Disposable Heroes (song)

"Disposable Heroes" is a song by Metallica, the fifth on their 1986 album Master of Puppets.

The lyrics deal with a soldier's thoughts, actions and experiences at the war front and are sung in the first person, except for the chorus, which reflects the words of the soldier's commanding officers, and is in the second person. The soldier briefly describes the dehumanizing conditions of war, the death of those around him and the helplessness that comes with the realisation of his life's lack of meaning, but he also questions the madness of which he is part. During the chorus, we hear the domineering and abusive words of the person at the top of the military command, the perceived "puppet master": "You will do what I say / when I say 'Back to the front!'" At the end, the soldier has given up, emotionlessly accepting his fate and soon-to-come death.

The lyirics fit well with the album's general theme of feeling helpless and imprisoned, and lack of control over one's own actions. In fact, the album cover, depicting a seemingly endless war cemetery, with each gravestone attached to the hands of the puppet master via a string, relates more closely to this song than to any other song from the album.

The song is noted for its long duration, extremely fast tempo and aggressive, sixteenth-note machinegun-like riffs. Its length of more than 8 minutes serves to illustrate the lasting duration of war. The song opens aggressively, with an extensive instrumental section, featuring James Hetfield and Cliff Burton abruptly switching between several complicated fast guitar riffs, complemented by simpler, yet fittingly gloomy chords by Kirk Hammett. Following this introduction, Hetfield begins to sing, going into the verses and choruses, the riffs behind which are just variations of the aforementioned machine-gun riffs.

The song soon enters a mid-section which features a less speedy, yet a heavy and punctuated riff. This short reprieve from the brutality of the fighting allows for an introspective look by the soldier, who asks himself "Why am I dying?". Hammett then begins a lengthy solo, chaotic in its figures, to fit with the battle and the soldier's feelings, with Hetfield joining in a couple of times to harmonize. After the solo, the soldier reaches the realization "I was born for dying.", but it is much too late now and the song mercilessly returns to the fast riffs and the battlefield again. After the last verse and a few more repetitions of those riffs, the song seems to have come to an end, but after a short pause, the fast riff is played one final time, reminding of the perreniality of war.

"Disposable Heroes" was first demoed in mid 1985^[1], months before the recording and subsequent release of the album. In this early rendition, the song doesn't differ much from its final version, the only notable difference being the extra minute of length, due to the presence of another fast riff, which would later be omitted from "Disposable Heroes", to become part of "Damage, Inc.", the final song on the album.

The song premiered live in late 1985, before the actual release of the album^[2]. Present day, it is still played occasionally, though not as often as the band's best-known songs. The song has been played live about more than 100 times on the Metallica's concerts. it is believed that was only played live with Cliff Burton two times: 09/14/85 and 12/31/85. On June 3rd, 2006 the whole song was played for the first time since 1985.^[3] The song was played acoustically two times for the Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, the lyrics are the same, but the music is completely changed (October 27th and 28th, 2007).^[3]