Sonisphere 2014: 10 Really Obscure Metallica Songs You Need To Request

9. Mama Said

Probably for the same reason as 'Escape', a lot of Metallica fans who are aware of the existence of 'Mama Said' would like to see James Hetfield play it live once again, perhaps to make it less awkward for that moment at a Metallica gig when the one bloke in a cowboy hat gets hoisted on someone's arms and cheered. Taken from the album Load, released in 1996, there is no other way to describe this song than a 'country tinged ballad' and is the nearest thing you can get to a James Hetfield solo track. Indeed, the video features only a fleeting cameo appearance by the then members of the group, with Hetfield strumming a simple song about love. To be honest, it probably caused more problems upon release, given as this was only a few Summers removed from when Hetfield was a beer drinking, spitting, foul mouthed trash metal musician who told everyone to go 'f**k themselves' and was almost banned from Singapore for spitting onstage. With the presence of a steel guitar, Hetfield has performed the song live on CMT, but Metallica have never performed it themselves - although they did play a track called 'Low Man's Lyric' live around the same time with a similar arrangement. Because this song is almost 20 years old, it could be referred to as retro, therefore expect to hear the masses as Knebworth singing along at the top of their voice during the 'audience participation' portion of the set - with bearded bikers and skinhead punks knowing it just as fondly as the most enduringly mass-appealing songs.