Megadeth Lyrics

Cryptic Writings

Info

Trust (Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Friedman) Lost in a dream Nothing is what it seems Searching my head For the words that you said Tears filled my eyes As we said our last goodbyes This sad scene replays Of you walking away My body aches of mistakes Betrayed by lust We lied to each other so much That in nothing we trust Time and again She repeats let's be friends I smile and say yes Another truth bends, I must confess I try to let go, but I know We'll never end 'til we're dust We lied to each other again But I wish I could trust My body aches of mistakes Betrayed by lust We lied to each other so much That in nothing we trust God help me please, on my knees Betrayed by lust We lied to each other so much That in nothing we trust How could this be happening to me I'm lying when I say, "Trust me" I can't believe this is true Trust hurts Why does trust equal suffering Absolutely nothing we trust

The song is about a painful relationship that Dave had: "I could tell you a lot about it, but no matter how I justify it, it's not going to come across as painful as it was. Many times, I've had beautiful relationships destroyed by being led astray. I'm not going to say I am perfect or without blame, but I think singing about it is maybe a healing process going back into my life." (Mustaine, 1997). "Well, you know it's in my contract [laughing] that one song on each Megadeth record has to start off with drums." (Menza, 1997) "Weird song, but it was our first #1 song at US rock radio. The 'classical' middle section was part of a song called 'Absolution' that I had written for Countdown... We demoed 'Absolution' for Countdown... and again for Youthanasia but it didn't get used until 'Trust'. For some reason we always remembered the piece and kept coming back to it. My lead solo was one that Dann Huff and I loved, but Mustaine didn't like much. We had long discussions about it and finally we kept it." (Friedman, 2002) The orchestral interlude in the song is done by the string section of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. This song was nominated for a "Best Metal Performance" Grammy in 1997, but lost to Tool's Aenima. "Trust" was also released in a Spanish version, with Dave singing parts of verses and choruses in Spanish.

Almost Honest (Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Friedman) I lied just a little When I said I need you You stretched the truth When you said that you knew Just can't believe it There's nothing to say I was almost honest, almost Living alone, can't stand this place It's four in the morning and I still see your face I was nearly pure When I said I loved you You were semi-sincere You said I'd bleed for you We were kind of candid Now you've gone away You were almost honest, almost Living alone, falling from grace I want to atone but there's just empty space I can't face tomorrow, now you're not coming back Walked off in the night and just left me the tracks I question your call by the tone of your voice I know I should hang up but I don't have a choice It happened that night when you told me to go Don't ask who's to blame, I don't know Almost, almost honest Almost, I was almost honest

"My fave off Cryptic... to play live. It just rocks. Cool video too. It was way cool to hear this one all over the radio in the summertime with chicks and sunshine. This is what rock and roll is all about. I used one of my fave pedals, the MXR Phase 90 on the solo. The remix of this tune is even more fun." (Friedman, 2002) Interpretation by Tor Laneryd: "'Almost Honest' has a theme similar to 'Trust,' but with a much lighter tone. It is about a guy who enters a relationship with not too serious intentions. He doesn't really love the girl, but stays together with her just for sex and in wait of something better. Somehow she finds out, and breaks up the relationship, but by then the guy has realized that he has fallen in love with the girl after all. Thus he was 'almost honest' when expressing his feelings for her, because he thought he was lying when he was actually speaking the truth. Unfortunately, she doesn't want to see him anymore."

Use the Man (Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Friedman) I heard somebody fixed today There was no last goodbyes to say His will to live ran out I heard somebody turned to dust Looking back at what he left A list of plans and photographs Songs that never will be sung These are the things he won't get done I've seen the man use the needle, Seen the needle Use the Man I've seen them crawl from the cradle To the gutter on their hands They fight a war but it's fatal, It's so hard to understand I've seen the man use the needle, Seen the needle Use the Man Just one shot to say goodbye One last taste to mourn and cry Scores and shoots, the lights go dim Just one shot to do him in He hangs his head and wonders why Why the monkey only lies But pay the pauper, he did choose He hung his head inside the noose I've seen the man use the needle, Seen the needle Use the Man I've seen them crawl from the cradle To the gutter on their hands They fight a war but it's fatal, It's so hard to understand I've seen the man use the needle, Seen the needle Use the Man Cryptic writings on the wall, The beginning of the end I've seen the man use the needle, Seen the needle in my hand

