Talk:Fade to Black (song)

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Does this song have anything to do with Vietnam veterans?

No. Pillsbur 16:38, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

1 Covers of this song
2 Controversal song?
3 Jason Newsted
4 You dont know nothing, wikipedia.
5 FFS - Please, no revert wars

[edit] Covers of this song

Sonata Arctica has covered this song, and possibly somebody else. Perhaps this should be mentioned

No. So it's been covered, as have a million other pop songs. Big deal. Pillsbur 21:22, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Controversal song?

I changed the statement that says "..Is a controversal song by Metallica," into "..Is a song by Metallica," because the article does not state how the song is controversal. Can anybody tell me this song's controversy (if there is controversy) so I can add it to the article, or someone else can add it? M2K 20:36, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

The controversy was the suicidal nature of the lyrics. Back in around '86 after the kid killed himself after supposedly listening to the Judas Priest song, this one and Suicide Solution by Ozzy came under fire for the reason kids were depressed and killing themselves. Somewhere on video tape I have a 60 minutes story about the supposed relationship between metal and suicide. This song featured prominantly in that. Sabalon 20:49, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jason Newsted

Perhaps there should be some mention that this was the last song performed by Jason Newsted before leaving Metallica?

[edit] You dont know nothing, wikipedia.

If this stupid site knew anything about metallica AT ALL.. they would know this is not a song about suicide. It was written after the band had all their equipment stolen out of a u-haul that was parked at a hotel after a gig in the early 80s. People who try to "group" songs and the interpretation of songs are ignorant. How can you take 1 line of a song and say that its about suicide. Give me a break. Get over it, and get a life.

Uh, dude, Wikipedia entries are written and contributed to by 'thousands' of people. And besides, the song 'is' about it, or at least can be interpreted as such. There's far more than just "one line" about killing yourself. Which I think you should do, so.

Bottom line is, nobody should say what the song is about except the person who wrote it. Anything else is just opinion. Even if it's interpreted, it's still one person's opinion, or many opinions. If you think it's about suicide, good for you. If you think it's about the band's equipment getting stolen, good for you. If you think it's about Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo, good for you. And so on... J-Dog 20:38, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Uh, no, to say it's about Mr. Hanky would be ridiculous. And the person who writes a song is simply another interpreter of it. The lyrics to "Fade to Black" are clearly about suicide (or at least the contemplation of it), and noting that the source of those feelings was the theft of the band's equipment is perfectly acceptable (it can be cited). That's not to say the song is about the band's equipment getting stolen -- that's just as dumb as it being about Mr. Hanky, but it doesn't automatically preclude the entire idea of interpretation. After all, well-founded interpretation is what we do all the time when we think anything is "good." Pillsbur 02:14, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the Mr. Hanky thing was my attempt at sarcasm. The songwriter is an interpreter?!? Really. That's more ridiculous than Mr. Hanky. Or is that your attempt at being sarcastic? So you mean that Roger Waters saying that "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is specifically about Syd Barrett is actually his interpretation? I think he would beg to differ. If an author says that a song is about something, then that's what it's about. J-Dog 02:27, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Sure, but that doesn't mean interpretations are limited to what the author might claim. That's how songs gather meaning across history, across subcultures, etc. It (specifically the lyrics) can be about Syd Barrett and on another level be about something else for someone else, but that opening doesn't mean we're in Mr. Hanky land and you get to be taken seriously (or have anyone know what the heck you're talking about) no matter what you claim a song "means." And yes, Waters is interpreting. He's expressing thoughts and emotions about Syd Barrett using a specific set of musical cues. He is "interpreting" his own ideas/memories/whatever about Syd into music. Pillsbur 02:52, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

That's all fantastic. But interpretations aren't what we are here for. If we spent the time and space trying to represent all the interpretations that are out there, the length of these articles would be infinite, and that's just not practical. Info is supposed to be encyclopedic. An author's interpretation is encyclopedic. Other people's interpretations aren't. J-Dog 03:28, 1 November 2006 (UTC)