In a column for Newsweek entitled “My Favorite Mistake,” Metallica’s Lars Ulrich comes clean on a missed opportunity that most of us might consider a no-brainer: to have two of his band’s songs appear in Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films.
“One of the most surreal 30 minutes of my life was having Q.T. six inches from my face, eyes dancing, intensely animated, explaining in intricate detail how he had written and choreographed the two main fight scenes in the film to the Metallica songs “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True,” writes Ulrich. “Fists would impact faces on accents. Kicks would land on cymbal hits. Bodies would twirl along with the rhythm of the music. Tarantino’s next-level movie magic married to Metallica music, all turned up to 11.”
“We were high on this idea for the rest of the evening, and the elation continued for days,” Lars continues. “Finally, ta-da!! The Script. All 180 pages. Man, was it thick and dense. I threw myself headfirst into the shenanigans. Then something slowly started happening. Story, language, twists, turns, kung fu banter, and jargon—as I got further and further into it, I became more and more puzzled.”
“Page by page, I realized that most of this was written in a language that was outside of my realm of understanding,” confessed Ulrich. “I had never encountered a narrative like this, set in, to me, a very foreign culture of martial arts and Asian myths. I just couldn’t wrap my thick Danish head around it. I championed his movies, loved him as a person, but at the end of the 180 pages, I sat there somewhat bewildered and felt very uncool for not getting it. I wasn’t capable of appreciating its brilliance. Then I started overthinking it. 'Do it, do it,' my gut screamed, but my head was confused. Cautious. I experienced a rare inability to pull the trigger.”
Sad but true.
Read the full column at Newsweek here.
Metallica Metallica - Sad But True
Live Earth
Wembley Stadium – London, UK – July 7, 2007
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