Nothing Else Matters

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Nothing Else Matters
Metallica
publication April 20, 1992
length 6:28
Genre (s) Heavy metal , ballad
Author (s) James Hetfield ,
Lars Ulrich
album Metallica
Metallica live in London (2008)
Singer and guitarist James Hetfield who wrote the song during a phone call (2013)

Nothing Else Matters ( English for: "Nothing else matters" or "Nothing else matters") is asong createdby James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich by the US metal band Metallica from 1991. It is a metal ballad or Powerballad, which was released as a single (1999 by the Creeping Death-Music label) from the successful Metallica albumand became the group's most successful and best-known piece. In addition, it is one of the few metal pieces that has beenable to anchoritself in pop music - mainstream as a standard song acrossall genresand has received cover versions from representatives of the most varied of styles. A version recorded live with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra was also a great chart success as a single in the late 1990s.

Emergence

In terms of its origins, Nothing Else Matters is a random composition. Metallica, which in the previous years had earned a reputation as one of the most important and strongest bands in the US metal scene , were in a phase of reorientation in the early 1990s. The musical document of this reorientation was the album Metallica , released in 1991 - also known as the Black Album or Black Album because of its black cover . Nothing Else Matters was created as a contribution to this album. Metallica singer James Hetfield wrote the intro to the song during a phone call. The improvised situation some of the songs also tone and structure: For the open E minor - arpeggio with which the song begins and harmoniously supports in consequence, to the left hand grip is not needed. This is why Hetfield chose the key of E minor during the phone call. Originally the song, which in its first version only consisted of Hetfield's voice and a guitar, was not intended to be a Metallica song, as Hetfield found Nothing Else Matters to be too personal and unsuitable for Metallica. Hetfield later in an interview: “I thought I was making myself vulnerable. I put my heart out in the song and was afraid that people would trample on it. ”After band drummer Lars Ulrich heard the song by chance on a demo tape, he persuaded Hetfield to develop it further and make it available to the band put.

Music genre

Musically, the piece is similar to Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin , in the style of a typical power rock ballad. The main instrument is the acoustic guitar. The rock band accompaniment starts after the foreplay. In addition, there is a subtle set of strings in the background. In terms of composition, Nothing Else Matters is in 6/8 time and has a tempo of 142 BPM . It starts with an open E minor arpeggio played on an acoustic guitar . In the second part of the intro, there is another acoustic guitar, strings and a tambourine . Drums , bass and vocals begin with the first verse. A distorted electric guitar can be heard in the background in the second, fifth and seventh verses . The third, fourth and sixth stanzas are followed by a refrain. The second chorus is followed by the first guitar solo, an interlude with two acoustic guitars. The third chorus has been extended by two lines of text and is twice as long as the other two. It leads to the second guitar solo, in which both rhythm and lead guitar are distorted. In the seventh verse that follows, the drums and bass can no longer be heard. The outro consists of a repeating motif of the intro.

Text and content

In terms of lyrics, Nothing Else Matters is a love song addressed to an unspecified person. The individual stanzas list different adversities and disappointments that are currently affecting the singer of the song. However, the refrain counteracts this with a statement of unconditional, unconditional trust, summarized in the statement "Nothing Else Matters", in German: "Nothing else counts".

successes

As a ballad up to now rather unusual for the band, Nothing Else Matters advanced - together with the title Enter Sandman , which was also taken from the black album - to become the band's most famous piece. It was present in the German single charts for a total of 85 weeks. After many gold and platinum awards, the group received a Grammy for best metal performance. The Black Album, on which Nothing Else Matters is the eighth track, was also an outstanding commercial success and has now sold over 35 million times. In addition, Nothing Else Matters was the first Metallica track to receive regular radio airplay outside of metal .

Music video

The video clip for the piece put the focus on the mood during the recording. Clip director Adam Dubin , who had also worked with the Beastie Boys among others , concentrated on the band, the individual musicians and the atmosphere during the recording session.

Reception and meaning

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Nothing Else Matters
  DE 9 12/02/1991 (51 weeks)
  CH 5 06/07/1992 (73 weeks)
  UK 6th 05/02/1992 (11 weeks)
  US 34 05/02/1992 (17 weeks)
Nothing Else Matters '99
  DE 2 12/20/1999 (40 weeks)
  AT 6th December 26, 1999 (19 weeks)
  CH 4th 12/19/1999 (26 weeks)

For Metallica's career, the black album and ballads like Nothing Else Matters turned out to be milestones in a musical change towards the mainstream - a change that was rated differently by the group's fans. On the occasion of a concert in 2009, the Badische Zeitung evaluated the contrast between the otherwise hard sound of the group and the successful ballad with the following words: “(...) Only the ballad 'Nothing Else Matters' is different, is a declaration of love of great depth - and then stands for Metallica again, for the inside of the band, for the soft characters behind the hard facade. "

Live recordings and cover versions

Nothing Else Matters has been played live over 1000 times since its inception, including Live Shit: Binge & Purge (1993) and S&M (1999). On the second recording, the group was accompanied by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Kamen . The lengths of the piece varied depending on the respective artistic phase of the band. Since 1995 drums and bass have only started after the first chorus and since 1996, with the exception of a few acoustic concerts, the song has only been played until the second guitar solo, the subsequent last verse and the outro have been left out. On December 9, 2011, the last verse and the outro were played again for the first time as part of four anniversary concerts, and Jerry Cantrell found himself for backing vocals .

