Welcome to where time stands still
No one leaves and no one will
Moon is full, never seems to change
Just labeled mentally deranged
Dream the same thing every night
I see our freedom in my sight
No locked doors, no windows barred
No things to make my brain seem scarred

Sleep my friend and you will see
That dream is my reality
They keep me locked up in this cage
Can't they see it's why my brain says rage

Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone

Build my fear of what's out there
And cannot breathe the open air
Whisper things into my brain
Assuring me that I'm insane
They think our heads are in their hands
But violent use brings violent plans
Keep him tied, it makes him well
He's getting better, can't you tell?

No more can they keep us in
Listen, damn it, we will win
They see it right, they see it well
But they think this saves us from our Hell

Sanitarium, leave me be
Sanitarium, just leave me alone
Sanitarium, just leave me alone

Fear of living on
Natives getting restless now
Mutiny in the air
Got some death to do
Mirror stares back hard
Kill, it's such a friendly word
Seems the only way
For reaching out again


Lyrics submitted by elmoz, edited by RyanWolfeh, Ashram

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) Lyrics as written by Kirk L. Hammett James Alan Hetfield

Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Welcome Home (Sanitarium) song meanings
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110 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment

    I think that all songs will mean something different to all..you know "Eye Of the Beholder" type shit. This song talks to me about my mental ilneess of being bipolar. I feel alot of the rage and being misunderstood as crazy when in fact I am not. The word mental illness gives people a certain image that is just not fuckin'true.There are different degrees of everything. Being "Labeled mentally deranged" but by who? I have read alot of these lyrics from day one and with the most recent St Anger song "Unnamed Feeling" get the impression that James might be BP also.It lad me to drug abuse to change my moods I didn't like and try and keep people away. One problem with BPdisorder is that you "cycle" these feelings and moods can't be controlled.There is no cure.
    So i tcan seem that time stands still at times and no one leaves, it's always there. I know this isn't a very fuckin' metal explination but believe me I am VERY metal.This is just a song that gives a point of view from someone that has been called mentally ill and is being forced to see that his views on things are wrong.Finally the only way to feel like you can make a point is to kill the fucks that have been holding you down and telling you that you are getting better. Trust me this disease isn't fun and and the funny thing is the docs tell me that this music is too negative. Like "Fade To Black".. I say bullshit. I feel good knowing that there is someone else that feels alot like I do and has the balls and talent to sing about it. Want more BP lyricss? Read "Until It Sleeps" and alot of others and as mentioned "Unnamed Feeling". Everyone feels like this jsut some of us have a harder time controling it.

    Now the funny side of this song is I used to listen to it on my way to work at the factory and it fuckin' fits perfectly there for me too! By the way.."Master Of Puppets" is THE best thrash metal LP EVER. Bar none. From "Battery" to the last kickyour ass tune "Damage, Inc" it just doesn't get ANY better!

    metallicat63on October 20, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    It is about someone who is in a sanitarium. A sanitarium is a mental institution which can be left on a inmate's own will.

    "No locked doors - No windows barred" "No things to make my brain seem scared"

    On the other hand the 'sanitarium' could also be a simile for the society.

    I_LIKE_BEANSon May 30, 2002   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Uh dude, what the hell are you talking about? A man drowns himself, a man slits his throat, someone cuts his nuts off and bleeds to death, they smoke pot, visit prostitues, and someone gets a lobotomy, causing him to have a fate worse than death. Then, the Indian kills him because he knows he wouldn't want to live that way. The Metallica song doesn't do the book justice, and if you haven't read it, go pick it up immedietally, it's a great read.

    superterrorizeron May 05, 2003   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    I feel it calls our entire existence the sanitarium. How the general population is controlled and exploited by the government. How those who rebel are made to seem crazy.

    People do not use logic and reason but preconceptions and peer pressure to determine such a thing and it helps them keep us in a bubble.

    But the song refuses to give in, with frustration trying to rally the people to wake up and take charge.

    Pizawleon October 31, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    i think its about people being thought to be crazy when they're not and its the way that the "inmates" are treated

    hell_i_call_my_headon May 12, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Partly based on a movie called, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", it's about breaking down and being kept in a sanitarium.

    King Nothingon May 07, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It is about someone who is in a sanitarium. A sanitarium is a mental institution which can be left on a inmate's own will.

    that 'retarded' movie of yours... is about a sanitarium, but one guy is locked up in there

    "listen damnit we will win" is NOT about leaving the place whenever you want to!

    Ic3gl0vEon July 13, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    In my opinion, the Ten Commandments was a soft movie, and one I wouldn;t have thought would make people scream "Die! Die!" as loud as they could, but it happened. Based on the book or movie, I could care less, this song just fucking rocks.

    EvilLawyeron June 07, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Another thing to keep in mind is that, around when this song was written, many of the corrupt mental hospitals (Danvers, in particular), were being shut down, as more and more of the cruel treatments became public. Along with things like hydrotherapy and electroshock, many of the pschiatrists at these hospitals literally gave patients multiple personalities or D.I.D. by making the patients think they had these disorders, which do not naturally occur.

    Kodos86on April 07, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I belive this about how parents, including mine, had a preconcieved image of what Metallica was. I belive this song points out that they don't like it.

    edguardon May 27, 2002   Link

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