Metallica "The Memory Remains (Japanese Single & Video)"

"The Memory Remains" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica, with British singer Marianne Faithfull on backing vocals.

The lead single from Metallica's seventh studio album, Reload, released in 1997, it was first performed live in a "jam" version on July 2, 1996. Marianne Faithfull was brought in as James Hetfield felt her "weathered, smellin'-the-cigarettes-on-the-CD voice" fit what he described as "the whole eeriness of the Sunset Boulevard-feel of the song", given the lyrics tell the story of a faded artist who goes insane from losing her fame. The spoken words "Say yes, at least say hello", during the outro, are a reference to The Misfits, the last complete movie in which Marilyn Monroe starred.

The song was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. It can be heard playing in the strip club Bada Bing! in the episode of The Sopranos, "The Knight in White Satin Armor". It is also used as one of the theme songs for WrestleMania XXVIII.

Asked if he would have bought Reload, bassist Jason Newsted said, "Not if I heard 'The Memory Remains' first."

The song's demo was also called "Memory" and was recorded in Lars Ulrich's home musical studio "Dungeon" on March 6, 1995 (take 1) and March 17, 1995 (take 2).

The single was successful, hitting number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It was Metallica's last appearance in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 until 2008's "The Day That Never Comes". The song was Faithfull's first Top 40 single on the Hot 100 since 1965's "Summer Nights", and her last to date.

The "Memory Remains" music video (directed by Paul Andresen) features a surreal, anti-gravity concept. The band plays on a large, suspended platform making full and continuous rotations throughout the performance, like an enormous swing. The platform and band are actually stationary and the room, a giant constructed box, spins around it. Marianne Faithfull sings in a dark corridor and turns the crank of a street organ, the crank presumably attached to the rotating platform upon which the band plays. In some scenes money rains down, an allegorical reference.

According to Encyclopedia Metallica, the video was shot at the Van Nuys Airport and cost $400,000, with the large platform costing over $100,000. The video premiered on MTV's Mattrock on November 15, 1997.

Track listing

CD single (ReLoad)

1. "The Memory Remains" James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich 4:38
2. "Fuel for Fire" (work in progress with different lyrics) Hetfield/Ulrich/Kirk Hammett  4:41
3. "Memory" (demo) Hetfield/Ulrich  6:41

CD single (UK pt. 2)

1. "The Memory Remains" Hetfield/Ulrich  4:38
2. "The Outlaw Torn" (Unencumbered by Manufacturing Restrictions Version) Hetfield/Ulrich             10:48
3. "King Nothing" (Tepid Mix) Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett  5:07

CD 2-track single (U.S. and Canada) and 7" single (Europe)

1. "The Memory Remains" Hetfield/Ulrich  4:38
2. "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Haven't Heard It Yet Mix) Hetfield/Ulrich/Cliff Burton  4:39

For Whom the Bell Tolls originally for the "Spawn" motion picture and appeared on "Spawn - The Album." .

King Nothing (Tepid Mix)

Original Producer: Bob Rock with Hetfield & Ulrich

Reconstructed by Sascha Konietzko/KMFDM

Fuel For Fire (Work in Progress with Different Lyrics)

Kind of Produced by Bob Rock with Hetfield & Ulrich

Rough Mix by Randy Staub on October 5, 1995

Recorded at The Plant Studios in Sausalito, CA

Memory (Demo Version)

Not Yet Produced

Recorded by Lars & Jaymz on March 17, 1995 in Lars' Dungeon.

The Outlaw Torn (Unencumbered by Manufacturing Restrictions Version)

Producer: Bob Rock with Hetfield & Ulrich

Mixed by Mike Fraser