The number of imported third-party interpretations is considerable. The cover version documentation page coverinfo.de currently lists almost a hundred different versions. The stylistic spectrum of the recordings is unusually broad; it ranges from classical and choir versions to metal recordings and versions from the indie rock and singer / songwriter areas. Here is an overview of the more popular publications:

  • Apocalyptica

  • Bif Naked

  • Joe Lynn Turner

  • Martin Kesici

  • Gregorian

  • Lemmy Kilmister

  • Acid drinkers

  • Shakira

  • Scala & Kolacny Brothers

  • Doro Pesch

  • Lissie

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.metallica.com: Nothing Else Matters, ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed June 28, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metallica.com
  2. ↑ a b c d "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica, Christine Gossmann, schottpop.com, April 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ Ian Christe : Hell Noise. The complete, ruthless, unique history of heavy metal. Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2004, ISBN 978-3854454021 , p. 227 ff.
  4. ^ The tragic life of the Metallica multimillionaire, Jörg Pistorius, Trierischer Volksfreund (online edition), August 1, 2013.
  5. ↑ a b Nothing Else Matters. Metallica's top hit, T. Dalhof, jetelina-verlag.de, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  6. ↑ A bad tape in my head, interview by Philipp Oehmke with James Hetfield, Spiegel, September 30, 2013.
  7. ↑ a b Metallica: Nothing Else Matters (6:28), info text on the song on lastfm.ch, accessed on November 16, 2013.
  8. ↑ songbpm.com: Nothing Else Matters
  9. ↑ Music Videos, adamdubin.com, accessed November 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ Chart positions: DE AT CH UK US
  11. ^ Bettina Roccor: Heavy Metal: The Bands. The fans. The opponents. CH Beck, Munich 1998, ISBN 978-3406420733 , p. 51. The author describes a concert in Nuremberg in 1991, at which some of the fans reacted in shock when they played the new piece "Nothing Else Matters".
  12. ↑ Metallica in Stuttgart, or: How anger becomes love , Karl Heidegger, Badische Zeitung, May 10, 2009
  13. ↑ Nothing Else Matters at coverinfo.de, accessed on November 16, 2013
Metallica
Cliff Burton  • Lloyd Grant • Ron McGovney  • Dave Mustaine  • Jason Newsted  • Jeff Warner
Studio albums

Kill 'Em All • Ride the Lightning • Master of Puppets • … And Justice for All • Metallica • Load • ReLoad • St. Anger • Death Magnetic • Hardwired… to Self-Destruct

Extended plays

The $ 5.98 EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited • Beyond Magnetic

Live albums

Live Shit: Binge & Purge  • S&M  • Français pour une nuit • Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México • The Big Four Live from Sofia, Bulgaria  • Quebec Magnetic

Soundtracks

Metallica Through the Never

Compilation albums

Garage Inc.

Video albums

Cliff 'em All • 2 of One • A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica  • Cunning Stunts • Classic Albums: Metallica - The Black Album •  Metallica: The Videos 1989-2004

Singles

Whiplash  • Jump in the Fire • Fade to Black  • Creeping Death  • For Whom the Bell Tolls  • Master of Puppets  • Battery • Welcome Home (Sanitarium)  • Eye of the Beholder  • Harvester of Sorrow  • … And Justice for All  • One  • Enter Sandman  • Don't Tread on Me  • The Unforgiven  • Nothing Else Matters  • Wherever I May Roam  • Sad but True  • Until It Sleeps  • Ain't My Bitch • Hero of the Day  • Mama Said • King Nothing • Bleeding Me • The Memory Remains  • The Unforgiven II  • Fuel  • Better Than You • Turn the Page • Whiskey in the Jar  • Die, Die My Darling • Nothing Else Matters '99 • No Leaf Clover • I Disappear  • St. Anger  • Frantic  • The Unnamed Feeling  • Some Kind of Monster  • The Day That Never Comes  • My Apocalypse • Cyanide • The Judas Kiss • All Nightmare Long  • Broken, Beat & Scarred  • Hardwired • Moth Into Flame • Atlas, Rise! • Now That We're Dead • Spit Out the Bone

Featurings

Lulu (with Lou Reed )