The first ever writeup on Megadeth, aka 'Megadeath'
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Dave Mustaine might have had some of the best riffs on Kill ‘Em All, but he also had some of the worst lyrics. Consider his original lyrics to “Jump in the Fire”:
Sitting in my room with my head in my hands
I just can’t seem to move
I gotta get up, get out, get high
Get back in the groove
There’s a job to be done, and I’m the one
You people chose to do it
Now I tighten my belt, I’m sure you all felt
It’s time to get to itSo come on
Jump in the Fire
So come on
Jump in the FireMovin’ my hips in a circular way
Push forward a bit
Pull your body to my waist
Feel how good it fits
There’s a job to be done, and I’m the one
You people chose to do it
Now I take off my pants, a second chance to get down
So let’s get down to it
These must be some of the worst lyrics ever written in the history of lyrics. (See also original lyrics to “The Four Horsemen”.) If Mustaine had stayed with Metallica, would he have sunk the band with his one-track mind?
Fill ‘Em All?
The Rack Album?
OK, I’ll stop now.
Also, his solos at that time were pretty lame.
You can hear his terrible influence in various versions of “Jump in the Fire” below.
- In the ‘82 demo from Ron McGovney’s garage, James Hetfield does all sorts of cock rock vocal affectations.
- The Power Metal demo has Mustaine singing the song himself
(I think)[Evidently I'm wrong - see comments].
- In the No Life til’ Leather demo, Hetfield reclaims the mic, and sounds scarily at home with the lyrics. At least he pronounces “fire” “fiyah” instead of “fiawwwwwwwww”.
- To use a phrase from Metalli-friend Umlaut, thank dog Hetfield stepped in and wrote some proper lyrics about “hell in my eyes” and “death in my veins”.
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“Jump in the Fire” (Ron McGovney’s ‘82 Garage Demo)
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“Jump in the Fire (Power Metal demo)
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“Jump in the Fire” (No Life ’til Leather demo)
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“Jump in the Fire” (album version)
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Speaking of Umlaut, check out the excerpt up top from his one-issue zine Whiplash, from 1983. (Paradise will be filled with second issues of zines.) It is the first ever writeup on Megadeth, er, “Megadeath”. More excerpts from Whiplash will appear in Murder in the Front Row, the book by Umlaut and Harald Oimoen (D.R.I. bassist), out on Bazillion Points in the fall – see details here.
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METALLICA: THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS
Metallica: The First Four Albums – “Motorbreath”
Metallica: The First Four Albums – “The Four Horsemen”
Metallica: The First Four Albums – “Hit the Lights”
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Always like the spidery-ness of that riff.
The version on the ‘82 demo is just bizarre. Also that’s Hetfield on the Power Metal demo.
What crazy words for Hetfield to sing! Every time I hear the opening line I think he’s going to say “sitting my room with my head up my ass…” Dunno why. You’re right that by the NLTL demo he’s made them his own though, and doesn’t sound the least bit uncomfortable. Impossible to imagine him singing “Now I take off my pants…” nowadays. Still, it’s funny how Metallica had all these “sex” songs back in the day, including “Sucking My Love”.
Unrelated to Metallica, I wonder how much of the detail given in the zine article about the Megadeth demo was real? Is there evidence of a song by Megadeth about some poor girl in Minnesota in 1906?
I’m assuming that’s in reference to Mary Jane that wouldn’t show up until “So Far, So Good…”.
I’m curious if the song actually existed in some form that long before getting recorded or if they were just throwing out ideas and Dave just eventually came back to it.
What’s especially funny is that, around the “Justice” era, I distinctly remember Hetfield saying “no love songs, unless they’re about beer.” Okay, a horny sex song isn’t a love song, but it is weird to hear him singing, “Now I take off my pants.” Who even SINGS that? Except the “pants on the floor” guy, I mean.
… one thing to remember is that Mustaine (and Metallica) were all still teenagers when the original songs were written. Just saying.
“Dijon” Ellefson?
… I misheard the name when I interviewed Mustaine over the phone. In those ancient times I had to take notes when doing interviews because we couldn’t afford tape recorders.
I just figured you were calling him by some obscure nickname, umlaut.
… i was 18 years old when i wrote that piece.
I have always loved this song, everything about it. The way that riff just moves around like a living thing, it becomes entrancing. I love the way the lyrics close out the song as well,
Living your life as me I am you you see
There is part of me in everyone
So reach down grab my hand walk with me through the land
Come home where you belong
So much better than thier sex-crazed ideas they started with. This song vibrates with the evil sound that youth ministers most feared in the 1980’s.
Dijon Ellefson is making loud out loud hysterically!!! Priceless. It would, indeed, seem that Steve “Lips” Kudlow of Anvil was Mustaine’s primary lyrical influence, 1982-83. Hilarious! I’ve always loved the Kirk’s final guitar solo on this. So simple. But so effective.
yeah- love that final solo- it was one of the first times, if not THE first time that i came to understand the meaning of a ‘ripping’ solo- hits a peak and keeps climbing…
Umlaut is a sweet band!
