Until It Sleeps

"'Until It Sleeps" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on May 20, 1996, as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Load (1996). "Until It Sleeps" reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it Metallica's highest-charting single and only Top 10 hit in the United States to date. The song also topped Billboards Mainstream Rock chart, peaked within the Top 5 in the United Kingdom, and reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, and Sweden. The song's music video, directed by Samuel Bayer and inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, won the Best Hard Rock Video award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. The song is dedicated to James Hetfield's mother, Cynthia Bassett.

Versions

Unlike the rest of Load, this song was written as a jam in the studio while recording the basic tracks, according to drummer Lars Ulrich; it was the last song developed for the project.^[3]

An early demo version of this song was developed entitled "F.O.B.D." (recorded on December 8, 1995) because it reminded the band members of the Soundgarden song "Fell on Black Days", in that the "It grips you...It stains you..." refrain is in the same 6/4 time signature that "Fell on Black Days" is in. The band can be heard saying "Fell on Black Days" on the fanclub-only Fancan 1 CD just prior to jamming on a portion of "Until It Sleeps", and also featured on one of the two CD single releases.

The 10-inch vinyl version of the single is red in color and featured a B-side industrial-sounding remix by Moby, credited as "Herman Melville".^[4] In April 2025, this remix, as well as the "F.O.B.D." version and a 1996 live version, were re-released with a re-mastered version as a digital single ahead of the June 2025 reissue of Load.^[5]

The song was performed with orchestral accompaniment on the album S&M, and a live version featured on the Cunning Stunts video release in 1998.

"Until It Sleeps" became the first "officially" pirated MP3 when it was released by Compress 'Da Audio (a piracy group and spinoff of the Warez scene) via an Internet Relay Chat network on August 10, 1996. An EFnet member on the #mpeg3 IRC channel named Coyote666 was responsible for creating the first mp3 ripping software.^[6]

Lyrics

While many listeners interpret Metallica's "Until It Sleeps" as being about James Hetfield's mother's battle with cancer, James himself has stated that the song is not solely about that experience. He has indicated it's about pain and grief in general, and some interpret it as reflecting his personal struggles with addiction and trauma. The lyrics of the song, can be seen as either describing emotional pain or loss, or the physical pain.

Both of his parents were Christian Scientists, and did not believe in medicine. The lyrics are also interpreted as dealing with anger issues. Hetfield's father, Virgil, died in late 1996, during Metallica's Load tour.

Music video

The song also has a music video directed by Samuel Bayer (Nirvana, Green Day, the Smashing Pumpkins). It was shot in various locations around Los Angeles on May 6 and 7 in 1996. It was premiered by MTV on May 21.^[7] The video depicts surreal concepts dealing with the fall of man, taken from various paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. Apart from the general forms inspired from Bosch's paintings, the prominent figures in the video are the human-eating monster from The Garden of Earthly Delights, the fall of Adam and Eve from Haywain and Christ in the Crucifige Eum (Crucify Him) scene of Ecce Homo. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video in 1996.^[8]

Awards

The song won a 1996 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Song of the Year.^[9]

Personnel

Personnel taken from the album's liner notes,^[10] except where noted.

• James Hetfield – guitars, vocals
• Kirk Hammett – guitars
• Jason Newsted – fretless bass^[11]
• Lars Ulrich – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. May 18, 1996. p. 25.
2. ^ Jenkins, Mark (December 3, 1997). "Metallica's 'Re-Load': Bludgeon The Drum Slowly". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
3. ^ Peiken, Matt (November 1996). "Lars Ulrich:Less Notes, More Attitude". Modern Drummer. p. 50-51.
4. ^ Thump 'n Grind
5. ^ Guillot, Jaime (April 29, 2025). "Metallica announce limited-edition reissue of Load, release remastered 'Until It Sleeps' single". Hot Press. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
6. ^ Witt, Stephen (April 21, 2015). "The Man Who Broke the Music Business". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
7. ^ Metallica In For a Lollapalooza of a Summer
8. ^ "MTV Video Music Awards 1996". MTV. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
9. ^ Metal Edge, June 1997
10. ^ Load liner notes'. Vertigo Records. 1996.
11. ^ "Jason Newsted on the making of Metallica's Load album". Guitar World. 2023.
12. ^ "Major Market Airplay". Music & Media. June 29, 1996. p. 25. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
13. ^ "Varaždin, Trg kralja Tomislava 2" (in Croatian). Varaždinske vijesti. ' (21): 35. 12 July 1996. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
14. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 24. June 15, 1996. p. 14. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
15. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 24. June 15, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
16. ^ "EHR Top 40 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 24. July 13, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
17. ^ "European Alternative Rock Radio Top 25". Music & Media. June 22, 1996. p. 25. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
18. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 30. July 27, 1996. p. 14. Retrieved February 16, 2020. See LW column
19. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (6.7. – 12.7. '96)" (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. July 6, 1996. p. 26. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
20. ^ "Top National Sellers". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 25. June 22, 1996. p. 16. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
21. ^ "Latvian Airplay Top 217 of 1996" (in Latvian). Lanet.lv. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
22. ^ "M-1 Top 40". M-1.fm. August 15, 1996. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
23. ^ "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Québec" (in French). BAnQ. Archived from the original on November 29, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
24. ^ "Major Market Airplay". Music & Media. June 29, 1996. p. 25. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
25. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. 1st ed. Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
26. ^ "Top National Sellers - June 8, 1996". Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 49. June 8, 1996. p. 14. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
27. ^ "ARIA Top 50 Singles for 1996". ARIA. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
28. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1996" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
29. ^ "Rapports annuels 1996" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
30. ^ "RPM Year End Top 100 Hit Tracks". RPM. Retrieved May 3, 2019. – via Library and Archives Canada
31. ^ "Year End Sales Charts – Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 1996". Music & Media. Vol. 13, no. 51/52. December 21, 1996. p. 12. Retrieved November 8, 2018.
32. ^ "Árslistinn 1996" (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. January 2, 1997. p. 16. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
33. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1996" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
34. ^ "Årslista Singlar, 1996" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
35. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1996". Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
36. ^ [Google Books "The Year in Music 1996 – Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks"]. Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 52. December 28, 1996. p. YE-76. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved December 25, 2023. – via Google Books
37. ^ "Until it Sleeps". Metallica.com. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
38. ^ "Metallica". Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Archived January 24, 2001 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 25, 2023. Click on Discography.