For Whom the Bell Tolls (Metallica song)

"For Whom the Bell Tolls"
Song
A-side	"For Whom the Bell Tolls"

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a song by Metallica, the third track from their second album Ride the Lightning. The song was composed by Cliff Burton, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich and the lyrics are based on Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The chromatic introduction, which is often mistaken for an electric guitar, is in fact Cliff Burton playing his bass guitar through distortion and wah-wah. The intro was written by Burton before joining Metallica; Burton first played it in a 12-minute jam at a battle of the bands with his first band "Agents of Misfortune."

The guitars and bass in the song are tuned slightly sharper than standard on this performance (and sharper than the other tracks on the album). Rumors and speculation abound regarding the reason for the discrepancy, but no definitive explanation has surfaced. Former Guitarist of Metallica Dave Mustaine (later of Megadeth) returned to the band to play Bell on this track.

The song was used for the opening credits of the 2009 film Zombieland and is also being used as the music that the Chicago Bears come out to before a football game.

Other versions

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" has also appeared on Metallica's live 1999 album S&M, in which Metallica performed with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Cover versions

• Drone metal band Sunn O))) recorded a very loose cover of the song for their album Flight of the Behemoth, entitled "FWTBT "
• Metal band Trivium did an early cover of the song as a demo tape while the band was still forming. This version has become popular through internet streaming and eventually got the band signed.
• Covered partially by punk rock band Sum 41 at the Metallica's MTV Icon special in 2003 and covered in full on May 1, 2009 as a part of the The Bamboozle weekend when Sum 41 played a complete Metallica cover set.
• Pop punk band, Goldfinger, played a partial cover at Bumbershoot in 1996.
• Moonsorrow released an EP entitled Tulimyrsky, which features a 7:43 cover of the song, adding over two minutes to the song.
• Covered by Apocalyptica for their album Inquisition Symphony in 1998.
• German band Dark Age included a version of the song as a bonus track on the digipack release of their 2000 album Insurrection.
• The song has become a staple in the set of Northern Irish metallers Double-Wide.
• Although never officially released, Artillery covered the song.

Tribute versions

• The song was covered by Eric Bloom, Al Pitrelli, Tony Franklin, and Aynsley Dunbar for the album Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica.

• Tribute duo Harptallica recorded a harp version of the song on their album Harptallica: A Tribute.

• It was also covered by German punk band Muff Potter for the "German Tribute to Metallica 2008"

Usage in pop culture

• During the opening credits of Zombieland a fraction of the song is played.
• Also found in Tap Tap Revenge: Metallica as a playable song
• The song is the first playable track in Guitar Hero: Metallica

Sampled on

• A song by The Bloodhound Gang called "Mope" features the chromatic introduction riff in the chorus of the song.

Mixes

• A remix by DJ Spooky appeared on the Spawn soundtrack, which is also on The Memory Remains single entitled the "Haven't Heard It Yet Mix."
• A mashup by Bassnectar was released on February 11, 2008 in a mixset titled "Smashers and Mashers," on Bassnectar's website http://www.bassnectar.net/listen/mixsets/