1
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
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
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This song is somewhat dated today as the sanitariums have mostly all closed. But in the 80's and before, America had public funded mental institutions that held most of what is now the homeless population within the US.
Unfortunately these typically weren't great places, and didn't truly concentrate on the well being of the patients. They were mostly just a way to get the undesirable out of sight. There is a lot of art out there about it as well as this song. One flew over the cuckoo's nest comes to mind immediately.
This song is about a patient in that environment. It's from the patients point of view. While they don't fit in to the general mold of civilization's idea of sanity, they themselves don't feel insane untill they are repeatedly told they are. They are trapped inside this institution, and fed pills to subdue them to the point of being bound. There feels like there is no escape, and no way to be themself any more. So this patient is looking in the mirror and deciding to kill themself to escape. The patient is at their end, and only desires freedom. This seems the only way to get it.