Lyric Analysis
The song Master of Puppets by Metallica is about addiction to alcohol and drugs. This is apparent from several lines in the song, such as: “Taste me you will see/More is all you need/Dedicated to/How I’m killing you” and “Chop your breakfast on a mirror,” referencing cocaine use, and the chorus ”Come crawling faster/Obey your master/Your life burns faster/Obey your master” support this. The song portrays substance abuse in a negative way, especially evident in lines such as the chorus and “Taste me you will see/More is all you need/Dedicated to/How I’m killing you.”
The line “End of passion play/Crumbling away/I 'm your source of self-destruction” describes the user starting to become numb to the high of his substance, while “Veins that pump with fear/Sucking darkest clear/Leading on your death’s construction” describes the addict starting to fear losing control of his life.
After the first chorus, “Needlework the way/Never you betray” I think means the user is becoming more and more dependent on the drug, and never “betraying” it, or giving it up. “Life of death becoming clearer” is representative of him becoming able to see the end of his life coming closer and closer. “Pain monopoly/Ritual misery” is just a really cool line, probably my favorite in the song, and describes how he has now completely stopped feeling any positive effects of the drug, and now feels only pain, and “Chop your breakfast on a mirror” says that it’s the first, and presumably only, thing he thinks of when he wakes up in the morning.
“Master, master/Where’s the dreams that I’ve been after?/Master, master/Promised only lies” is where he is starting to regret and question the decisions he has made up to this point, saying how he was promised, for example, happiness and good times by whoever turned him on to the drug. “Laughter, laughter/All I hear or see is laughter/Laughter, laughter/Laughing at my cries” is there, as if the drug is laughing in his face, mocking him for how stupid he was
The line “End of passion play/Crumbling away/I 'm your source of self-destruction” describes the user starting to become numb to the high of his substance, while “Veins that pump with fear/Sucking darkest clear/Leading on your death’s construction” describes the addict starting to fear losing control of his life.
After the first chorus, “Needlework the way/Never you betray” I think means the user is becoming more and more dependent on the drug, and never “betraying” it, or giving it up. “Life of death becoming clearer” is representative of him becoming able to see the end of his life coming closer and closer. “Pain monopoly/Ritual misery” is just a really cool line, probably my favorite in the song, and describes how he has now completely stopped feeling any positive effects of the drug, and now feels only pain, and “Chop your breakfast on a mirror” says that it’s the first, and presumably only, thing he thinks of when he wakes up in the morning.
“Master, master/Where’s the dreams that I’ve been after?/Master, master/Promised only lies” is where he is starting to regret and question the decisions he has made up to this point, saying how he was promised, for example, happiness and good times by whoever turned him on to the drug. “Laughter, laughter/All I hear or see is laughter/Laughter, laughter/Laughing at my cries” is there, as if the drug is laughing in his face, mocking him for how stupid he was