Metallica: The Unforgiven Meaning
Song Released: 1991
The Unforgiven Lyrics
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pained disgrace
The young boy learns their rules
With time, the child draws in
This whipping boy done wrong
Deprived of all his thoughts
The young man struggles on and...
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Maybe with the first look at the “Unforgiven”, we assume that it’s kind of poem with a negative point of view to the whole world but “Unforgiven” in one hand take a short look at the truths of our lives and on the other hand illuminates the difficulties, dellima and fate in this universe which a human being struggles through his/her life. Pain, Dejection, tough rules and lack of thought declares this subject.
In the first stanza, poet creates a child who comes into this universe and from the very first moments he understands that he must get familiar with the tough rules and regulations of this universe to decrease the harsh pain and unfaithfulness of it.
The next stanza draws the next period of this child. We may comprehend this part by looking at our lives. He searches for the Key to open the door to the salvation and serendipity but he can’t find it, so he decides to make a way to them. This young man is forced to do some works without his wills would be considered. He is a young man who can’t achieve anything without pain and so much effort and to get them he is always in rush and prowl. He is a young man who sometimes must close his eyes to the truth! It seems for the mistake that Adam & Eve had done, he must be punished!
The last stanza takes a glance to the last period of this man. After so much struggles and bearing pains and unfaithfulness life makes him old. The old man succeeds to make a way to the salvation and serendipity but it’s too late and he’s too old to pass it. So the old man, tired and exhausted from constant efforts and sick and tired of his birth, prepares himself to die. The old man who calls himself “the Unforgiven!”. -
i have read several of the interpetations above and agree strongly with many of them. This is how i see it ( and understand i see it this way from living this kind of life) basicly a child was born into a very unloving and unsuportive family. Told through out his life that he was useless. no matter what he did it was never good enough. He learned young that to just survive.... to feel just the smallest amount of acceptance... he had to try to please everyone around him. He had to give up everything that he was to fit in. eventually he grew tired of trying to fit in ...tired of trying... he lost himself in the process he is truley the unforgiven because he gave up. he regretts all of it but now feels there is no more reason to try.
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I Believe this song is about unrealized potential. when the chorus says "What i've felt, what i've known, nothing's shined through in what i've shown" it's saying that the man never got to show the world his talents, and just followed rules set by others. "New blood joins this earth, and quickly he's subdued" means that the boy learned to never challenge others and simply follow their rules.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I hate to disagree with you guys, but everything I read stated that the first Unforgiven song was about a boy who was locked in a dark stone room with no windows. He spent his entire life carving a window into the stone, and not long after he succeeds it appears in the video that he dies before being able to leave. Now, I don't know if this is a metaphor for something like James' life, nor do I know about parts II and III. But that is how I see it.
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To me this song tells the story of the life of a boy who becames an insane old man. "This fight he cannot win" the man is fighting a futile fight with the world itself. "So I dub thee unforgiven" the man is saying to everyone in the world that he cannot forgive them for all the pain and suffering they have caused, and he plans to end it with his own two hands. I'm not saying this could be true, but perhaps this song would relate best to a person from the middle east. Perhaps a terrorist, who wants revenge from the United States, for the destruction of his home and the slaughter of his people. "New blood joins this earth and quickly he's subdued" a young child witnesses the bloodbath. "Through constant pained disgrace, the young boy learns their rules" He realizes the insignificance of his life and the people around him. "Deprived of all his thoughts the young man struggles on and on he's known" the boy becomes a man and a strong man that the ones around him come to rely on him. "A vow unto his own, that never from this day, his will theyll take away" He promises to protect his people, and take revenge for the hardships they have gone through. "They dedicate their lives to running all of his, he tries to please them all, this bitter man he is" Hardened by the cruelty he has faced, he tries to lead his people as best he can. "Throughout his life the same, he's battled constantly; This fight he cannot win. A tired man they see no longer cares, the old man then prepares, to die regretfully...that ol man here is me!". This part makes me think that perhaps it's some guerrilla or revolutionary, who believes he's becoming disillusioned, and can no longer support the actions his people are making for revenge and only wants peace. Of course at this point in his life he is tired of fighting and is unable to stop them, leaving them to be killed off. So at this point "The Unforgiven" becomes more than just his enemies, it now encompasses his comrades. The man becomes angry at his people for not listening to him, and also at the ones themselves for killing them so mercilessly, so that he cant forgive any of them. And in essence he dubs the entire world "Unforgiven".
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I believe the unforgiven is about all of us. I believe it is about bullying and conformity.everone of us at one time felt different and if we were brave enough to be true to ourselves were ridiculed for it. Metallica has always been good at delving into emotional turmoil.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I thought it was litteraly about a 'whipping boy', like they had for royal brats.
I thought the boy himself was 'Unforgiven' because he's always being blamed for what the prince does. -
I think it's about mainly what the highest rating says, but I think that the boy (hetfield) showed potential, but could not show it ("never shined in what I shown") His parents and society disapproved though and try to control his life. This may not be true, just what I think.
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Any true Metallica fan knows or has heard of the tragic Cliff Burton accident in '86. The band was in Sweden on an icy September night when their tour bus slided on ice and flipped, killing original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. Cliff was on a bunk bed near a window during the accident, the bed was not his but guitarist Kirk Hammet. Cliff beat Kirk in a card game and won the bed for the night. If it wasn't for that card game, the band would not Kirk today. The Unforgiven Trilogy is about Metallica's remorse for the accident and how they couldn't help Cliff.
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I should have wrote this song myself, it is a snapshot of my own life. James is talking about how his parents were so strict they took away his autonomy completely. The first of the song talks about being subdued and through constant disgrace a young boy learns there rules. In this song he is mainly stating how he can't be his own person and have his own thoughts because his parents are so controlling. His life has been thought out for him with no chance of controlling his own destiny, or becoming an individual.
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ya this guys dad got in a cult, and it got pushed onto him. he seemed very innocent through all of it. like a mind control slave, he was dancing in the sun in the video, also the 3 guys in black make a blood oath and were very powerful. powerful enough when you see the child scoot down the steps to earth when he is born how many steps he had to go down. thats how high his dad was. so a generational curse is on the son. there is a part of the video where there is a needle that needs to be threaded. and he doesnt do it, but he had the key around his neck the whole time . this is like the bruce willis watch story in pulp fiction. well it is that same exact story but bruce willis gets away. when you know what this means and you also realize that many things have been put in your way throught your life this will be your story....but you could always pass the curse down to your family if you want to join. so basically the kid can never have powers but will be knocked down by powers.. he wont BEEE so he cant SEEE....
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Its about James Hettfield's life.
He was raised in a strict family that was in a religion that only believed in prayer not medicine, so this caused his mother's death. He was labeled an outcast school cause his parent's religion didn't allow James to take PE in school. I believe this song expresses what James never could, his parent's gave him life and made him do everything with their religion without choice, and he wasn't allowed to express hi feelings. -
So everyone has their thoughts and interpretations of the song Unforgiven. Here is my thought for everyone, you will never fully understand the meaning to this song, If you can't relate to it. If you could relate to it you wouldn't even be asking the question. Because you will have had first hand experience of what it means. Good luck looking for something you will never find. Hell you could ask James Hetfield himself what the song means, and he is going to tell you to listen to the song. Because that's what it means to him in his own words.
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