One by Metallica
Released in January of 1989, this was the third single from their fourth album....but it was their first video. And what a way to start. The song is about a soldier that has been injured during a battle and now has no arms, no legs, and has lost his hearing and sight. With no way to communicate with the outside world, he is trapped forever inside is body. He is One. At over 7 and a half minutes, that's quite a song. And should be reason enough to avoid all wars.
After the band was finished recording the song, someone pointed out to them the similarity between the theme of the song and that of the book and film Johnny, Get Your Gun (the book was written in 1939, the film was made in 1971). In the book and film, the main character has been severely injured during a World War I battle and has no arms, no legs and has lost his hearing and sight (see the similarities?) but while in a hospital, he discovers that he can communicate with the outside world by using the Morse code, spelling out SOS to his doctors and later asking them to kill him. It's a bit dark, I'd wait until a happier time before a viewing.
The video was filmed in Long Beach (coincidentally on the day before the very first Metallica concert I ever attended) and features the band jamming along to the song intercut with scenes from the film Johnny, Get Your Gun. In the years since the video was filmed, the band has purchased the rights to the film so they wouldn't have to pay for the rights to include the images in the video (a smart idea). The live performance of the song usually includes plenty of pyro and explosions and is among the most played live songs by the band typically being one of the last songs of the performance each night.
Please enjoy.
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