This song's about a guy who died when he shoot heroine for the last time: "I went to where this guy had lived and saw a lot of his stuff. There was a bunch of photographs of him, a Guitar Player magazine, song lyrics and a song he had written. This guy had plans. He planned on shooting heroine just one time and getting his life together, but he died." (Mustaine, 1997) "We have a friend in town here [Phoenix] that tries to help people with addictions and he had lost a friend to an overdose. He told us the story on that." (Ellefson, 1997) "Cheers to Dave on a great idea for the intro part. The Searchers had a hit with Sonny Bono's 'Needles and Pins' in the 60's, so what a great idea to start a song about a drug overdose with a clip from it! Classic Megadeth and very cool. This song has me playing much more guitar textures than ever before in the band. We were growing big time here." (Friedman, 2002) The song's introduction is an old song by a band called the Searchers, entitled, "Needles and Pins," which was a tentative title for the album. Here is an alternate explanation by Tor Laneryd: This song is about Dave himself and no one else. Even if you didn't notice the similarities between him and the character in the song (i.e. that they are both musicians with a drug problem), Dave spells this out for you right at the end as he sings "I see myself use the needle." in the song, Dave speculates that he might have died in an overdose before his current success with Megadeth. There is also an element of perhaps not suicide but at least self-destructive behavior and indifference toward death involved, which is indicated in the lines "his will to live ran out" and "he did choose, he hung his head inside the noose". With this song Dave wants to tell us not only to avoid drugs but also that even if your life feels miserable at the moment, you shouldn't give up because things will get better.

Mastermind (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) Anonymous existence, Rendered useless to mankind Destroy the logic volume In the confines of the mind Enmassed and purposeless, Marching in a perfect line Neo-neuro torture, mental meltdown, A heinous crime Mastermind, I tell you what to think I tell you what you need I tell what to feel Invade the core of souls To wipe the lives away Design vacant beings, Welcome the inhuman race Ecrypted horror codes, Directive psyche overwrite Processing brains to pabulum Delete and format living drives I tell you what's real Hail to the power age, Lest the viral hour comes Raise the flag of voltage, Bow to circuitry unknown Kneel before the processor, Lords of static laugh Electrons in submission, You must know who I am I tell you what to think I don't care what you thought I tell you what to get I don't care what you got Subject

"It's very anti-computer and I'm very computer literate. A lot of it has to do with the deprogramming of people who get in front of their computers and they turn in to imbeciles." (Mustaine) "Heavy riff, heavy sound, heavy song. God-like bass tone at the beginning. Dann Huff and I had fun creating a lot of the background noise." (Friedman, 2002)

The Disintegrators (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) The slayer's arrived On the black horse of steel Trouble is coming Hell on two wheels Hide in the shadows Awaiting defeat Or live by the sword And choose to be free We say retribution We say vengeance is bliss We say revolution With a cast iron fist Coming down the road Watching every move Kicking in the doors Taking what we choose Anarchy's coming to town A fiery invader Burning it down to the ground The Disintegrators Anarchy's coming Here it comes Burning it down to the ground The Disintegrators

"Cool title, very old school tune. Only Megadeth could get away with this in the late 90's." (Friedman, 2002) The lyrics of "The Disintegrators" originated of Dave's anger, when he was waiting in a traffic jam and already late for rehearsal. It's about a group of bikers coming to a town who destroy, plunder and devastate the city without a reason.

I'll Get Even (Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedman, Brian Howe) I'm lonely and abandoned Washed up, left for dead I'm lost inside the desert Of every word you said Like a nuclear reactor Or TNT I'm thinking about the times When you lied to me All the innuendo Caught up on your hook I was just a name In your little black book Ah, I'll get even with you I'm bitter and I'm twisted I haven't slept in days I'm lonely and I'm angry I can't make it go away I'm like a bomb that's ticking I got voices in my head I got a doll with needles in Wishing you were dead I'll get you back somehow That's what I'm gonna do I'll get you back somehow Your nightmare coming true Ah, I'll get even with you Ah, that's what I'm gonna do Gonna get even with you You better look behind you 'Cause there I'm gonna be I'll be standing in the shadows With who I used to be He's slightly schizophrenic Me and me and me and me agree That you are gonna pay For what you did to me Ah, I'll get even with you Gonna get even with you Ah, that's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna... Ah, I'll get even with you

