Carpe Diem Baby (song)

Song

Tour Dates

Carpe Diem Baby is the seventh song from 1997's album ReLoad. It was written by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett, with a length of 6:12.

About

Like the Latin meaning of the song name ("Carpe Diem") and the lyrics, the meaning of the song is clear: Seize the day, live your life like its your last, because you only have one life.

It has also been noted that both Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett refer to the song as "Skimpy," the song's demo name, because they do not know the working title for the song. James Hetfield has also noted that this confuses him in the tuning room as he does know the real title of the song.

Live

• "Carpe Diem Baby" has been performed live 4 times as of January, 2025.
• "Carpe Diem Baby" was first performed live on December 5th, 2011, in San Francisco, California, at the Fillmore, during the 30th Anniversary Tour.
• It was last performed live on August 10th, 2013, in Chiba, Japan, at the QVC Marine Field, for SUMMER SONIC 2013.

Lyrics

Hit dirt
Shake tree
Split sky
Part sea

Strip smile
Lose cool
Bleed the day
And break the rule

Live, win
Dare, fail
Eat the dirt
And bite the nail

Then make me miss you
Then make me miss you

So wash your face away with dirt
It don't feel good until it hurts
So take this world and shake it
Come squeeze and suck the day
Come carpe diem, baby

Draw lead
Piss wine
Sink teeth
All mine 

Stoke fire
Break neck
Suffer through this
Cheat on death

Hug the curve
Lose the time
Tear the map
And shoot the sign

Then make me miss you
Then make me miss you

So wash your face away with dirt
It don't feel good until it hurts
So take this world and shake it
Come squeeze and suck the day
Come carpe diem, baby 

Live, win
Dare, fail
Eat dirt
Bite the nail

Strip smile
Lose cool
Bleed the day
And break the rule

Hug the curve
Lose the time
Tear the map
And shoot the sign
 
Then make me miss you
Then make me miss you  

So wash your face away with dirt
It don't feel good until it hurts
So take this world and shake it
Come squeeze and suck the day

Come make me miss you
Come carpe diem, baby
Come carpe diem, baby