"Nothing Else Matters" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released in 1992 as the third single from their self-titled fifth studio album, Metallica. The song peaked at number 11 on the BillboardMainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, number 1 in Denmark, and reached the top ten on many other European charts. "Nothing Else Matters" was featured as a playable track in the music video game . Recognized as one of Metallica's best known and most popular songs, it has become a staple in live performances.
History
Lead singer and rhythm guitaristJames Hetfield wrote the song in 1990 while he was on the phone with his then girlfriend. Since he held the phone with one hand, he plucked the four open strings of a standard E-minor chord with the other, which eventually made up the first two bars of the song. The lyrics, which talk about being "so close, no matter how far", were also dedicated to his girlfriend, indicating the bond they shared even when Hetfield was on tour. Initially, the song was not meant to be released, as Hetfield had written it for himself, but after drummer Lars Ulrich heard it, it was considered for the album.
Demo
The song's demo was also called "Nothing Else Matters" and was recorded in Ulrich's home musical studio "Dungeon" on August 13, 1990.
Composition
Its intro is an E minor arpeggio beginning with the open low E followed by the open G, B and high E strings. It is one of the few Metallica songs in which Hetfield plays the guitar solo. Guitarist Kirk Hammett does not play on the studio recording, making it one of the few in the whole Metallica repertoire, along with Cliff Burton's " Pulling Teeth", in which he does not appear. Hammett stated he did not learn how to play the song until they were well into the tour for the album. The orchestral arrangements were written by award-winning composer Michael Kamen, who would later go on to collaborate with the group on S&M.
Music video
The music video premiered on MTV on February 26, 1992. It was directed by Adam Dubin, and edited by Sean Fullan. The clip consists of parts of the A year and a half... video tape which was shot during the recordings of Metallica. One of them shows Hetfield playing a Gibson EDS-1275 guitar during the second chorus. MTV will not air the video during daytime hours anymore because it features nudity in the form of pin-up posters and Playboy centerfolds that are taped up in the studio. It also has a picture of Winger's Kip Winger which Ulrich is seen throwing darts at. On the band's 2006 music video compilation DVD, the posters are censored, as was done with the nudity featured in the music videos for "Turn the Page" and "Whiskey in the Jar".
Live
The song has now become a staple in Metallica's live performances, and has been dedicated to their fans. When played live nowadays, Hammett does the first part of the intro, and Hetfield joins in for the second, to then sing and play it alone until after the first chorus, when the whole band kicks in. Also, the last verse is left out, ending the song with the heavily distorted guitar solo by Hetfield, and usually fading into "Enter Sandman". A live version on which this can be heard, can be found on the CD/DVD '. Other live recordings can be found on ', on S&M, Cunning Stunts DVD, the DVD/Blu-ray The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria as well as on the soundtrack for the band's feature film Through the Never.
For its appearance on S&M, its orchestration was arranged by Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. This live version is featured on the album S&M. It was also released as the single "Nothing Else Matters '99", which included the b-sides "-Human", and the S&M version of "For Whom the Bell Tolls", on November 22, 1999. This version was also played with guitars tuned to E♭.
Charts
;Weekly charts
Chart
Peak position
;Year-end charts
Chart
Position
Belgium
12
Germany
20
Netherlands
9
Netherlands
21
Poland
21
Switzerland
31
"Elevator Version"
There is also an acoustic remix of "Nothing Else Matters" that is called "Elevator Version", with no electric guitars, Kamen's orchestrations, and Hetfield's voice only; it appears as the B-side to "Sad but True".
"Nothing Else Matters" is a special Europe-only single by British singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas. It was released in exactly the same way as "Don't Look Back", with the same B-sides and artwork.
Track listing
Charts
"Gregorian Version"
is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. In 1999, they recovered their version to be included on their album Masters of Chant.