"Everyone has someone they want to get even with. It's not about anyone in particular. It could be about a girlfriend, a manager, record company, MTV or anyone else." (Menza) "This song idea was around forever. Bud Prager watered it down by having some old fart from Bad Company do something to it. I can't even remember what he did, but I sure didn't help make it any better, and I had to pay him for it." (Mustaine, 2001) "We made great strides with this tune. It also translated well when we did our acoustic 'unplugged' shows all around the world. And the backing vocals were easy enough even for me to sing!" (Friedman, 2002)

Sin (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) He had an unfamiliar face Complete life in disarray A simple man, power drunk No worries of living, no more anything Deep inside I've seen it rise Actions progress to no end Mirror, mirror please look inside Do you see the reasons that we sin Not one to be forgot Spoiled rotten, so they say Once burned, forever marked Hurt by just a few but so many have to pay Pressure coming down Down on me, gonna break Broken fingernails Digging in, scratch my face Nervous, like a cat Gonna jump through my skin Shadows on the wall Stretching out, grope for me Reasons, deep in me Let me be Let me bleed Set me free The reasons that we sin

"This guitar intro took hours to nail! A royal pain in the ass!! Especially because with the Boss GT-6 effector that I use now, I could dial up that exact sound in 2 seconds! When we were writing this tune on tour, the guys on our crew seemed to really dig it as we messed with it at our soundchecks. Overall, it's a cool song, but somewhere it missed the mark with me." (Friedman, 2002) "Dave and I started writing that song two CDs ago. It even had a different name. We all worked on it until we liked it. Now it's on Cryptic Writings." (Ellefson, 1997) Interpretation by Tor Laneryd: I think this song is about a mass murderer, i.e. A man who goes into a public place and kills a great many persons whom he doesn't know, without any real reason for doing so. This may seem like a bit odd theory, since there are no words like "death" or "murder" in the lyrics, and neither is there any description of the actual crime. Assuming that my theory is correct, however, this is only an example of Mustaine's great song-writing skills. The title, "Sin," makes me think of a crime, and the line "he had an unfamiliar face" makes this a crime in which the victims doesn't know the perpetrator. That there are several victims is concluded by "so many have to pay," and you can guess that the crime is of a lethal nature by the slightly humouristic "no worries of living". Also note that the phrase following this one, "no more anything," has been used by Mustaine once before in the song "Youthanasia," here too associated with death. The rest of the first half of the song seems to either support my theory, or at least not activelly speak against it. The second half of the song is a bit different from the first. I think this part is meant to reflect the insanity and paranoidal mentality of the mass murderer.

A Secret Place (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) There's a secret place I like to go Everyone is there but their face don't show If you get inside you can't get out There's no coming back, I hear them shout Welcome to my hide away, my secret place How I arrived I can't explain You're welcome to, if you want to stay But everyone just runs away Let me in, get me out Can't do more than twist and shout Lost my soul without a trace Found it again in my secret place In disgrace I hide from those that try to find me Scary things that's right behind me I lost myself, I must confess I can't explain how I got this mess

"I used so many different kinds of guitars on this. I also played an 8 string bass to double some guitar melodies. I used a Jerry Jones sitar-guitar for the main riff. This was the one from our live show that made it to the Woodstock '99 album." (Friedman, 2002) Dave says that his secret place is inside his head. I think the song's about a person getting lost in his own mind and losing touch with reality, similar to Judas Priest's "Beyond the Realms of Death."

Have Cool, Will Travel (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) Mamas pack their lunches, Kiddies pack their guns Wishing it will go away, But nothing's getting done A shot heard 'round the world, When a mother's baby dies We the people, point our fingers, Blame and wonder why Face it and fight or turn high tail and run 'Til it comes back again like the rising sun Say they do all they can, it's just another lie The answer's plain to see, nobody wants to try There's no recess and no rules In the school of life I f you listen very closely You will see what it's like Have cool, will travel Tell myself it ain't true, They just cannot see Grown up or sewn up, The medicine is worse than the disease I have cool, will travel Here we go

"Great title. This was the first solo I did on the album. Dann put the backing track up for me to do the solo to, and I just plugged in and kind of warmed up and tuned up my guitar to the track, and when the solo section was done, Dann stopped the tape and said, 'That's great! Good solo, Marty.' I said, 'What are you talking about?? I'm not even in tune yet. We're going to sit here and work on a great solo. There's no way I'm going to leave this garbage on a record!' He obviously had no idea what I was capable of doing, and was willing to let any old thing go by, and that really fired me up. I made sure he was going to know what kind of player I was, and from that moment on, I really played my ass off." (Friedman, 2002) The title of this song came from a dream that Dave had, where Nick was leaving the band and "Have Cool, Will Travel" were his parting words. The song, however, seems to be about violence in schools.

