As i get older, i have felt it matters less and less whether or not i actually wrote the material i am trying to master. Being a musician is more about being able to execute rather then just doing it. It’s easy to just do it, and that’s what punk music was all about – but the musicians i feel are the best, are never about doing it.

In some interviews with some more graduated musicians, a lot of them will repeat ” I like to write something i can’t play ” and that of course leads to lots of practice which ultimately results in a more skilled player. Learning how to play music i can’t play has always been a hobby of mine, as it does result in more skills for my arsenal.

The song Outlaw Torn by Metallica is a great song, and definitely one of there more obscure and never really heard tracks ( though it was one of the highlights of many shows ). The song does have sort of a obscure meaning, and yes you can debate this as much as you like – but based on James writing technique, he often writes in third person, and usually about something or someone else ( he’s never been executed [Ride The Lightning] he’s never been committed [Sanitarium] never been a werewolf , fought beasts from the depths of hell, or been to war ) . But i do feel, and this is only a personal take, that he projects a lot of himself and personal feelings into his songs. Especially the black album and on. His main issues were alcoholism, and you can see in his lyrics how thats what he was feeling he was fighting – in fact there are a few interviews where he talks about how the thing that should not be was his battle with alcoholism , which then to me, makes the song even more stronger.

I believe this song, Outlaw Torn is simply a fictional work of a genius. The story is bold, its vague, its mysterious, and ultimately, the music combines with the lyrics to make a very emotional roller coaster at which in the end, you feel you have seen a dark life and are grateful to be where you are today. the Outlaw Torn is ruined rebel, from a time when his opinion changed others minds and when the oppressive family he left behind had bore a hole in his heart so deep, nothing could fill it. The Outlaw Torn now drinks his sorrows away, and shields himself from the world with negativity and grief . Staggering from the kitchen, wounded from two wars and a few motorcycle accidents, this half native-american half englishman takes yet another long nap on the old couch, full of jim bean and sorrow, the man lives to suffer another day.

Outlaw Torn ( Cover ) by DavidKilmer

The Outlaw Torn

And now I wait my whole lifetime
For you
And now I wait my whole lifetime
For you

I ride the dirt I ride the tide
For you
I search the outside search inside
For you

To take back what you left me
I know I’ll always burn to be
The one who seeks so I may find
And now I wait my whole lifetime

My Outlaw torn
My Outlaw torn
And I’m torn

The more I search the more my need
For you
The more I bless the more I bleed
For you

So on I wait my whole lifetime
For you
So on I wait my whole lifetime
For you

The more I search the more my need
For you
The more I bless the more I bleed
For you

You make me smash the clock and feel
I’d rather die behind the wheel
Time was never on my side
So on I wait my whole lifetime

My Outlaw torn
My Outlaw torn
Yeah I’m Outlaw torn
And I’m torn

Hear me
And if I close my mind in fear
Please pry it open
See me
And if my face becomes sincere
Beware
Hold me
And when I start to come undone
Stitch me together
Save me
And when you see me strut
Remind me of what left this outlaw torn

The acoustic version

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