Watch Metallica Play the Longest Song in Their Discography for the First Time With Live Debut Performance

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Bay Area thrash metal pioneers Metallica are currently on their M72 Tour in Europe. During a recent show in Munich, Germany, the band gave a song from their latest album 72 Seasons its live debut. They also dusted off some classics from earlier in their career.

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“Inamorata” closes 72 Seasons. The track comes in at just over 11 minutes long. So, it’s easy to see why the band hadn’t played it live before last night’s (May 26) show in Munich. Introducing the song, James Hetfield said, “This next song, we have never ever played live before. In our band, we don’t recognize the word ‘mistake’ because there are no mistakes. There’s just unique moments that happen. That’s what we need to tell ourselves. This song is from 72 Seasons and it’s one of my favorites.”

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During their set, Metallica also pulled out a couple of songs for fans of their older work. They played “Hit the Lights” from their debut album Kill ‘Em All. The band also worked in their rendition of “Breadfan” originally by Budgie.

Metallica’s James Hetfield on “Inamorata”

In a track-by-track breakdown of 72 Seasons, Hetfield explained Metallica’s longest song to date. “Inamorata. Having a love affair with misery. Just a long classic song that screamed out to end the album,” he said. “Really, really cool riffs in it, really great groove. I love the way it rounds this thing out.”

The word inamorata means someone’s female lover. In the song, Hetfield sings about misery being his inamorata. He talked more about that in an interview about the band’s latest album. “Misery as my mistress. Yeah. I’m trying to hide her. I enjoy her at certain times but I don’t want the world to know about her. I don’t want to introduce her to the world because it’s not ‘okay,’” he said. “So, misery as a mistress, but it does serve a purpose in my life. But I don’t want it to be my life and I’m tired of it running my life,” he added. “That pretty much sums up that track.”

Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

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