Song |

"To Live Is to Die" is the eighth track by American thrash metal band Metallica from their 1988 album ...And Justice for All. Is a mostly instrumental song keeping up with the tradition of the band's previous three albums (Master of Puppets, Ride The Lightning, and Kill 'Em All), the instrumental track comes late in the album and is lengthy.
About[]
The song was written as a tribute to the band's bassist Cliff Burton, who was killed in a bus accident in 1986. The music consists of riffs Burton had written that had not been incorporated into songs prior to his death. The song title is a phrase that Burton was fond of.
Hetfield plays the second guitar solo during the slower midsection of the song. This is the last song Metallica released that Burton has a writing credit in, and is the band's only instrumental track with Jason Newsted playing bass guitar.
Live[]
- "To Live Is to Die" has been performed 1 time as of January, 2025.
- "To Live Is to Die" was firstly and lastly performed on December 7th, 2011, in San Francisco, California, at the Fillmore, during the Metallica 30th Anniversary tour.
- During the Damaged Justice Tour, the interlude was used as a segue into "Master of Puppets". As well as it being played in the Instrumental Medley during the Nowhere Else To Roam Tour.
- Since the release of 72 Seasons, "Inamorata" claims the title for longest studio-recorded Metallica song released on an album at 11:10, although "Mercyful Fate" from Garage, Inc. holds the title for longest studio song beating it by two seconds, though not only is it a cover, it is a medley of 5 different songs.
Trivia[]
- The title was used in a biography about Burton.
- The words in the poem were written by Paul Gerhardt, but the authorship is often incorrectly attributed to Cliff himself.
- For over 2 decades, "To Live Is to Die" was the longest original studio recording to be released on an album by the band clocking in at 9 minutes 49 seconds, just a fraction of a second longer than "The Outlaw Torn" from Load clocking in at 9 minutes 48 seconds and change (note that the original recording of this song is 10:48, but the last minute was cut in order to fit the album within the length limitations of CDs at the time).
- "To Live is to Die" contains a few spoken lyrics near the end of the song, coming in at 7:35, that were written by German poet Paul Gerhardt and popularized in the 1981 film Excalibur.
Lyrics[]
(Starting at 7:35)
When a man lies he murders some part of the world These are the pale deaths Which men miscall their lives All this I cannot bear to witness any longer Cannot the kingdom of salvation Take me home
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 |