Metallica - One
"Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror."
Album: ...And Justice for All [3rd album]
Recorded: Los Angeles, California
Genre: Metal, Thrash Metal
Album Release: August 25th 1988
Single Release: January 10th 1989 [3rd single]
Length: 7.26
Producer: Flemming Rasmussen, James Hetfield & Lars Ulrich
Vocalist: James Hetfield [age 25]
Label: Elektra Records
Music Video
Live in 1989 from Seattle, Washington
Charts, Streams & Sales
Australia: Certified 4x platinum
Finland (single & album): #1
Germany (albums): #3
Sweden (single): #3
UK (single): Certified silver in November 2019
UK (album): Certified platinum in March 2024
USA (single): Certified gold in December 2012
USA (albums): Certified 8x platinum in June 2003 (over 8,000,000 copies sold)
USA (albums): #6
Spotify: 544,000,000 +
YouTube Music: 631,000,000 +
Grammy Award Winner 1990: Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award Nominee 1989: Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance (losing to Jethro Tull)
Guitar World's Best Guitar Solos of All Time 2005: #7th (the middle solo)
Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs (2023): #11
Credits
Details
- Metallica play a very heavy, aggressive type of music and so have a lot of fans that are in the military. When 'One' was labelled as an anti-war song singer James Hetfield, in a controversial statement, said that Metallica were not pro-war or anti-war and that war has it's purpose but he'd rather not see it.
- The song, based on Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun (1938), is set during the first world war and told from the perspective of a severly wounded soldier who is pleading with God to end his life. The soldier cannot speak, hear or see and has no arms or legs so has to communicate by making his body spasm in Morse code. His spasms spell out 'kill me'.
- Self-declared Communist Dalton Trumbo would be played by Bryan Cranston in the 2015 biopic Trumbo.
- The music video features scenes from the 1971 film version of Johnny Got His Gun, which was directed Trumbo himself. Metallica would have to pay royalties for the ongoing use of the footage so they simply purchased the rights to the film. An easy solution for those who can afford it.
- The song takes its title from the following passage from Johnny Got His Gun.
"How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it’s a million to one shot. But if he does win, you’ll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I’d read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn’t believe it, cos it’s a million to one. But a million to one always leaves one. I’d never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one. But a million to one always leaves one. One." - The songs bridge features double bass drums and guitars played in such a way that they sound like a machine gun. Producer Flemming Rasmussen said that Lars Ulrich recorded his drum part in one take.
- Live versions of the track feature fireworks and a light show that create deafening roars and blinding lights that serve to strip the audience of some of their senses creating a war like atmosphere which allows them to identify with Johnny. The spectacular theatricality of the show is perfect for stadium rock.
- Metallica's former bassist Cliff Burton, who died in 1986, already had his parts recorded. New bassist Jason Newsted re-recorded them using Cliff's outline, although you could be forgiven for not noticing, as the bass is very difficult to hear on the finished track.
- Flemming Rasmussen had co-produced both of Metallica's previous albums and knew the band well. He was bought in as a replacement for Mike Clink, who had produced 'Appetite for Destruction' by Guns 'n' Roses, but wasn't getting the thrash sound needed for Metallica. Rasmussen would win a Grammy for his work on 'One', though this would be the last time he worked with the band.
- There is a shorter version of the song that radio stations play when they haven't got time for the full thing. The band much prefers the full version.
Artwork
