Frantic

"Frantic"
Single by Metallica
from the album St. Anger
B-side	"Blackened" (live) "Harvester of Sorrow" (live) "No Remorse" (live) "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (live) "Frantic" (Remix by U.N.K.L.E.)
Released	September 15, 2003
Format	CD single
Recorded	May, 2002-April, 2003
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	5:50
Label	Elektra
Writer(s)	James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Kirk Hammett Bob Rock
Producer	Bob Rock
Metallica singles chronology

"Frantic" is the opening track and second single by heavy metal band Metallica off their 2003 album St. Anger. This song, like many others on St. Anger, is about the band's past struggles with addictions, particularly lead singer James Hetfield's alcohol problem, for which he spent many months in rehab. The lyrics also draw on zen axioms, most notably the Buddhist concept of dukkha brought up by Kirk Hammett: "Birth is pain. Life is pain. Death is pain." These lines may als be a reference to the Samhain song "Macabre" from their Initium album, as the band are fans of Glenn Danzig, Samhain frontman.

During the 2003 live show in Orlando James Hetfield said about Frantic: "This song's about life. Like right fucking now." This show is available as a free download on livemetallica.com. In the DVD "Some Kind of Monster" Lars reveals he wanted to name the band's then untitled album "Frantic". In the end, the album was named St.Anger.

The song was played live at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, and debuted in May of that year at the MTV Icon ceremony.[citation needed]

"Frantic" is one of three songs to be played after the "Madly In Anger With The World Tour". The other two are "All Within My Hands" and "St. Anger"[citation needed]. In this song, Lars Ulrich sings this part "Birth is pain, Life is pain, Death is pain, It's all the same".

The song was used in the third season premiere of Smallville, "Exile", during a scene where Clark Kent robs a bank.[citation needed]

Track listing

CD Single #1

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Blackened" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Newsted) - 6.37
3. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 6.41
4. "Frantic" - Music video

• Live tracks recorded on June 1, 2003 at the Download Festival, Donington, UK

CD Single #2

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 5.16
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett) - 6.40

• Live tracks recorded on June 1, 2003 at the Download Festival, Donington, UK

International 2 track single

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 5.16

• "No Remorse" recorded live on June 1, 2003 at the Download Festival, Donington, UK

Belgium/Netherlands limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock)
2. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich)
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett)
4. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich)

• "Harvester of Sorrow" recorded live on June 15, 2003 at the Fields of Rock Festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands

• "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" & "No Remorse" recorded live on June 28, 2003 at the Werchter Festival, Werchter, Belgium

Spain/Portugal limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock)
2. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich)
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett)
4. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich)

• Live tracks recorded on June 21, 2003 at the Doctor Music Festival, Barcelona, Spain

Italy limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Blackened" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Newsted) - 7.02
3. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 6.33
4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett) - 7.18
5. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 5.29

• Live tracks recorded on June 13, 2003 at the Imola Jammin' Festival, Imola, Italy

Scandinavian limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Blackened" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Newsted) - 8.02
3. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 7.06
4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett) - 6.49
5. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 5.33

• Live tracks recorded on June 26, 2003 at the Roskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark

Germany limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 6.49
3. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett) - 6.58

• Live tracks recorded on June 8, 2003 at the Rock AM Ring Festival, Nürburgring, Germany

France limited edition

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock)
2. "Blackened" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Newsted)
3. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich)
4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett)

• Live tracks recorded on June 11, 2003 at Le Bataclan, Paris, France

Japanese EP

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Blackened" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Newsted) - 6.37
3. "Harvester of Sorrow" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 6.41
4. "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett) - 6.40
5. "No Remorse" (Live) (Hetfield/Ulrich) - 5.16

• Live tracks recorded on June 1, 2003 at the Download Festival, Donington, UK

12" vinyl

1. "Frantic" (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 5.50
2. "Frantic" (Remix by U.N.K.L.E.) (Hetfield/Ulrich/Hammett/Rock) - 6.51

note* the vinyl label states the running speed as 33 1/3 although it plays at 45

Music video

A music video, directed by Wayne Isham, was made to go along with Frantic's release as a single. The video, featuring a shortened version of the song, depicts a man looking back on his life (in which he is constantly drinking, having sex, and smoking) at the instant that he crashes his rotisserie delivery pickup truck into an RV at an intersection. At the end of the video, and although the man's vehicle is upside-down, he finds himself still alive, and laughs loudly until a 4x4 car that goes towards the car crashes it in the window where he is located. The video was shot in Montreal, Canada.

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