Metallica - Battery - Meaning of the song
The theme of the song revolves around the San Francisco thrash scene of the 1980s. The most prominent club played by Metallica was the Old Waldorf located at 444 Battery Street in downtown San Francsico. The tone of the song is one of familial ties and the positive release of energy through the common interest of metal. The lyric "Cannot kill the family, Battery is found in me" is a statement that while society at large doesn't understand the scene, those within it (i.e. "the family") will fiercely defend it as a show of solidarity against the glam scene that was popular in the Los Angeles area. "Battery is found in me" shows that these early shows on Battery Street were important to them. Battery is where "lunacy finds you" and you "smash through the boundaries."
James Hetfield once said:
"There's a good and a bad side of a battery. We were very good at the negative."
"Battery" used to be a constant part of the band's live set list, frequently as the opening or closing song. In some cases, it is also used as a song before the intermission. Since 2008 the song has usually been dropped from setlists. When played, the song may stop before the interlude, and James Hetfield asks the crowd "Are you alive?... How does it feel to be alive?"
Battery - Lyrics
Lashing out the action, returning the reaction
Weak are ripped and torn away
Hypnotizing power, crushing all that cower
Battery is here to stay
Smashing through the boundaries
Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the battery
Pounding out aggression
Turns into obsession
Cannot kill the battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
Battery
Crushing all deceivers, mashing non-believers
Never-ending potency
Hungry violence-seeker, feeding off the weaker
Breeding on insanity
Smashing through the boundaries
Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the battery
Pounding out aggression
Turns into obsession
Cannot kill the battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
Battery
Circle of destruction, hammer comes crushing
Powerhouse of energy
Whipping up a fury, dominating flurry
We create the battery
Smashing through the boundaries
Lunacy has found me
Cannot stop the battery
Pounding out aggression
Turns into obsession
Cannot kill the battery
Cannot kill the family
Battery is found in me
Battery
Battery
Battery
Battery
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