. Powerful stuff. And it's just a great song regardless
Very well said sir! Love your reaction to this. Metallica has helped MANY of us going thru mental health issues and honestly, its almost like therapy. I'm sure others have chimed in but Dyer's Eve from the ...And Justice for All album goes even more further about the psychological trauma a tragic upbringing can do to anyone. Much love and respect for what you do!
Way back then, Metallica was GREAT therapy for me.. Kindof like Adderall (or whatever). A weird speed for hyper kids to reverse yada-yada.. I didn't feel alone.. They totally helped me through my darkest times!
For another "I killed myself on stage so I would not have to do it in real life" masterpiece, check Nightwish: Poet and the Pendulum. Possibly read some background about turmoil Nightwish was in in 2005 if you want to be better prepared.
Check out Inamorata from their most recent album, covers similar subject matter, but has a much brighter conclusion. It's basically about mental health, and overcoming depression.
This song is pretty much when a person had given up completely and lost any willpower and desire to fight anymore. And I am also sure a lot of people feel like this.
Check out the song "Cure my Tragedy" by Cold. He wrote it pleading for God to take his sisters cancer away. Although not expected to survive she was later healed.
What I love about metal is that it can tap into feelings that are otherwise hard to articulate. No pun intended but it is literally therapy for a lot of us. That being said I highly recommend the “Funeral/Bastard/Death of Music” trilogy by Devin Townsend live from Royal Albert Hall
I cannot help0 but wonder how much more effective and helpful therapy would be for mental illness if mental health therapists of all descriptions were allowed to administer certain psychedelics and coaxh the "patient thru their experience. Not to be used for party dr*gs, rather as a great tool for helping people in crisis. I had decades of depression and anxiety with just highly addictive drugs handed to me like candy to a kid and zero support. Psychedlics turned all that around for me and left me with a LIFE again rather than just an existence. Great analysis of the song and advice to those who may well be suffering in silence. Thank you!!
Yes James Hatfield wrote the song about the feeling he was battling within his self and somebody stoled his guitar at a concert venue that his mother bought him before she passed away is what fade to black song is about.. I'm been a Metallica fan ever since I was little James Hatfield and taught me how to overcome My past and all my demons stuff happened in my past as kid that James Hatfield and Metallica saved my life show me I could get out everything through my writing and play guitar and music.
I love this song! So glad someone suggested it. There is actually a back story to this song. I used to this at karaoke just to hear this turned up so loud, it was awesome
Great reaction! Am surprised you haven’t followed it up with another Metallica reaction! As a therapist I’d suggest “One” or “ welcome home”….. also everyone’s already reacted to master of puppets but there’s a reason why everyone has reacted to it!!
Another great Metallica song is Master of Puppets which both lyrically and musically illustrate the horrific cycle of drug addiction and how the Drug becomes the Master of the addict.
Back in the 80s when this came out there wasn’t much mental health awareness. We had to just keep going without help. Songs like this let us know we weren’t alone.
This song and the Cars "Drive".
@@ronparsons8786 I always wondered why I liked that song, it felt sad but I never really knew what the lyrics were talking about until I had a hard falling out with a girl and listened to it again, then it hit me
This song has helped so many kids over the decades - it helps them see that they’re not alone, they’re not freaks, they don’t need to end their life even when that seems like it’s the best option for a fleeting moment in their lives.
Amen🙏🏻
100%. Metallica got no commercial media play until 'One' 5 years and 2 albums later.
Independent collage radio stations however played their stuff. When released this song was unceremoniously banned across all collage stations. The reason being, idiotic powers that be thought it was a glorification of suicide. In fact it's the complete opposite and like you said saved many lives. Understanding you are not alone and even a heavy metal band knows the feeling helps you reconnect with the life around you.
Exactly 💯 ❤🙏
These geniuses wrote this masterpiece at the tender age of 20-21….crazy 🔥🔥🔥🤘🤘🤘…..greatest band ever 🤘🤘🤘….MORE METALLICA….their lyrics are so deep and combined with the otherworldly instrumentation they are unbeatable…..PURE LEGENDS 🤘🤘🤘🔥🤘🤘
Thanks so much for these comments, helps me a lot!😊
James was in God mode as a poet/lyricist during that time.
its so easy to forget that. i got into metallica in 95 at the age of 15. to think this was written by 20 year olds is crazy
DAMN STRAIGHT BEST COMMENT EVER 🤘🤘🤘
Great reaction! The guys In Metallica have said that they’ve had so many people tell them over the years how much this song helped them. Amazing!
