Harvester of Sorrow should not be confused with The Harvest of Sorrow.
| Harvester of Sorrow | |
| Cover: | Metallica - Harvester of Sorrow cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Metallica |
| Album: | ...And Justice for All |
| Released: | August 28, 1988[1] |
| Recorded: | 1988 |
| Studio: | One on One (Los Angeles) |
| Genre: | Thrash metal, heavy metal |
| Length: | 5:45 |
| Label: | Elektra |
| Lyricist: | James Hetfield |
| Prev Title: | Master of Puppets |
| Prev Year: | 1986 |
| Next Title: | ...And Justice for All |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
"Harvester of Sorrow" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on August 28, 1988, as the first single from their fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All (1988). The song debuted at a live performance prior to the release of ...And Justice for All while the band was on the summer Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988 with Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come.
The single contained two B-sides, both of which were cover songs: "Breadfan", originally by Budgie, and "The Prince", originally by Diamond Head. There was an error in the mastering of the recording: At the end of "Breadfan", a distorted voice can be heard saying "Mommy, where's Fluffy?". This was actually intended to be the intro to the next track, "The Prince". However, it was separated in the wrong place. The band decided not to correct this error when the tracks were included on their 1998 Garage Inc. compilation.
The song's subject matter refers to a man who is traumatically abused during his childhood, descends into alcoholism and drug addiction, and takes out his anger on his family. At the end of the song, it is implied his sanity snaps and he murders them.
The song was covered by San Francisco–area punk rock band Link 80 for the 2000 compilation album Punk Goes Metal. Apocalyptica covered the song for the A Tribute to the Four Horsemen cover album. German electronic group Funker Vogt also covered the song on The Blackest Album Vol. 3 tribute album.
Personnel adapted from the ...And Justice for All liner notes[2]
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | August 19, 1988 | CD, vinyl | Elektra |
| United States | August 28, 1988 | ||
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian (ARIA) Singles Chart[3] | |
| Spain (AFYVE)[4] | 11 |
