“Fade to Black” is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It’s their first power ballad and was released as the first promotional single from their second studio album, “Ride the Lightning” in 1984.
The song tells the story of a man who wants to commit suicide and eventually goes through with it. The lyrics were inspired by a personal experience of James Hetfield, the band’s vocalist and guitarist.
James had his first Marshall amplifier, which his mother helped him acquire before her passing, stolen just before they recorded the album. This added a touch of a depressed mood to the song.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the lyrics of “Fade to Black.”
Table of Contents
“Fade to Black” Background
In a 2003 interview during the production of MTV Icon: Metallica, drummer Lars Ulrich remembered that he and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield were really into dark themes, like death. Hetfield also mentioned that the theft of his favorite Marshall amplifier from their gear truck added to the song’s mood.
The song’s lyrics talk about feeling suicidal. It starts with acoustic guitar and gets heavier as it goes, similar to their later songs “Welcome Home (Sanitarium),” “One,” and “The Day That Never Comes.” James Hetfield talked about the song in a 1991 interview with Guitar World:
That song was a big step for us. It was pretty much our first ballad, so we knew it would freak people out… Recording that song, I learned how frustrating acoustic guitar can be. You could hear every squeak, so I had to be careful. I wrote the song at a friend’s house in New Jersey. I was pretty depressed at the time because our gear had just been stolen, and we had been thrown out of our manager’s house for breaking shit and drinking his liquor cabinet dry. It’s a suicide song, and we got a lot of flak for it, as if kids were killing themselves because of the song. But we also got hundreds of letters from kids telling us how they related to the song and that it made them feel better.
“Fade to Black” Lyrics Meaning
[Verse 1]
Life, it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free
Verse 1 talks about a feeling of losing oneself and becoming disconnected from life. The lyrics describe a sense of drifting away and feeling isolated, where nothing seems to matter anymore.
The singer feels like he’s lost the will to live and have nothing left to give. He expresses a strong desire for an end to his suffering to set himself free. It conveys a deep sense of despair and hopelessness.
[Verse 2]
Things not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can’t be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he’s gone
Verse 2 discusses a profound sense of loss and emptiness. The lyrics mention missing a part of oneself and feeling like something vital is gone. The emotions described are extremely intense, with the singer feeling as if he’s in a nightmarish, unreal situation that is unbearable.
The emptiness he feels becomes agonizing, and there is a growing darkness as dawn (hope) slips away. It suggests a transformation where the singer feels like his former self has vanished, leaving him in despair.
[Bridge]
No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try
Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye
Goodbye
The bridge highlights a sense of self-reliance and resignation. The lyrics convey that no one else can save the singer except himself, but it’s too late for him. The singer feels mentally overwhelmed and unable to find a reason to keep trying.
The past, represented by “yesterday,” feels like it never existed, emphasizing a deep sense of loss and disconnection from his previous life.
The singer concludes with a sense of acceptance of death, as he mentions that death now welcomes him warmly, and he’s ready to say goodbye. It portrays a feeling of surrender and a readiness to embrace the end.
Deeper Meaning Behind “Fade to Black”
Drummer Lars Ulrich revealed in an interview that he and vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield were “obsessed with death” during the time when the song was produced.
Hetfield also later admitted that the loss of his favorite Marshall amplifier, which was stolen during a gear truck break-in, contributed to the song’s somber mood.
In the song, the singer expresses deep emotional turmoil, including thoughts of suicide. The song starts with a melancholic acoustic guitar introduction and builds up to a heavier sound as it progresses.
In the beginning, the lyrics convey the singer’s feeling of being disconnected from life, finding no purpose or meaning in his existence. He has reached a point where he believes there’s nothing left for him, and he’s lost the will to go on.
The pain becomes unbearable, and the growing darkness represents his deepening despair. It’s as if he has completely changed and lost his former self.
He realizes that he alone can save himself, but he feels it’s too late. He’s given up on trying to find a reason to continue living. The past seems like it never existed, and he’s ready to say goodbye to life.
Despite its popularity, “Fade to Black” has been criticized for its dark themes. Some people claimed that the song was responsible for causing suicides.
However, there are some people, like me, who see it as a powerful expression of the struggles many people face with mental health issues.
Jacob Carter is a lyricist. He created the lyrics writing course to teach people how to analyze and write lyrics. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in English Literature, so he’s skilled at playing with words.
He’s also an amateur guitarist, which means he knows music and melody very well. With this background, he’s a great lyricist you can rely on to learn writing lyrics.