This song told me in my young years that i'm not the only human with this depression problem and it helps much.
This song has kept me alive, with really bad depression, and it got me through 2006-2007. Lost my dad and stepmomin 2006, had a stroke, went through a divorce, and lost my brother to suicide in 2007. This song helps a lot to help me get through.
100%. I told many, emotionally bleeding to this song let me feel the feelings, then I felt like I had just enough strength to make it a little while longer. A life saver
Wow that is so sad what u went through..so so tough to deal with..keep going brother..u are not alone
I always imagine the last "goodbye" with the reverb feels like somebody said goodbye while falling off a tall building. As the music gets more intense towards the end, it feels like the memory of that person is flashing before his eyes and eventually fade to black. I guess the person in the song did take the plunge at the end so that whoever is listening to it doesn't have to.
It’s 10/10 for sure , parents in the 80’ were thinking Metallica and metal are causing kids harm . But it really was exactly the opposite, Metallica gave kids the words to describe the feeling they had and normalizing it. You must listen to “ master of puppets “ and “one” with lyrics!!!
This song has saved so many people. I have heard so many stories where people find a place to heal in this song.
Like so many have said I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Metallica. This song makes you not feel alone. Between the lyrics and the song the way they play the instruments the build up just gives you this new release on life for that moment. It's pulled me out of some dark moments. I choke up everytime I here this song.
After he says goodbye, the instrumental part, for me, had all the rage about feeling that way. When I was a teenager my anger at the world is what kept me from killing myself. If I did it then the world would win. I stayed alive to spite the world that hated me.
When James was a kid he was extremely shy. Music gave him his voice an allowed him to speak about his thoughts and fears. And it gave us some of the best music I have ever heard.
Favorite Metallica song ever. When I've seen them in concert, they've either started or ended this song with talking about getting help for depression, and there is always another solution. They really advocate for people suffering with the thoughts described in this song. Thank you for doing a react to this!
These lyrics are so straight forward and sometimes can be relatable I think that’s why this song is timeless even with young generations and same can be said and comparable with some of the new heartfelt rap songs. It’s the same pain but different sound
Very true and thanks for commenting 👍
possibly the greatest metal song of all time, glad you reacted to it and also enjoyed it!!
For real!!!!
Amen!!😊
This song saved my life as a teen, i was in a really dark place and hearing this song helped me so much to get out of it. Part of being in a suicidal place is the feeling of Helplessness and Hopelessness, in that is a feeling of being irreparably broken in a way that no one could understand or empathize for. Mental Health is still something that has a stigma and people don't want to share, that puts them in a bubble with just those thoughts. This song allowed me to see i was not alone in my struggle, that if there are others that feel exactly what i am feeling i am not alone in it, that there are others out there i could talk to. Thanks to this song i did seek out others to talk to, first with friends, then a therapist, then family.
I remember the backlash this song got for supposedly "Glorifying" suicide when its the complete opposite, it exposes a light on this touchy issue in a way to make you feel what the person in this song is feeling. Heck even Metallica in the shows sometimes stops the song before the final bit and tells the crowd that life is worth living and these feelings everyone has either felt or known people that felt them, that its okay to talk about it, talk to family, a friend, a therapist or even a stranger. Talking itself is the first step to getting out of that void.
Song saved me. Knowing I wasn't alone at 20, and the vibrant end.
I am currently undergoing psychotherapy due to depression, and James Hetfield knew exactly what he was talking about. I don't feel sad, I just feel empty. There's no point to any of this, there's no point in life. Nothing _really_ matters. The future is offering nothing.
This is my 4th time of being diagnosed with depression, although I've been battling it throughout my entire life. It's mostly due to me being born and raised as a Jehovah's witness. I left that religion back in 2006, but it has never truly left me. All the promises that were made about future paradise earth and eternal life as a flawless, perfect human being, were lies. Not intentional lies, but lies nevertheless.
So, I finally found a therapist who has a Master's degree in Theology and who has previously treated patients with similar background. We're only just getting started, but I hope to eventually find some kind of a purpose to my life.