She-wolf (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) The mother of all that is evil Her lips are poisonous venom Wicked temptress knows how to please The priestess roars, "Get down on your knees" The rite of the praying mantis Kiss the bones of enchantress Spellbound searching through the night A howling man surrenders the fight One look in her lusting eyes Savage fear in you will rise Teeth of terror sinking in The bite of the She-wolf My desires of flesh obey me The lioness will enslave me Another heart beat my own The sound of claws on cobblestone, I'm stoned Beware what stalks you in the night Beware the She-wolf and her bite Her mystic lips tell only lies Her hidden will to kill in disguise

"This is a song about the ex-wife of an ex-friend." (Mustaine, in concert, 1997) Dave once said this song is about a friend who got divorced and then went back to his old wife because he couldn't get anything better. "A staple of our live set, the 'Detroit Rock City' section (as I like to call it) gave us a great opportunity to stretch out and really do some jamming in concert." (Friedman, 2002)

Vortex (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) Internal combustion Multiple personalities Terror inside of me A mask of silent agony Curse the falling rain The vortex of pain As medieval as Merlin A pact for power was made Lucifer in transition It's time the price was paid Scorching the domain The vortex of pain A telestic message Written in torment Howl out dirges Like the horns of Jericho Distorted faces Writhing in rage Walls of purgatory Tumble down Endless death The jewels of a crown

"We demoed this one for Youthanasia, but we decided to hold on to it until Cryptic... I liked the solo that I improvised on the old demo version so I copied it note for note for this album version." (Friedman, 2002)

FFF (Music, lyrics: Mustaine, Ellefson, Friedman, Menza) Looking for a cure within the human race Eliminate the poor, how much longer will it take Burning up the tents of the rank and file Exterminate their lives, crack a demon smile Crushing down, caving in our will to live Getting rid of man's mistakes To take a lost life, lock it up, break it down How much more can we take Fight for freedom, fight authority Fight for anything, my country tis' of me Cry for absolution, it's not the end for me A last minute pardon, one final reprieve Resist the war machine, don't get in its path Fight to die a free man and reap the aftermath Crushing down, caving in our will to live Getting rid of man's mistakes To take a lost life, lock it up, break it down I don't know how much more I can take Fight!... It's my country

"Our manager at the time didn't 'get' this tune, so I spent a lot of time explaining the power that it had. Still, it's a bad sign when you have to explain that kind of thing - kind of like having to explain a joke... Anyway, this was also demoed for Youth... with different lyrics. Probably the most technically interesting solo on this album, and overall the most 'Megadeth' song on the album as well." (Friedman, 2002) This song is about a "positive" gang, which was active in southern California. Their slogan and name was "Fight For Freedom." They took part in riots in Los Angeles in 1992, in demonstrations, anti-rascism, pro ecological and peace actions Dave said that he was sick of hearing, "Ask not what you can do for your country/Ask what your country can do for you," so he wrote a new one, "My country 'tis of me," a parody, of course, of "America the Beautiful." During the June 13 concert in Arizona, he dedicated this song to the death of Timothy McVeigh.

One Thing (Music, lyrics: Mustaine) One Thing That I got for you Is the one thing That you never do One thing makes you feel brand new Is the one thing that your coming to Just the one thing Gets you in the mood You call my number in the middle of the night To tell me nothing else can make you feel alright But its rings and rings you hang it up And call me back again One thing That I got for you Is the one thing That you never do One thing That you got to choose Is the one thing you can never lose Just the one thing is your attitude You call my name in the middle of the night When your making love and it feels alright But it's him not me Can't you see a shot of reality? I know what you do I know what you want to do I know when the lights go out I know what you are gonna to do One thing That I got for you Is the one thing That you never do Just the one thing gets you in the mood Just the one thing its your attitude One thing is one thing Just the one thing

This song is available only on the Japanese release of the album.