Metallica - Battery

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

Metallica - Battery - Album track