10 Metallica Songs That Have Been Played The Most Live
4. For Whom The Bell Tolls - 1,585 Times
Would you look at that; it's another Metallica song based on a book!
Taking its name and subject matter from the 1940 novel of the same name by Ernest Hemmingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls comes right before Fade to Black on Ride the Lightning, as that album is absolutely stacked.
The book is about the Spanish Civil War and the horrors of combat, themes that the song echoes. Its elongated intro and extended fade out means that there's only about a minute's worth of singing on the track, but, and no offence to James Hetfield, that is not a bad thing.
For Whom the Bell Tolls showcases Metallica at their tightest and most dedicated to melody. That might be why the version that they played with an orchestra on the live album S&M sounds so perfect and, to be honest, is probably even better than the standard album version.
Including on S&M, For Whom the Bell Tolls has been played live 1,585 times, narrowly beating out One. It's also Metallica's most-played song based on a work of classic fiction, which is an accolade all on its own.