Love this story and appreciate your sharing, thank you for this😊👍
As an adult with severe drug resistant depression and a couple of suicide attempts to my credit, this song really does a fantastic job of describing what it feels like to be so depressed that suicide looks like the only solution. I couldn't see any future for me. Nothing interested me anymore. Family, friends, none of those things mattered anymore. It's NOT a solution, but James and Co. did a great job writing lyrics to accurately describe the hopelessness you feel.
And if you don't think Fate has a wicked sense of humor, just two weeks after being institutionalized this past Christmas for "suicidal ideation" I was diagnosed with terminal bone, brain and lung cancer. I only have a few months left, but I'm glad that I have those months. Seriously, if a dork like me can get through this kind of Hell, you can. Please get help if you need it.
Prayers for you my friend
So much raw emotional pain packed into a metal masterpiece.
I don't even wanna imagine where I'd be right now if this song was never written/released. I will be eternally grateful to Metallica for just this song alone, not to mention all the others.
This song makes me cry because I remember where I was....You can never give up, never
This song is 100 percent why I'm still here. belting this out ad loud as I could when I was 16 helped me deal with unimaginable trauma.
Metallica are about so much more than just their lyrics (which are still very powerful). They’re truly master songwriters. Would love to see more from them!! I recommend Dyers Eve from the And Justice for All album (though it’s very heavy haha)
Thanks for the recommendations 😊👍
Seconded on Dyer's Eve - that song captured my teenage anger, specifically at dysfunctional parental stuff, better than just about any other. And what a balls-out shredder too.
I third Dyer's Eve, that was a deeply emotional and furious condemnation of James' family life, something which none of us as teens had any awareness of, and one of their best thrash songs, it's a diatribe and cathartic.
Song saved my LIFE … it provided so much validation
When my dad was a teenager he had been writing out these lyrics when it played on the radio, and my grandma saw it and thought it was a suicide note, which fortunately wasnt true
Because back when this song was new on the radio there WAS no internet to just copy and paste the lyrics. If you didn’t already have the lyrics printed on an insert, you had to just listen and write them down.
The guitar solo at the end makes me happy. Ten out of ten.
From depression and anxiety after my paralysis this song heals me every time I hear it.
James has dealt with his own issues in the last 20 years and a couple years ago he began saying this before the bridge of the song "This song goes out to all those who struggle inside but you're afraid to say it. Don't be afraid to say something, you are not alone". James has said about the new single "Screaming Suicide" how important it is for the subject of suicide to be discussed in a healthy way. We have all (or mostly) had dark thoughts like that and mental health is a big deal, whether it's suicide, addiction, or depression. Metallica is my therapy and a 12 step program, the music has helped me greatly.
Can't believe you've posted a reaction to this, always loved this song
Psychotherapist head banging to fade to black. Rare shit happening these days
this song, all about giving up and ending it, saved me from doing the same a couple times. It let me feel like I wasn't alone
the ironic part is, the first time I played it while feeling suicidal I thought the song would just be a nice way to send myself off. The second time I think I was desperately trying to find a reason not to.
dude, respect, most of the shrinks i saw would never have heard of fade to black, my fav song. thank you for having an open mind!
James writes lyrics in a way that each listener can interpret them unto themselves and their own life’s experiences. At their shows James talks to to the audience before they start this song and tells them that they are not alone and to always ask for help. James had a hard life and has struggled through many things and continues those struggles to this day. I think that’s why his lyrics hit so many people because we all have our struggles. We can relate. And then add in just how beautiful this song is musically. Masterpiece. They were barely 20 when they did this. Truly talented group. Go down the rabbit hole of Metallica. Many many songs have deep emotional meaning. The 3 unforgiven songs are truly James spilling his heart and soul out.
Pays to remember too, this was 1984, a time when there was sooo much stigma attached to saying “Hey, I’m not ok can I get some help with this” couple that with less of a medical understanding of the brain and it’s idiosyncratic nature, brain chemistry changes etc, I feel most of our understanding here is within the last 20-30 years, psychosis and severe depression were treated in a very heavy handed way, so most tried to struggle on.
James had a very difficult childhood and found Heavy Metal(well what was around before the arrival of Thrash Metal) identified with the lyrics in some sense.
One of his earlier influences was the Band Diamondhead, mainly the guitarist Sean Harris who had a White Flying V guitar and held his pic with two fingers and a thumb rather than fore finger and thumb, as it made playing faster easier through less movement within the pic, and one of the best songs on Kill ‘em All was a track called Am I Evil, first 2 lines of the song:
My Mother was a witch
She was burned alive.
