Disposable Heroes (Metallica song)

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"Disposable Heroes"

Cover of Master of Puppets
Song by Metallica
from the album Master of Puppets
Released	February 21, 1986
Recorded	Sweet Silence Studios Copenhagen, Denmark September-December, 1985
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	8:16
Label	Elektra Records
Producer(s)	Metallica, Flemming Rasmussen
Master of Puppets track listing
"Battery" "Master of Puppets" "The Thing That Should Not Be" "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" "Disposable Heroes" "Leper Messiah" "Orion" "Damage, Inc."

Disposable Heroes is the fifth song from Metallica's 1986 album Master Of Puppets and was composed by Cliff Burton, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich.

The rhythm guitar in this song is some of James Hetfield's most physically demanding guitar work. The aggressive and fast guitar riff that enters at 0:33 is a fan favorite. At 0:55, Hammett plays a few simple chords until the third riff begins 01:16. The lyrics start at 01:38.

[edit] Theme

The song's subject is soldiers at war. It has an aggressive and fast rhythm representing war and its horrible aspects. The lyrics of each verse are from the point of view of a lowly combat soldier, while the chorus represents a general or commander shouting orders to his men. For example, in the chorus Hetfield barks "Back to the front!", meaning that the soldiers who have come home must return to the war and continue fighting. Like puppets, the soldiers are controlled by their commander, which is the main theme of the album. On the front cover artwork of Master of Puppets, a helmet and a dogtag hang from a cross headstone, referring to this song and possibly Evergreen Cemetery, which uses stone crosses to mark the graves of soldiers who died in the Battle of Gettysburg. Also the hands above, manipulating the puppets, may represent the government being all-powerful and above everyone else.

The original demo featured a second guitar solo that was eventually used on the album version of "Damage, Inc." [1].