Of Wolf And Man by Metallica

Album: Metallica (1991)

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Producer Bob Rock recalled to Musicradar.com in a 2011 interview that he originally had misgivings about vocalist James Hetfield's lupine lyrics for this song. He explained: "I'll be honest: at first I thought it was silly to write about a wolf. I was like, 'Oh, great, a song about a wolf. What are you fu--ing getting at? May as well write about pyramids or something.' When metal goes in these kinds of areas, I lose the plot. Then, as we got more into James's lyrics, I realized that the song wasn't silly, that there was an earthiness to it. We talked about making the song go through a transformation, kind of reflecting the lyrics. It took a while. I'm not sure if we got there fully, but we got there most of the way."
In a 2009 study published in the journal Biology Letters, scientists played music for tamarin monkeys. The apes' behavior didn't noticeably change when they were listening to Samuel Barber, Nine Inch Nails or Tool. But when they heard "Of Wolf and Man," they grew noticeably calmer.

Comments: 4

Matthe G from CaliforniaThe best horror movie in a music video ever, and wolf of man fighting with his dog , his dog knowing hes not really a dog, when the says. Back to the meaning of
Gav from IrelandI love this somg, alongside “through the never” i think those two are the best songs of the black album. The album is solid but for some reason these songs hit more than the others in my opinion
Nick from Brantford, OnShould've been a single. Great song. Honestly I like it more than Nothing Else Matters or Enter Sandman.
Zero from Nowhere, NjI think this song kicks, actually, though my friend thinks it's lame. I always though of the lyrics as a metaphor for getting drunk. Like a werewolf gets possesed like the drinker is under the influence; the wolf kills people like the drinker hurts people whether it be insulting them or hurting them physically (or even just embarrasing themselves); and when they come to, they have no memory of what happened in either case. That's just how I interpreted the song.

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