This gives you an idea of where the lyrics in Fade to Black come from.
James Hatfield's mother died when he was 16 years old. He had to move in with his older brother and his family because his father took off when James was 14. He has said that he never had greaved the loss of his mother. Then their band equipment got stolen, and some of his gear was stuff given to him by his mother. Metallica has said that fans tell them all the time that this song has helped them through hard times. What I love is now that when they play this song live, James says if you're hurting or having a hard time speaking up and getting help.
40 years ago this was released, it still brings emotions to the surface
Well the song is about a man suffering with depression. It's relatable bc I suffer with it. Also they wrote this as a result of their gear being stolen.
As s Psychotherapist you would also appreciate Until It Sleeps, The Unforgiven, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Sad But True, My Friend of Misery, Mama Said and Master of Puppets by Metallica
This song saved alot of people!,because they knew if they leave this world they would never hear this song again....or anything else
I think this is a perfect example of art capturing the essence and nuance of an experience that just talking never can.
this song got me through so much trama and darkness just knowing someone else was feelin it. It stopped me from going through with it every time. It shows what can happens when you do that. thanks for reacting to this one. please do “One”. that and “ Confusion” gets me through my PTSD from the wartime I went through.
We all know what it's like to try to describe an emotional value. When listening to Metallica, especially their earlier albums, you have to understand that the instrumental is a representation of the emotions that can't be put into words...When the music speeds up, I see a person who is about to do the most horrible, yet is terrified of what they are about to do, then the apex of when they are so close, then it slows for the second verse as if they couldn't go through, and are trying to rethink...ultimately it ends in sorrow as the music represents the adrenaline of a choice made that you can't come back from. This song's purpose is to show that we are not alone. Sometimes we seclude ourselves in our world, which becomes very selfish, and we feel alone. The hope of this song is to give people something to relate to, and show that they are not alone. This song is a genius masterpiece, and my favorite of all of their songs. You really should check out "Master Of Puppets"
Everyone now sees Metallica as rock gods but it wasn’t always so. They originally had to pay for studio time. The were in Europe had most of their equipment stolen and tour to pay for everything fell through. Rock bottom so they wrote this song.
Love the ride out the power to lift yourself from the darkness. The brutal honesty of how depression feels helped me so much in my teen years
Metallica' s lyrics are so deep, that you definitely need to dive down their rabbit hole for sure. They are maybe the greatest song writers and lyricist in the history of metal.
If Metallica caught your interest through their lyrics and wanna check out more of them, you should definitively consider adding the songs "One" and the "Unforgiven" trilogy. Nice reaction!
For Metallica songs about struggling, Master of Puppets, One, Trapped Under Ice, Escape, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, To Live Is To Die and Dyers Eve. You should also give a listen to HELLYEAH songs Hush and Better Man.
If they don’t play this song at my funeral I’m not going
This song saved me from the depths when I was young. It showed me you can feel THAT bad but pull through it somehow some way, he wrote the song, lived to sing it, and charged on! SO DID I! 30+ years later I am happy, healthy and productive in no small part due to this song.
This song is why music is so subjective! James wrote this song after the band had it's equipment stolen and they fired their manager! It was all about his feelings at that moment, feeling has as if he had lost everything! I remember the media and the PMRC losing their minds over this song! Saying it was causing kids to commit suicide!
This song is chock-full of great lyrics. But my favorite line has always been, “I was me, but now he’s gone.” For me, when I was younger and first started dealing with depression and bipolar disorder that went undiagnosed, it described the way I felt when my mood would shift and I suddenly felt like my true self was gone. And that’s how it was for decades: I would be me, bipolar depression would hit, and he would be gone.
All these years later, when I was finally diagnosed at age 40 and started getting the right medication, the line took on a whole new meaning. Now I feel like it describes the opposite end of my journey. The undiagnosed me that suffered for all those years is the one that is gone. I can finally start working on getting back to the me that I lost when I was a teenager.
Esta canción habla del suicidio y mucha gente al parecer no entiende que precisamente Fade To Black ha salvado a millones de personas que la han oído durante estados depresivos e incluso gente con serios pensamientos suicidas.
