Today’s reaction takes us to the dawn of the 90’s music scene with Metallica, a band formed in Los Angeles in 1981 who’ve won 9 Grammys from their 23 total career nominations. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, the band’s latest album, “72 Seasons” was released earlier this year.
Today’s featured track is called “Enter Sandman”, taken from the group’s 1991 album “Metallica”, better known as “The Black Album”. It was not until listening to this heavy metal classic that I realized I’d heard it before. Our own Iowa Hawkeyes use the song to run pre-game from the tunnel onto the football field. What a perfect song to hype up the crowd!
What Inspired the Song’s Lyrics?
Characterized as sinister, “Enter Sandman” was originally written about sudden infant death syndrome, with the lyrics changed later on to be more mainstream focused and universal. The update changed the trajectory of this lead single from the album, peaking in Billboard’s Top 20 in the US, and Top 5 in the UK.
The Sandman of the title was a reference to a mythical figure who would sneak into children’s bedrooms to sprinkle sand in their eyes (ironically, the band had been sitting on the title Enter Sandman for “six years”, according to drummer Lars Ulrich).
Loudersound.com
Recording “Enter Sandman”
The recording of the song took 50 takes for the drums alone, along with three separate track recordings of the rhythm guitar riff played exactly the same to create the “wall of sound” you hear in the final version. The use of 40-50 microphones during the session was utilized to simulate the feeling of a live concert performance.
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Covers and Media Usage
According to Wikipedia, in addition to the usage by the Iowa Hawkeyes,
- The song was also used by NASA mission control CAPCOM B. Alvin Drew to wake up space shuttle astronauts aboard STS-123.
- During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, uncooperative prisoners were exposed to the song for extended periods by American interrogators.
- When Mariano Rivera was pitching for the New York Yankees, “Enter Sandman” was routinely used as his entrance music; Rivera himself was often nicknamed “Sandman”.
- In September 2021, the band Ghost covered “Enter Sandman” for the Metallica Blacklist album.
- Since 2000, “Enter Sandman” has been used as the entrance theme for the Virginia Tech Hokies football team’s home games at Lane Stadium, as well as the start of the school’s basketball games at Cassell Coliseum. The custom was started when the stadium installed a new scoreboard, and the team debated between using Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” and the Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius” before selecting “Enter Sandman”.
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