Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

WELCOME HOME (SANITARIUM)

"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" is the fourth song from Metallica's 1986 album Master of Puppets. It was inspired by Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Keeping with the theme of powerlessness of "Master of Puppets", the lyrics portray one being trapped in insanity, or perhaps incarcerated in a mental asylum. However, a sanitarium is usually a facility for treating tuberculosis and other chronic disease. It begins slowly with harmonics, which in the song are meant to simulate time slowly ticking by. Eventually leading into the main riff followed by the bass guitar, drums and solo. The lyrics progress and become more harsh as time moves on, backed by harsher vocals (in comparison to the cleaner vocals of the song) and heavily distorted guitars. The song ends with several solos and a few lyrics that hint about an uprising in the asylum. Altogether, the song is guided by powerful and moving riffs that give the song a cold and gloomy atmosphere.

The original demo version of this song features an extended ending which is eventually used as bass and guitar solos in the song "Orion".

The section of the song that begins at 4:06 ("Fear of living on/Natives getting restless now...") bears a resemblance to a main riff in the Rush song "Tom Sawyer." Metallica thanks Rush in the liner notes for the album, so the riff may have been an intentional tribute, but it has not been confirmed by either band. The song is sometimes combined with "Master of Puppets" in concert; the combination is known as "Mastertarium".

This song is also featured as background music for the film Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, which details the controversial West Memphis Three murder case, as the three boys listened to Heavy Metal.



Welcome to where time stands still
No one leaves and no one will
Moon is full, never seems to change
Just labeled mentally deranged
Dream the same thing every night
I see our freedom in my sight
No locked doors, no windows barred
No things to make my brain seem scarred

Sleep, my friend, and you will see
That dream is my reality
They keep me locked up in this cage
Can't they see it's why my brain says "rage"

Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone

Build my fear of what's out there
Cannot breathe the open air
Whisper things into my brain
Assuring me that I'm insane
They think our heads are in their hands
But violent use brings violent plans
Keep him tied, it makes him well
He's getting better, can't you tell?


No more can they keep us in
Listen, damn it, we will win
They see it right, they see it well
But they think this saves us from our hell

Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone
Sanitarium, just leave me alone

Fear of living on
Natives getting restless now
Mutiny in the air
Got some death to do
Mirror stares back hard
Kill, it's such a friendly word
Seems the only way
For reaching out again

Words and Music by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett
Copyright © 1986 Creeping Death Music (ASCAP)
International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

Category:

Music

Tags:

• James
• Hetfield
• Kirk
• Hammett
• Lars
• Ulrich
• Metallica
• Welcome
• Home
• Sanitarium
• (Sanitarium)
• Metal
• Thrash
• Robert
• Trujillo

[SASsoilder]

fucking hell shut up about justin bieber, no one cares.

[SuperNatedog67]

best metallica song of all time

[caesarsaysno]

PARADISE LOST

WM3

[MrBubby27]

vaginas are good

[erickus36]

@DrBassdrop well sorry to tell you but Justin bieber was killed by ZAAK WYLDE of black label society...

[DrBassdrop]

@SASsoilder

What about his brother, Bustin Jieber.

[rockyroadrunner]

@deadrisinglord LOL thats a good one

[GhostFearMe]

never knew the story behind this song..makes it even more wicked

[deadrisinglord]

@123467awesomeness Is this before or after Hitler wrestled Santa?

[123467awesomeness]

ok i was on the bus and a guy stole my wallet and it had a poem about my insane neighbor. a week later this song came out.

[xSayPleasex]

@Fil007kk rofl.... good god it says it's a makeup tutorial....