(Credits: Far Out)
Wed 18 March 2026 1:30, UK
Music is so broad because inspiration can come from many different places. However, so long as conflict exists, it will always be a driving force behind creativity, as Metallica prove.
When people write songs about war, they can take one of many different approaches. Some people go for a much more personal and individual approach, which means focusing on an individual, and writing from the point of view of a soldier. Some prime examples of this include Marvin Gaye and ‘What’s Goin’ On’, Bill Withers and ‘I Can’t Write Left Handed’, and of course, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’.
Springsteen famously wrote what is now considered a classic anti-war anthem after meeting a former soldier, Ron Vovic, and being moved by both him and other soldiers he was taken to meet. Kovic escorted Springsteen on a visit to the veterans centre in Venice, Los Angeles. An experience which the musician found quite eye-opening.
“I’m usually pretty easy with people, but once we were at the center, I didn’t know how to respond to what I was seeing,” said Springsteen when discussing how the experience inspired him to write his classic. “Talking about my own life to these guys seemed frivolous. There was homelessness and drug problems and post-traumatic stress – guys my age dealing with life-changing physical injuries.”
While these are much more grounded approaches to anti-war anthems, there are some bands who decide to take on a more nihilistic approach. This means not focusing on an individual but instead trying to tackle the issue with war as a whole. It’s a lot harder to do (given how big a topic it is), and because of its scale, it’s also a lot harder for people to connect with. However, when it’s done right, the result is a grandiose punk anthem which borders on the philosophical.
Metallica did this with their song ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, which was inspired by one of the greatest American authors of all time, Ernest Hemingway. Despite being a controversial figure for many, there is no escaping how much a lot of Hemingway’s books still resonate with audiences, and Metallica took advantage of this when writing their 1984 track.
Hemingway’s book is also called For Whom The Bell Tolls, and it focuses on an American who is given the job to take out a bridge which is held by the fascist army in the Spanish Civil War. Metallica used the book as a jumping off point and in doing so, didn’t write a song which centred around an individual, but instead created a track which seemed to highlight the overall pointlessness of war.
The track was received very well by fans and critics alike. It featured on the band’s album Ride The Lightning, and despite tackling such a big subject, Metallica managed to make a song that was quite grounded in its approach to such a huge topic. They also made what was musically one of their punchiest heavy metal tracks to date, as Cliff Burton delivered a truly stellar bass line, so complex and drenched in distortion that a lot of people mistook it for a guitar solo. It was a team effort, as Burton’s original offering was quite strange, but James Hetfield managed to get it song-ready.
“He used to carry around an acoustic classical guitar that he detuned so that he could bend the strings. Anyway, when he would play that riff, I would think, ‘That’s such a weird, atonal riff that isn’t really heavy at all’,” recalled Kirk Hammett, “I remember him playing it for James (Hetfield, vocals), and James adding that accent to it and all of a sudden, it changed […] It’s such a crazy riff. To this day, I think, ‘How did he write that?’ Whenever I hear nowadays, it’s like, ‘OK, Cliff’s in the house’.”