Tear it down
Strip the layers off
My turpentine
Old paint, old looks
Cover up the past
White heat, white light
Super white bones
Bones of you and I

Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (won't you help me?)
Purify, you and I
Purify, you and I
Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (won't you help me?)
You and I, purify
You and I, purify
Purify

Truth and dare
Peeling back the skin
Acid wash
Ghost white
Ultra clean
Wanna be skeleton
Clear eyes, diamond eyes
Strip the past of mine
My sweet turpentine

Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (won't you help me?)
Purify, you and I
Purify, you and I
Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (won't you help me?)
You and I, purify
You and I, purify
Oh, purify

I can find the dirt on anything
I can find the dirt on anything

I ain't dancing with your skeletons
I, I ain't dancing with what might have been

Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (won't you help me?)
Purify, you and I
Purify, you and I
Pure if I (can't you help me?)
Pure if I (why won't you help me?)
You and I, purify
You and I, purify

Come on, purify


Lyrics submitted by ruben

Purify Lyrics as written by Kirk Hammett James Hetfield

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Word Collections Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Purify song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    thanks to drop2 for the lyrics

    rubenon June 12, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is about how the band have stripped down,and shedded the layer of excess that they exhibited around S & M time.The rehearsal version of this song is class[the one on the free DVD with St. Anger]

    Razormasticatoron June 14, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song could have been a LOT better...

    SomeKindofMonsteron April 10, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I heard that this song is supposed to be a love song, but i dont really see it....

    ceramic_elephanton May 05, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Awful, awful, awful song.

    NoLightToSeeByon March 28, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    My friends always tell me that I like the worst Metallica songs, but then again I have one that likes Sweet Amber... Anyway, this song is about reaching out to people to help you and about all the past mistakes and sins that you wish you could be rid of. I like this song and I think that's what it is about along with the cleansing of one's soul of all the stains. But so much in the religious sense. I don't see Metallica writing a song about Jesus. The turpentine and such words are to refer to their obvious cleaning capabilites, and I have often said, after seeing something I rather I didn't, that I wish I had turpentine to pour in my eyes to clean them.

    Hermes_Harbingeron December 13, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is about getting rid of the bad and getting ready to start again, not dancing with what have could have been, just stripping it and starting anew.

    MrYon January 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Dunno why people hate this song so much. It could've been better yeah, but otherwise, Purify is a fucking great song. And the lyrics are wrong. It's not "pure if I", it's "Purify", geez.

    Crujebsulon October 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    why do people hate this song so much? It was the first song I heard off of st anger (dont ask) and i fell inlove with it.

    Leblancon February 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "It is like Metallica in the early eightis, before kill em all" Artica, in Some Kind of Monster Bob Rock says that the whole point of the way they recorded it the way they did was to sound like a band getting together for the first time...garage days re re revisited?? All hail Rick Ruben!!

    KartRacer53on July 24, 2008   Link

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