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Song Stories

“Dyers Eve”

Metallica | 1988

One of Metallica's speediest and most ferocious songs is "Dyers Eve," the closing track of 1988's …And Justice for All. And there's a reason why the song is completely over-the-top: James Hetfield vents throughout about childhood trauma he had experienced. As the singer-guitarist explained to Rolling Stone, "'Dyers Eve' portrays a child who's been sheltered from most of the outside world, as I was with this religion that my parents were involved in, Christian Science. That alienated me from a lot of the kids at school." Perhaps due to its challenging tempo, it was not until 2004 that Metallica played "Dyers Eve" in its entirety in concert.

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Song Stories

“V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.”

Fishbone | 1985

Quite a few musicians have utilized initials for song titles -- Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T.," Abba's "S.O.S.," Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y.," etc. But the more curiously initialed tune has to be "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F.," short for "Voyage to the Land of the Freeze-Dried Godzilla Farts." Fishbone's original guitarist, Kendall Jones, explained to Rolling Stone, "When Norwood [Fisher] wrote it, he introduced it to the band saying, 'Man, I've been hearing about all these Nazi right-wing groups on the news saying the Holocaust was staged. So what if America said it never dropped two atom bombs on Japan, that it was actually Godzilla popping a couple off?' Only Norwood would come up with something that out." The same year "V.T.T.L.O.T.F.D.G.F." was released, the film Godzilla 1985 appeared in North America.

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