Most comments are debating whether the song is about a werewolf or whether there's a deeper meaning about our wild side as human beings. My answer is yes. They're both saying the same thing. No one can deny (I hope) that it's about a werewolf; the title gives that away. Here's why he talks about werewolves. In the first two choruses, he finishes with "back to the meaning of life", but in the final chorus he says "back to the meaning of wolf and man". The point made is that we can find the meaning in our lives by recognizing that we're werewolves; by seeing that we are both wolf and man- wild and tame. He also talks about the transformation from Man to Wolf: "shape shift". If we can transform from one to the other, then there's clearly a difference between the two, and Hetfield says that becoming wild is good: "I feel a change/Back to a better day". "mullet2k" points out the line "In wildness is the preservation of the world". This is a line from Walden, which is a book about the relationship between humans and nature. The book says that we have to accept and live our wild side to really understand ourselves. Everyone's different interpretation of the song depends on how we interpret that "wild side". For some- maybe Hetfield- that's about the partying lifestyle, for others it can be drugs or playing music or anything that makes us wild. That's why it's up to everyone to interpret the song for themselves.
Most comments are debating whether the song is about a werewolf or whether there's a deeper meaning about our wild side as human beings. My answer is yes. They're both saying the same thing. No one can deny (I hope) that it's about a werewolf; the title gives that away. Here's why he talks about werewolves. In the first two choruses, he finishes with "back to the meaning of life", but in the final chorus he says "back to the meaning of wolf and man". The point made is that we can find the meaning in our lives by recognizing that we're werewolves; by seeing that we are both wolf and man- wild and tame. He also talks about the transformation from Man to Wolf: "shape shift". If we can transform from one to the other, then there's clearly a difference between the two, and Hetfield says that becoming wild is good: "I feel a change/Back to a better day". "mullet2k" points out the line "In wildness is the preservation of the world". This is a line from Walden, which is a book about the relationship between humans and nature. The book says that we have to accept and live our wild side to really understand ourselves. Everyone's different interpretation of the song depends on how we interpret that "wild side". For some- maybe Hetfield- that's about the partying lifestyle, for others it can be drugs or playing music or anything that makes us wild. That's why it's up to everyone to interpret the song for themselves.