Exploring Metallica’s ‘Unforgiven’ — The Definitive Three Part Rock Ballad And What It Means

American heavy metal band Metallica are renowned to bring morbid lyrics to life with their powerhouse metal riffs and lead singer James Hetfield’s distinct, heavy, resonating and powerful vocals accompanied by Lars Ulrich’s thumping rhythms, Kirk Hammett’s blistering guitar solos and bassist Robert Trujillo’s slick bass lines.

The band formed in suburban Los Angeles while being based in San Francisco for most of their career, echo the darker side of California’s rock scene, with their heavy sound, rebuking lyrics and style of rock and roll that speaks to the multitudes of listeners across the world.

The band’s ever present cult following, not necessarily a metal predominant fan base, stone and shout the deep insightful lyrics that broadly appeal to fans across the spectrum. The band’s fan base is no accident, with their gifted appeal and meticulously well crafted, unique style which go hand in hand with the band’s trademark sound, which are reflected in this mystifying ballad.

Hetfield’s troubled childhood would make for the backdrop of their three-part intense rock ballad for the ages known as the ‘Unforgiven‘ parts I, II and III, a trilogy of a single song, spanning two decades that could, in it’s entirety and essence, describe Metallica and their sound.

The three part song is deeply rooted in Hetfield’s youth, where his father left home when he was thirteen and his mother passing away after a battle with cancer at sixteen, while being raised in a strict Christian household environment.

The ‘Unforgiven‘ trilogy explores and reflects on any young man’s journey from adolescence and youth to old age and his life experiences, turning into a vindictive, brutal heavy metal attack against those who have brought pain along the way.

In what could be Hetfield’s most personal and platonic song, the band come together to paint a vivid picture, of the journey of a man from youth to old age, from personal struggles to being ensnared by the boundaries created by society.

Unforgiven I

“New blood joins this earth / And quickly he’s subdued“, sings Hetfield, “Through constant pain disgrace / The young boy learns their rules”, which elucidate a childhood marred with constant conformity to the world he is born into.

The song then goes on to explain how the young boy ‘tries to please them all’ and becomes a ‘tired’ and ‘bitter’ old man because of his constant ‘struggle‘ and ‘battle’ and experiences for which he can never ‘forgive‘ the rest, and they remain ‘unforgiven‘.

‘Never free, never me, so I dub thee ‘unforgiven’’, sings Hetfield which is how the young man labels society after constant conformity.

The chorus, “What I’ve felt / What I’ve known / Never shined through in what I’ve shown” is a beautiful, deeply thought provoking one, which explains that what you’ve felt and known through your life, never really make it out to what you show the world. Which in turn, makes what you’ve felt and known, the personal experience of your life. The chorus, which would be elaborated and expanded on in the next two parts, remains one of Hetfield’s greatest lyrical achievements to this day, besides ‘Nothing Else Matters‘.

Unforgiven was the hit track from the album Metallica (also known as The Black Album), which was the band’s fifth studio album, released in 1991.

Unforgiven II

The sequel picks up from the first, but involves a female character as the male character asks her what ‘they‘ have done to her, while also asking her to ‘speak the words‘ he wants to hear to dispel his troubles, “Lay beside me and tell me what they’ve done/ Speak the words I wanna hear to make my demons run / The door is locked now but it’s open if you’re true / If you can understand the me then I can understand the you“, sings Hetfield, in aiming to try to connect with one another, the song’s opening calls for ‘understanding‘ between the male and female characters.

The second verse goes on to describe love gone cold and being left on your own after, with the lyrics “She loves me not, she loves me still but she’ll never love again / She lay beside me but she’ll be there when I’m gone / Black hearts scarring darker still, yes she’ll be there when I’m gone / Yes she’ll be there when I’m gone, dead sure she’ll be there?

The chorus to ‘Unforigiven II‘ also follows the prequel, in which the male character asks the female character whether she’s ‘unforgiven‘ as well, reinforcing the previous song’s chorus, perfectly with the lyrics, “What I’ve felt, what I’ve known / Turn the pages, turn the stone / Behind the door, should I open it for you / Yeah, what I’ve felt, what I’ve known / Sick and tired, I stand alone / Could you be there / ’Cause I’m the one who waits for you / Or are you unforgiven too?” sung by Hetfield.

The interplay of singing ‘are you unforgiven too?’ for the song titled ‘Unforgiven II‘, which is surely deliberate, further exemplifies Hetfield’s lyrical brilliance, while adhering to and providing a base for the similar running theme from the first song, six years later.

Unforgiven II featured on Metallica’s seventh studio album Reload, released in 1997.

Unforgiven III

Eleven years after the previous Unforgiven song, came the final part(or there could be more) of the song’s evolution, in the form of ‘Unforgiven III‘, which featured on Metallica’s 2008 album ‘Death Magnetic‘ which was significantly heavier than the previous two installments of the song.

‘Unforgiven III‘ reflects on the same young man’s journey scouring the earth for meaning, purpose, love and success and the pursuit of goals which was metaphorically represented by sailing the seas in search of ‘gold’, in the song.

The lyrics which open the song, “How could he know this new dawn’s light / Would change his life forever? / Set sail to sea but pulled off course / By the light of golden treasure“, signifying our journey through life and pursuing our endeavours.

The bridge, in which Hetfield repeatedly sings “Forgive me / Forgive me not” explains the dilemma faced by the young man, which is left open ended in the end.

The chorus then comes full circle from the previous two songs, in which the lead character ends up coming to the conclusion, that after pursuing all his life’s endeavours, in the end, he can’t forgive himself. “How can I be lost? / If I’ve got nowhere to go? / Searched the seas of gold / How come it’s got so cold? / How can I be lost / In remembrance I relive / How can I blame you / When it’s me I can’t forgive?“

Whether you’re a fan of metal or not, Hetfield and Metallica cannot be ignored in their ability to bring to light music that is, in its own design, unique, explosive & reflective, which further pushes and transcends the boundaries of rock and roll, irrespective of the kind of rock music you prefer.

The three part epic, ‘Unforgiven‘ stands by itself, in the way it is a series of the same song, spanning nearly two decades of different albums, which has been depicted so cleverly and astutely, both lyrically and musically, by the heavy metal giants, as their sound has matured through the years.

Although the three part song is equivocal in its interpretation, it has proliferated and evolved through the years in its composition, which then culminates in a deeply profound rock ballad that hits home on many levels.