Hablar de un tema tan duro, tan complejo, pero desde un un punto tan bello, tan particular, lo hace accesible y además tiene el poder de hacer re pensar a quién la escucha sobre sus propios pensamientos.
Metallica ha salvado vidas a través de Fade to Black... así de simple...
The first four albums from Metallica are just beyond epic!!! And justice for all, kill em all, master of puppets and obviously ride the lightning. Being a drummer and guitarist... This song always brings a tear to my eye with how well every note was placed. "One" is a really good song. But like I said... Any song by Metallica that is over 6 minutes long. Is the only real Metallica song. Great mental health swap!!! I Love your videos and the positive vibes you always give off!
Thanks so much Patrick! Appreciate you!😊
When i was a teenager,this is one of my favorite song that made me crazy..
This song is 1 of few that got me through 2020, 2021 & 2022.
This & several other Metallica & Slipknot songs.
This song describes what I have become, and the “Unforgiven” trilogy, especially parts one and three - why. Existing with a therapy-resistant chronic depression is not fun. I’ve tried multiple medications, was in a mental hospital for about nine months, tried several different therapies and treatments, but none of them were effective. A complete burnout in my academics and my inability to come out of a closet killed my mental health, and the outbreak of a war in the land of my birth was the final nail in its coffin.
Metallica and mental health. Well ... there's a lot more to discover. 😀👍james hetfield has gone through some stuff. He has grown over the years, and it reflects in the lyrics.
Their latest release from this year is 'screaming suicide'. 40 years later, and it's a completely different take on the subject. And also a badass song.
Bro, only a few bands in history can take a depressing lyric song and turn it into something that keeps a smile on your face the whole song musically….I think of Metallica, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, even Marcy playground….but I just love songs like that.. songs that are sad but make you happy to hear them
Metallica has helped so many through their music. Their music gave me strength to fight cancer twice, and win. Also their songs helps with mental health.
I loved your reaction to Fade to black, and would love to see you react to: One, Master of puppets, My friend of misery, Until it sleeps.. among other great Metallica songs. Theese 4 are all about different painful topics with amasing lyrics and music.
Love your channel a lot!
Welcome Home (Sanitarium) perfect mental health song or how they are treated!!
Hard to explain what this song meant to me as a teenager listening to it along with the whole album. Glad I'm hear to keep listening to it!!!!
Back in the day, we never thought thisd song to be bad or death, we thoght it to be fight , fight all
This song got me through 1 of the darkest times of my life
As depressing as this song is, it’s helped a lot of people.
there are a few songs that have helped those who are needing to know we are not alone. another one is Daddy by Korn. that is the darkest, hardest song I’ve ever heard and as one who was abused, it literally changed my life and helped me through it. it definitely gets the tear ducts going.
just as an FYI, the singer Johnathan was abused as a child by a family friend (who also babysat him) and when he told his parents, they didn’t believe him.
Sad But True...Metallica
Yes!
He should do sanatarium next, das but true is already gonna be too heavy for him, I think sanatarium would be perfect after fade to black
One of my all time favorite songs!!!
Knew a guy in high school, troubled kid but not a bad kid overall, just had some "issues" and this was the '80's, our gen wasn't diagnosed, we weren't given proper counseling and parents largely ignored the mental health issue as a social stigma, "you'll figure it out" "Get over yourself, you're just a teen, things aren't that bad", etc. Talking with friends and music was our only real outlet and connection with our emotional and mental awareness. Anyways, just one random day, we're all talking about music, Metallica's new album Ride The Lightning became the topic, oh how cool, great album, love "Fade To Black", he says "I hate that song" I was like, huh? It's pretty powerful lyrically but it's a great track, has great emotional awareness for heavy metal, he said "yes, exactly, it reaches somewhere dark inside me, shows me things I'm not ready to face"
...he took his own life about a month later, that will forever stick with me, still haunts me, it's still very lucid in my memory; could we have done more as friends? That was his cry for help and it went unanswered.
Thank you for watching and reacting to this song. I remember being younger and hearing this when it released and loved the song and thought is was very powerful! Now, I had to watch your reaction in private as I can no longer listen to this song without breaking down. Thank you for your reaction and I am looking forward to watching your other videos.
Listen to Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Lifesaver for tons of people Who didnt committ suicide cause of this song. Greatest ballade.
This song has been a great piece of art which has been cathartic to (at least) thousands of people who have written Metallica letters over the years...
