The Unforgiven (song)
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| "The Unforgiven" | ||||
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| Single by Metallica | ||||
| from the album Metallica | ||||
| B-side | "Killing Time", "So What?", "The Unforgiven (Demo)" | |||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | October 1990 - June 1991 One on One studios Los Angeles, California |
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| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 6:27 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Writer(s) | James Hetfield Lars Ulrich |
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| Producer | Bob Rock | |||
| Metallica singles chronology | ||||
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"The Unforgiven" is a single from Metallica's 1991, self-titled album, Metallica. Though one of the slower tracks on the album, its chord progression is distinctly one of the heavier. The song describes a man who never took risks and ultimately regretted it.
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[edit] History
Drummer Lars Ulrich explained that the band wanted to try something new with the idea of a ballad - instead of the standard melodic verse and heavy chorus (as evidenced on their previous ballads "Fade to Black," "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," and "One"), the band opted to reverse the dynamic, with heavy, distorted verses and a softer, melodic chorus, played with classical guitars.
The horn intro was essentially taken from a Western movie and then reversed so its source would be hidden, as Hetfield later explained on Classic Albums: Metallica - Metallica. While Metallica has never disclosed what movie the horn was taken from, it is believed to be from a piece of music called "The Showdown," which was composed by Ennio Morricone for the 1965 Clint Eastwood "Spaghetti Western" film, For a Few Dollars More.
[edit] Live performances
"The Unforgiven" was played live as part of Metallica's Nowhere Else to Roam world tour which lasted from 1991–1993, in support of the Black Album. It was played again on the Madly in Anger with the World world tour in 2003–2004 and the Escape from the Studio '06 tour. *Ito the 2007 Sick of the Studio tour.* It has most recently been played in the bands current "World Magnetic" tour. Also, the song was the band's third Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #35. It had a music video directed by Matt Mahurin.
The live version of "Unforgiven" includes a second solo near the end of the song, something the original recording did not have.
The song has since spawned two sequels (both in name proper as well as thematically), in the form of "The Unforgiven II," from the album ReLoad, and "The Unforgiven III" from the album Death Magnetic.
[edit] Music video
An accompanying video was released for the song. Directed by Matt Mahurin, the black and white video is themed around a boy who spends his life living in captivity inside a small, windowless room made entirely of stone. As the video progresses he ages into an adult and then an old man. He spends his entire life carving into the stone to create a window while occasionally grasping his one possession: a locket. It is inferred that another captive lives on the other side of the stone room. The video ends with the old man finally creating a window through which he deposits his possession and subsequently lays down to die. A 15-minute, "theatrical" version of the video exists, featuring several minutes of introductory scenes which precede the timeline of the main portion of the video. This version was featured on The Videos 1989-2004, the band's 2006 music video compilation.
[edit] Cover versions
The song was covered by Doug Pinnick, Vernon Reid, Frankie Banali, and Tony Franklin for Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica.
"The Unforgiven" has also been covered in other styles of music, notably in bluegrass style by Iron Horse on the album Fade to Bluegrass: The Bluegrass Tribute to Metallica. A Gregorian chant cover by Gregorian also appeared on Masters of Chant Chapter V, Swiss pop singer Stefanie Heinzmann (winner of the German TV talent contest SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD[!sic] at the TV show TV Total) included a version on the delux edition of her debut album Masterplan, and a classical instrumental version by Finnish cello ensemble Apocalyptica appeared on their release Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. Tribute duo Harptallica recorded a harp version on their album Harptallica: A Tribute.
[edit] Track listing
- "The Unforgiven"
- "Killing Time"
- "So What" (12" Only)
- "The Unforgiven" (Demo)
[edit] Chart performance
| Country | Position |
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| Australia |
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| France |
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| Netherlands |
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| Sweden |
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| United States |
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| United Kingdom |
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[edit] Cover versions
Stefanie Heinzmann:
| Country | Position |
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| Switzerland |
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| Germany |
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| Austria |
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| Turkey |
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| Poland |
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| Greece |
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