Harvester of Sorrow

"Harvester of Sorrow" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released 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.

"Harvester of Sorrow"
Single by Metallica
from the album ...And Justice for All
B-side
ReleasedAugust 28, 1988[1]
Recorded
GenreThrash metal
Length5:45
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Metallica singles chronology
"Master of Puppets"
(1986)		 "Harvester of Sorrow"
(1988)		 "Eye of the Beholder"
(1988)

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.

Content

The song's subject matter refers to a man who descends into madness, taking out his anger on his family. At the end of the song, it is hinted his sanity snaps and he murders them.

Cover versions

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
Metallica

Release history
Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom August 19, 1988 CD, vinyl Elektra
United States August 28, 1988

Chart positions
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian (ARIA) Singles Chart[2]
100
Ireland (IRMA)[3] 19
Italy (FIMI)[4] 40
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5] 30
Spain (AFYVE)[6] 11
UK Singles (OCC)[7] 20

References
  1. "Harvester of Sorrow release date" Archived August 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Metallica.com. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  2. "Chartifacts – Week Ending: 25 August 1991 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 83)". imgur.com. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  3. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Harvester of Sorrow". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  4. Italian peaks
  5. "Charts.nz – Metallica – Harvester of Sorrow". Top 40 Singles.
  6. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  7. "Metallica: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
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