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What do the lyrics in "Master of Puppets" mean? Is it talking about drugs like Google says? I don't really trust Google lol.

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    Google probably doesn't say anything about it, but presents information it found somewhere else. Can you provide more details? Can you post the (part of the) lyrics you don't understand? Can you tell us what exactly you read about it on Google?
    – Joachim
    Aug 20, 2022 at 12:43
  • I don't remember it was a long time ago. I just figured I'd ask about it when I found this site.
    – urmom789
    Aug 20, 2022 at 14:41

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Master of puppets - it is not about drugs. They used drugs to speak up.

Master of puppets talks about the person who is above you. Your parents, teacher, boss etc. You can't do nothing about it.

Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams Blinded by me, you can't see a thing Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream

Musicians speak their mind out. Master and puppets is truth. One plays a role as master and a puppet.

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    Since the band themselves said that the song is about drugs, it would be helpful if you could back up your interpretation.
    – Aaron
    Aug 31, 2022 at 1:42
  • The lyrics aren't even subtly trying to hide that the song is about drugs. "Taste me you will see, more is all you need", "Needlework the way", "Chop your breakfast on a mirror" and so on.
    – Amarth
    Nov 24, 2022 at 18:30
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The song is about the effects of drugs. According to the website Story of Song,

“Master of Puppets” was written by all members of Metallica and is a song about the eventual side effects drugs will have on an individual’s life. In an 198[6] interview with Thrasher magazine, lead singer James Hetfield explained the meaning behind the track: ““Master of Puppets” deals pretty much with drugs. How things get switched around, instead of you controlling what you’re taking and doing its drugs controlling you. Like, I went to a party here in S.F., there were all these freaks shooting up and geezin’ and this other girl was real sick.” It is Metallica’s most played song of all time.

The original Thrasher interview is available on the Thrasher website: "Metallica", Interview by Pushead, Thrasher Magazine (vol. 6, no. 8, August 1986): pp. 64–71.

Thrasher quotation, page 71
Quotation from Thrasher Magazine

Rolling Stone, in the March 2, 2016 article "Metallica Talk 30 Years of ‘Master of Puppets’: ‘We Were Just Kids’", corroborates:

a nuanced showstopper about drug addiction

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While one could certainly argue that all music (like other forms of art) is subject to interpretation, even in spite of the artists' original intent, there are lines in "Master of Puppets" that are hard to interpret as being about anything other than drugs:

Taste me you will see More is all you need (i.e., addiction)

Needlework the way, never you betray (i.e., injecting drugs intravenously)

Chop your breakfast on a mirror (i.e., chopping lines of cocaine)

Fix me! (i.e., getting one's "fix" of a drug they're addicted to)

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