The song that epitomises Metallica singer James Hetfield’s adult life
Metallica frontman James Hetfield has lived a chaotic adult life–full of moments of joy as well as despair. Throughout it all, Metallica has been a constant, and there’s also one song by Lynryd Skynrd which has soundtracked the experience.
Since Metallica formed when Hetfield had barely reached adulthood, he’s spent most of his time on the road. While he travels more luxuriously now than he once did, Hetfield still doesn’t find himself in the same location for any great stretch of time. When you’re always on the move, naturally, this affects every facet of your existence and can cause attachment issues.
Speaking about touring after first getting sober in 2004, Hetfield told Rolling Stone (via Blabbermouth): “Totally — also scared that maybe this environment is not the best thing for me anymore. But the music’s the main thing, instead of drinking and strip clubs [laughs]. And doing five shows a week for three months straight — that’s not going to happen anymore. If my throat was hurtin’ and I couldn’t perform my best, I would resent the others. I couldn’t tell them, ‘Hey, this is too much.’ I’d look like the wimp.”
Reaching for the bottle can become a nightly tradition and a crutch when you’re on the road when it feels like life is sailing past. For Hetfield, no song epitomises the life of a touring musician more than Lynyrd Skynrd’s hit, ‘Free Bird’.
Hetfield named it top of his list of the greatest songs of all time and explained: “Nothing tops this workingman’s ballad. ‘Free Bird’ fit my life for the first 20 years on the road — not really getting too attached to stuff, living life for the moment and moving on.”
The lyrics to the hit are utterly heartbreaking, and it’s easy to comprehend why Hetfield resonated so deeply with ‘Free Bird’. In the initial years of performing the track, Lynyrd Skynyrd used it as a tribute to their late friend, Duane Allman. However, after Ronnie Van Zant’s death, the track took on another meaning, adding an extra layer of gravitas.
Initially, Skynyrd planned to release ‘Free Bird’ as an instrumental because Ronnie felt it “had too many chords to write lyrics for,” according to guitarist Gary Rossington. He said via SongFacts: “But after a few months, we were sitting around, and he asked Allen to play those chords again. After about 20 minutes, Ronnie started singing, ‘If I leave here tomorrow,’ and it fit great.”
Rossington continued: “It wasn’t anything heavy, just a love song about leavin’ town, time to move on. Al put the organ on the front, which was a very good idea. He also helped me get the sound of the delayed slide guitar that I play – it’s actually me playing the same thing twice, recording one on top of the other, so it sounds kind of slurry, echoey.”
Listen below to Hetfield’s favourite, Lynyrd Skynrd’s ‘Free Bird’.
