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The Shortest Straw is the fifth track from American thrash metal band Metallica's fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All. It was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
About[]
The song's lyrics deal with the blacklisting of American politicians with alleged ties to communism during the Red Scare of the 1950s. The title "The Shortest Straw" may also be a reference to the death of bassist Cliff Burton — Burton was given his fatal sleeping bunk by pulling the shortest straw in a game of chance.
Live[]
- "The Shortest Straw" has been performed live 98 times as of January, 2025.
- "The Shortest Straw" was first played live on May 11th, 1990, in London, England, at the Marquee Club.
- It was last performed live on December 13th, 2024, in Inglewood, California, at the Helping Hands Concert.
Trivia[]
Lyrics[]
Suspicion is your name
Your honesty to blame
Put dignity to shame
Dishonor
Witch-hunt, modern day
Determining decay
The blatant disarray
Disfigure
The public eye's disgrace
Defying common place
Unending paper chase
Unending
Deafening
Painstaking
Reckoning
This vertigo it doth bring
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witch-hunt riding through
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
The accusations fly
Discrimination, why?
Your inner self to die
Intruding
Doubt sunk itself in you
Its teeth and talons through
You're living Catch-22
Deluding
A mass hysteria
A megalomania
Reveal dementia
Reveal
Secretly
Silently
Certainly
In vertigo you will be
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witch-hunt riding through
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
Pulled for you
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
Behind you hands are tied
Your being, ostracized
Your hell is multiplied
Upending
The fallout has begun
Oppressive damage done
Your many turned to none
To nothing
You're reaching your nadir
Your will has disappeared
The lie is crystal-clear
Defending
Channels red
One word said
Blacklisted
With vertigo make you dead
Shortest straw
Challenge liberty
Downed by law
Live in infamy
Rub you raw
Witch-hunt riding through
Shortest straw
The shortest straw has been pulled for you
Pulled for you!
References[]
| |
...And Justice for All |
|---|---|
| Songs | Blackened • ...And Justice for All • Eye of the Beholder • One • The Shortest Straw • Harvester of Sorrow • The Frayed Ends of Sanity • To Live Is to Die • Dyers Eve |
| Members | James Hetfield • Lars Ulrich • Kirk Hammett • Jason Newsted |
 |
Guitar Hero Metallica |
|---|---|
| Songs | For Whom the Bell Tolls • The Unforgiven • Nothing Else Matters • Enter Sandman • King Nothing • Sad But True • No Leaf Clover • Orion • Fade to Black • The Memory Remains • Wherever I May Roam • Welcome Home (Sanitarium) • Fuel • Frantic • One • All Nightmare Long • Hit the Lights • Mercyful Fate • Seek & Destroy • Creeping Death • Master of Puppets • Battery • The Shortest Straw • Whiplash • Dyers Eve • Disposable Heroes • Fight Fire with Fire • The Thing That Should Not Be • Broken, Beat & Scarred • Cyanide • My Apocalypse |
| Featured Band Songs | Turn the Page • Tuesday's Gone • Am I Evil? • Stone Cold Crazy |
