Nothing Else Matters

On their controversial self-titled album which came to be known as the Black Album, “Nothing Else Matters” was perhaps the greatest example of the new Metallica sound that alienated core fans. Frontman James Hetfield had been taking classical guitar lessons and wanted to show off his fingerpicking skills in the introduction. The song grew out of an extension of a phone call James made with his girlfriend while on tour and he was picking his guitar while on the phone. While the song does get heavy during the second guitar solo, it is for the most part, a ballad about expressing your feelings, like an Emerson poem........It was a song for myself in my room on tour when I was bumming out about being away from home. It’s quite amazing, it’s a true testament to honesty and exposing yourself, putting your real self out there, and taking the risk, taking a gamble that someone’s either going to step on your heart with spikes on or they’re going to put their heart right next to it, and you never know until you try. That solidified, I think, that we were doing the right thing, writing from the heart about what we felt, and you can’t go wrong that way. “Nothing Else Matters” has become a song that any complete beginner who has never picked up a guitar can feel like they are playing Metallica for a few measures. Famed Hollywood composer Michael Kamen contributed an orchestrated part, which was mixed somewhat low in the song. To compensate, years later Metallica did the S&M concert and album with Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony, with “Nothing Else Matters” being a centerpiece and single.

Nothing Else Matters Lyrics Metallica From The Album Metallica (1991) [Instrumental Intro: 00:00-01:00] [Verse 1] So close, no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are And nothing else matters [Verse 2] Never opened myself this way Life is ours, we live it our way All these words, I don't just say And nothing else matters [Verse 3] Trust I seek and I find in you Every day for us something new Open mind for a different view And nothing else matters [Chorus] Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know But I know [Verse 4] So close, no matter how far It couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are And nothing else matters [Chorus] Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know But I know [Instrumental Break: 03:01-03:44] [Verse 5] I never opened myself this way Life is ours, we live it our way All these words, I don't just say And nothing else matters [Verse 6] Trust I seek and I find in you Every day for us something new Open mind for a different view And nothing else matters [Chorus] Never cared for what they say Never cared for games they play Never cared for what they do Never cared for what they know And I know, yeah, yeah [Instrumental Break: 04:55-05:24] [Guitar Solo] [Verse 7] So close, no matter how far Couldn't be much more from the heart Forever trusting who we are No, nothing else matters [Instrumental Outro] Produced By Bob Rock, James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich Written By James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich Reissue Label Blackened Recordings Bass Jason Newsted Guitar Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield Label Elektra Records Orchestral Arrangement Michael Kamen Vocals James Hetfield Drums Lars Ulrich Recorded At One On One Studios (17 Hertz Studio) in North Hollywood, California Release Date August 12, 1991