"The Memory Remains" | ||||
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Single by Metallica | ||||
from the album Reload | ||||
B-side |
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Released | November 11, 1997 | |||
Genre | Hard rock[1] | |||
Length | 4:38 | |||
Label | Elektra | |||
Composer(s) | ||||
Lyricist(s) | James Hetfield | |||
Producer(s) |
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Metallica singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"The Memory Remains" on YouTube |
"The Memory Remains" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. Written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, it was the lead single from the band's seventh studio album, Reload, released in 1997. The song was first performed live in a "jam" version on July 2, 1996.[2] British singer Marianne Faithfull was featured on backing vocals, as 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.[3]
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.[4]
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."[5]