Uh, wow. Motley Crue would read those lyrics and blush.
@ the people who are confused about the name “Dijon” being thrown in:
Dijon Carruthers was a temporary drummer for Megadeth for some time in their early days. It’s possible that he was the drummer for the band at the time the article was written, as the name “Richard Girod” is completely unknown to me, and possibly a mistake by the author.
Jump in the Fire is definitely an awesome song. A lot of its charm lies in the immense catchiness of its riff. Who would’ve thought that such a straightforward blues shape can have such potence? It’s also worth to note that in the album version, the bassline behind the main riff is changed a bit from the demos, adding even more to the groove. (Wonder if it was Cliff who made it so…)
Also great song structure and overall composition. Love the solo!
What’s funny about the Power Metal demo version of the song is the blatancy of its influences:
-James (yes, it’s him singing) is imitating the vocal style of Sean Harris from Diamond Head
-Dave’s leads are very AC/DC-like
-Lyrics influenced by Diamond Head/Kiss/AC/DC
yeah
Wow, this is crazy. How did Mustaine make the switch to the more political lyrics he did with Megadeth. He must have had a serious epiphony. As a fan of both bands I would really be curious to know about that. Can anyone point to any articles or interviews about that?
Yeah, I just went through all my old tapes, and this reminds me of going to high school with my walkman and playing Master of Puppets over and over and over again….
Hetfield may’ve gone on to write, “gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire,” but many of Mustaine’s old lyrics are truly terrible… I never knew about these alternates for ‘Jump in the Fire,’ and am a little upset now that I can never un-know them.
I agree though that it would (or could) be very interesting to see what became of these early Megadeth songs. ‘Speak No Evil’ might have become ‘Skull Beneath the Skin’, and the phrase ‘Hairpin Trigger’ appears in the song ‘Pray for Blood,’ although it was released almost 15 years after the write up. Not to say that couldn’t be the case, as Mustaine seems to let material kick around for a while before it matures (‘Rust in Peace… Polaris’ was apparently written while he was in his pre-Metallica band).
The others though? ‘Eye for an Eye,’ ‘Heaven Knows,’ and the one about the witch girl? I have no idea.
Also, in the 1984 Mustaine interview that accompanied the analysis of ‘Four Horsemen’ last week, Dave makes reference to an instrumental song called ‘Hook in Mouth,’ and another song called ‘Last Victim.’ The latter probably became the awesome ‘My Last Words,’ but as much as I like ‘Hook’ as I know it, I can’t imagine it as just an instrumental. Maybe it was originally a totally different song?
Anybody know anything about these or where to hear them?
Such a great song. Next to Seek and Destroy, this might be the best riff on the album. Paired with that bass line its about as close to dance music as these guys ever get.
Listening to each version back to back, it’s striking how weird and crunchy the guitars came out on the album version. I don’t know the details of their guitar rigs (I bet some of you guys do!), but in this context the KEA guitars sound more like, crunchy transistor stompbox-sounding distortion. Side by side, I prefer the tone on the Power Metal Demo, to be honest… hilarious vocals aside.
This site has been around for quite a while, documenting the various setups James Hetfield has used over the years:
http://www.freewebs.com/montyjay/jamesamps.html
“Movin’ my hips in a circular way…”
Thanks, Diamond Dave. I just spewed Dr Pepper all over my keyboard!
//TB
Addendum – unintentionally hiliarous footage of Metallica re-learning “Jump in the Fire” after 20 years away from it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThhx0GwopM
@ DieByTheChord:
Speak No Evil becomes Looking Down the Cross – the phrase is repeated at the end of the song
The one about the witch girl is Mary Jane
Heaven Knows – I believe that could be Bad Omen, but I’m not sure
“Last Victim” is actually “NEXT Victim”, and, indeed, it became My Last Words
Dunno about Hook in Mouth. I don’t imagine it as an instrumental either.
First off, “Megadeath.” Just doesn’t have the same look with the extra ‘a’.
Secondly,I’ve always dug the “four on the floor” feel this song has–real menace, real movement, real “hips in circular way” haha, although I think the band was more concerned with hops rather than hips, ergo, “Alcoholica.”
Thirdly, I can’t really claim that I would have written better lyrics myself at that age. When I look back at what I was writing then (songs, poems and whatnot) I still cringe. Although I can say I was much less sexually metaphoric and much more political, I must assume that Dave was using Madlibs as his template. Or Hustler Forums. But thank ye Metal Gods that James changed them.
Lastly, I quite enjoy Umlaut’s blog, and I often wondered what would have happened had I not been such a slacker and simply had moved to the Bay Area when I was 18 in 89–I grew up 2 hours south, and much of the action/early days had already passed from 80-86 alas. But damn, those were great years with great music.
@ablaaa
Thanks!
Ha I did mean “NEXT Victim,” thanks for the catch – must’ve been already thinking ahead to “My Last Words.”
I also found an early video of it if anybody’s interested – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtzDzWuVVLc.
Metallica: The First Four Albums – “Jump in the Fire” – just great!