What did the narrator in the song “Ride the Lightning” do to end up on death row? James Hetfield: It must have been pretty bad if he was in that chair. It came from living in the Bay Area, hearing about the death penalty in California. And it was kind of a big deal, being near San Quentin. There was no real character, it was fictitious. It had to be something real bad. I think he stole music online.
—
As a preview for this weekend’s Orion Music + More Festival, put together by Metallica, Chris Steffen talked to James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett about the two albums the thrash titans are playing in full—Ride the Lightning and Metallica (aka The Black Album.) Their chat about Ride The Lightning is up today. (via sotc-nyc)
:)
