Look back at Sam Fender’s heartbreaking cover of Metallica song ‘Sad But True’
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Metallica’s Black Album, they asked 50 artists to take on their favourite track from the record. Sam Fender was one of the names who accepted their invitation and chose ‘Sad But True’.
Many artists also decided to take on ‘Sad But True’, including St. Vincent, Jason Isbell, and Royal Blood. Unlike others, Fender instead decided to strip it back to its core rather than turn it up and try to match the volume of Metallica’s ear-melting original. By switching off the amps, ‘Sad But True’ is brought into an eerie new realm with Fender re-structuring the track, emphasising every last lyric.
The cover was all for a worthy cause, with The Metallica Blacklist raising money for charity. Released in September 2021, 50% of proceeds went to Metallica’s own charity, All Within My Hands and the other 50% to a charity of each artist’s choice.
Speaking on The Travis Mills Show on Apple Music, Fender discussed his connection to the band and explained: “I discovered their whole discography in one time. It just all happened instantly. I’d heard Metallica and seen the music video for ‘Enter Sandman’ on MTV. That was kind of the start of it.”
He continued: “Then my guitar teacher, who taught me when I was 13, he loved everything rock and metal. I also watched the St Anger documentary around that era. That documentary, it’s legendary because it’s hilarious and awesome at the same time. It’s kind of like the real-life Spinal Tap moment of Metallica’s career. So, I kind of fell in love with them around then.”
The ‘Seventeen Going Under’ singer then revealed why he picked ‘Sad But True’ to cover and explained why it’s his favourite song from The Black Album. “I picked that song because I loved it, and I love that riff, but when it came down to it, I’m not going to do it better than Metallica with a band, so I changed my mind. I still decided to do the song because it’s sick, and I love the lyrics, so I can use them, change some of the chord structures, and make it really beautiful, dour and sad on piano rather than trying to recreate what Metallica did.”
Fender’s version bleeds fragility and brings the haunting lyrics of ‘Sad But True’ to the song’s forefront with nothing to hide behind. It’s a lesson in how to cover a classic track because Fender doesn’t even attempt to sound like the original, and if you didn’t know otherwise, you’d assume the Englishman penned it.
