One

By Metallica

Project By Austin Hollis

 

 

 

 

[Lyrics in Red, Interpretations in Black]

 

I can't remember anything 
Can't tell if this is true or dream 
Deep down inside I feel to scream 
This terrible silence stops me 

 

This is the start of the song.  The song is about a soldier who stepped on a landmine during the war and lost his arms, legs, face, and all of his senses.  The lyrics start about a minute into the song because the beginning of the song is him still fighting in the war before the landmine.  Here, he is in a hospital, and can't remember anything that had happened, and didn't know if it was real or not.  He felt like screaming from the fear and pain, but was unable to speak by the "terrible silence".

 

Now that the war is through with me 

I'm waking up, I cannot see 
That there is not much left of me 
Nothing is real but pain now 

 

The soldier is now done with the war and is beginning to wake up.  He claims that he knows that there isn't much left of him keeping him alive even though he can't see it, and all he can feel is the pain.

 

[Chorus]

Hold my breath as I wish for death 
Oh please God, wake me 

 

The man does not want to continue living, and wishes to die and for God to wake him up, meaning ascending to heaven after death.  He wants God to save him from the pain and torture of what's left of his life.

 

Back in the womb it's much too real 
In pumps life that I must feel 
But can't look forward to reveal 
Look to the time when I'll live 

 

The dying soldier is looking back in memories of when he used to live.  By "In pumps life that I must feel", he means that he does not wish to relive the memories of when he was alive.  His life seems to be passing him by as he's about to die.

 

Fed through the tube that sticks in me 
Just like a wartime novelty 
Tied to machines that make me be 
Cut this life off from me 

 

The man is gaining awareness of what is happening around him.  In the hospital, he is fed through a tube, and tied to machines that keep him alive.  He, however, does not want to be kept alive, and this is what he means by, "Cut this life off from me."

 

[Chorus]

Hold my breath as I wish for death 
Oh please God, wake me 

 

Now the world is gone, I'm just one 
Oh God help me 
Hold my breath as I wish for death 
Oh please God, help me 

 

After repeating the Chorus of him wanting God to wake him from his life, the soldier again claims that he wishes to die.  He feels that the world ceases to exist and he is all that is left, that he is just one. He desperately wishes for God's help in awaking him from his pain.  Following this is a guitar solo, which symbolizes the man's fight for survival.

 

Darkness imprisoning me 
All that I see 
Absolute horror 
I cannot live 
I cannot die 
Trapped in myself 
Body my holding cell 

 

Around here, the song starts to changes from its somber type mood, to a more aggressive mood.  The soldier is wanting to yell and scream, but is unable to and his shouts to want to die are trapped inside is mind.  In his mind, he is surrounded by darkness and can only sense the pain.  He feels that he can't live or die, and is simply trapped as one in himself.

 

Landmine has taken my sight 
Taken my speech 
Taken my hearing 
Taken my arms 
Taken my legs 
Taken my soul 

Left me with life in hell

 

The dying soldier claims that the landmine took his sight, speech, hearing, arms, legs, and his soul.  He says that without these things, his life is left meaningless and he doesn't want to live it anymore.  His life is now an eternal hell.

 

 

 

 

Problem Being Discussed

The problem being discussed in this song is the torture and soon death of a soldier during a war after being blown apart by a landmine, making war as a whole the problem. While war can be used between countries to settle differences, it will always lead to thousands of deaths like the way the soldier in the song will die. While it may not say it directly, the song points towards the idea of war being an evil of mankind that brings death to thousands of innocent soldiers and affects everybody in the world.

 

 

About War

War has seemingly been going on for all of the history of man, since there are always disagreements people are going to fight about. As technology has increased, war has only become more threatening and deadlier. Introductions of the gun, as well as other explosions and lethal weapons and equipment later on have turned war into a devastation for everything, including the land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This graph shows the total number of deaths for the major countries who fought in World War II.  This includes events such as the Holocaust. There were over 60 million total deaths, which was over 2.5% of the world's population.

 

 

 

Significance in the World Today

War is still going on today, and probably will never stop because some countries will never be completely satisfied. I think that it is very important to have a strong military for protection, but not to invade other countries unless your own country is in danger. As unfair as it is, soldiers are dying everyday protecting their country, nothing more than puppets controlled by the country's government to try and get what the want to satisfy themselves. War would not happen if countries around the world stayed within themselves and not attack others, but this will never happen because of the way humans think. As long as there are people, war will unfortunately always be around.

 

 

 

The Affect of War

War kills millions upon millions of soldiers. Everyday there are soldiers being killed before their time fighting bravely to protect their country. Current day war also terrorizes the land and environment that it's fought on. During World War II for example, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Japan that completely destroyed an entire area and city. With technology only getting better, the current day weaponry, such as the nuclear bomb, can and will destroy land in a radius of hundreds of square miles, killing the thousands to millions in that area along with it. If another world war were to start, the death toll would be catastrophic, and wouldn't likely end until hundreds of millions are dead with several countries destroyed. 

 

 

 

 

This graph shows a comparison of some of the major wars of the past 238 years. It shows the total military deaths of each war. Notice how the 5 most recent wars, with the exception of the Gulf War, have caused many more deaths than earlier wars.

 

 

 

The Impact of War

War is one of the most important things of the past because of the way it has influenced the world we live in today. We would likely live in a very different place if some of these wars and civil wars hadn't have happened. For example, if America had never fought the British in the American Revolution, would there be an America today? Where would we as American citizens live? Would we even be alive today? All in all, although war is a truly devastating thing that kills so many innocent people, it is and has been our way of setting big disputes between countries and therefore has had a huge impact on modern society.

 

 

Why did I choose this song?

One obvious reason why I chose this song was because I happened to like it. I enjoyed the guitar solo, and how it changed from a slow pace to an aggressive faster pace at the end. I knew it's lyrics were talking about war, but I didn't really look a whole lot into them. Thinking I could relate a song about war to history fairly easily, I looked up the lyrics and ended up choosing this song. The lyrics are a lot deeper than I ever thought they were, and they made me appreciate the song even more. They gave me the perspective of a wounded soldier begging to be taken off of life support and die, which really got me thinking about war as a whole and how unfair it is for soldiers to die just in an attempt to try and achieve what the leader of their country wants.

 

 

 

Quotes about War

 

Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. -Ernest Hemingway

 

If we don't end war, war will end us. -H.G. Wells

 

Only the dead have seen the end of the war. -George Santayana

 

The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one. -Albert Einstein

 

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -Albert Einstein

 

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity. -Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war. -John F. Kennedy

 

 

Citations

 

Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_war.html>

 

Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/metallica/one_20092051.html>

 

Web. 12 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#cite_note-1>