James Hetfield’s favourite song by The Who: “It reminds me of me”
Metallica pioneered the thrash metal subgenre in the 1980s, gaining a strong following of newcomers and seasoned metal fans with their critically acclaimed debut, Kill’ Em All. Metal, like most other rock genres, has worked itself into ever tighter niches over time, with Metallica’s rip-roaring style directly influencing the nu-metal wave of the 1990s. Tracing the evolutionary thread back far enough, we stumble upon progenitors like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, but such bands weren’t solely responsible.
In Metallica’s case, a whole menagerie of artists influenced Kirk Hammett’s lead approach and James Hetfield’s enthusiastic annunciation. Groups like AC/DC and Aerosmith are among the most recognisable influences, mainly where Hammett’s iconic riffs are concerned. Still, Metallica’s most beloved influences hail prominently the 1960s psychedelic and British invasion waves.
Famously, Hammett is a huge fan of David Gilmour’s impeccable tone and Peter Green’s innovative blues work with Fleetwood Mac. Similarly, Hetfield has a soft spot for The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Who. He supposedly admires the songwriting excellence of the Fab Four and the vocal command of Robert Plant above all else. Meanwhile, The Who seems to fill in the final element of Hetfield’s talent: rhythm guitar and reflective lyricism.
Pete Townshend is The Who’s primary songwriter and creative lead, but is also considered one of the greatest rhythm guitarists in rock history. As Metallica’s rhythm player, Hetfield recognises much of his own style in Townshend’s approach. One might expect Hetfield to favour the London band’s proto-metal hit ‘Boris the Spider’, but in 2004, he picked ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ as one of his favourite songs of all time.
As a longtime Who fan, Hetfield worships Townshend’s compositional genius and rhythm virtuosity but connects most with the lyrics in ‘Behind Blue Eyes’. “This song had all that teen angst bubbling under it,” Hetfield told Rolling Stone of his selection. “It’s about asking for help but not really wanting it. Reminds me a lot of me.”
As a blue-eyed man, Townshend wrote ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ as a semiautobiographical account of teenage disillusionment, isolation and existential pondering. Like the narrator of the song, Hetfield was angry as a young man. In the Metallica track ‘The God That Failed’, he reflected on his conflicted childhood growing up in a draconian Christian Scientist household. In a moment that scarred Hetfield for life, his mother tragically passed away when he was just 16 after refusing medical treatment in favour of God’s healing hands.
Townshend originally wrote the song for a similarly afflicted character in Life House, a rock opera planned as a follow-up to Tommy. Sadly, the concept proved too difficult to follow through. With Life House abandoned, The Who included most of the drafted pieces in their 1971 masterpiece album Who’s Next.
In 2023, Townshend finally made peace with his Life House concept by adapting his notes and lyrical records into a graphic novel with writer David Hine. We discussed the project with Townshend at the time. Read the full interview here.
Listen to ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ by The Who below.