So happy you are getting into Metallica. So many songs you can react to.
"I was me, but now "he's gone." Check out a live version, too! Cheers!
Many people have said that this song literally saved their life When they were feeling suicidal. Because now they knew they weren't alone. Powerful stuff. And it's just a great song regardless
Metallica has many great songs... Fade to Black is by far my favorite.. It's up there with Diary of a Madman and Mr. Crowley
some metal! finally
Very well said sir! Love your reaction to this. Metallica has helped MANY of us going thru mental health issues and honestly, its almost like therapy. I'm sure others have chimed in but Dyer's Eve from the ...And Justice for All album goes even more further about the psychological trauma a tragic upbringing can do to anyone. Much love and respect for what you do!
A couple of songs later is the greatest Christian song about Passover "Creeping Death "
You could spend an hour on Welcome Home (Sanitarium) from the Master of Puppets album.
We need more metal on channel.
Way back then, Metallica was GREAT therapy for me.. Kindof like Adderall (or whatever). A weird speed for hyper kids to reverse yada-yada.. I didn't feel alone..
They totally helped me through my darkest times!
For another "I killed myself on stage so I would not have to do it in real life" masterpiece, check Nightwish: Poet and the Pendulum.
Possibly read some background about turmoil Nightwish was in in 2005 if you want to be better prepared.
Check out Inamorata from their most recent album, covers similar subject matter, but has a much brighter conclusion. It's basically about mental health, and overcoming depression.
No it’s a 10/10 my favourite song no song comes close to how depression he’ll feel a masterpiece music solo’s lyrics everything
This song has saved my life many many times I've tried to commit suicide eight times. This song has stopped me from about 20 different other times
Definitely my favorite by Metallica.
This song is pretty much when a person had given up completely and lost any willpower and desire to fight anymore. And I am also sure a lot of people feel like this.
Check out the song "Cure my Tragedy" by Cold. He wrote it pleading for God to take his sisters cancer away. Although not expected to survive she was later healed.
What I love about metal is that it can tap into feelings that are otherwise hard to articulate. No pun intended but it is literally therapy for a lot of us.
That being said I highly recommend the “Funeral/Bastard/Death of Music” trilogy by Devin Townsend live from Royal Albert Hall
I cannot help0 but wonder how much more effective and helpful therapy would be for mental illness if mental health therapists of all descriptions were allowed to administer certain psychedelics and coaxh the "patient thru their experience. Not to be used for party dr*gs, rather as a great tool for helping people in crisis. I had decades of depression and anxiety with just highly addictive drugs handed to me like candy to a kid and zero support. Psychedlics turned all that around for me and left me with a LIFE again rather than just an existence.
Great analysis of the song and advice to those who may well be suffering in silence. Thank you!!
Yes James Hatfield wrote the song about the feeling he was battling within his self and somebody stoled his guitar at a concert venue that his mother bought him before she passed away is what fade to black song is about.. I'm been a Metallica fan ever since I was little James Hatfield and taught me how to overcome My past and all my demons stuff happened in my past as kid that James Hatfield and Metallica saved my life show me I could get out everything through my writing and play guitar and music.
For future reference it’s Hetfield
@@kingmobile5451 Also if I remember correctly it was an amplifier that his mom gave her.
Their U-Hall with all the gear was stolen mid-tour, only the bass and Kirk's guitar somehow dropped from it.
I have mixed emotions but the 9nly th8ng ive ever felt is having pain aftef having 3 heart surgeries.
I love this song! So glad someone suggested it. There is actually a back story to this song. I used to this at karaoke just to hear this turned up so loud, it was awesome
I'd love to see a reaction to Avenged Sevenfold's "I Won't See You Tonight" parts 1 and 2.
Great reaction! Am surprised you haven’t followed it up with another Metallica reaction! As a therapist I’d suggest “One” or “ welcome home”….. also everyone’s already reacted to master of puppets but there’s a reason why everyone has reacted to it!!
Love this song
Another great Metallica song is Master of Puppets which both lyrically and musically illustrate the horrific cycle of drug addiction and how the Drug becomes the Master of the addict.
This was their best album imo. How they waited until track 7 for creeping death is beyond me
Thank you for getting creeping death stuck in my head I will be hearing it all day now
this guy is too happy to be reacting to this type of songs