Nothing Else Matters
"Nothing Else Matters" is a song by Metallica, originally released as a single in 1992 and also on the album, Metallica on August 12, 1991, also commonly known as The Black Album. It was covered by many different artists including Dave Gahan and released on the album, The Metallica Blacklist, on September 10, 2021, to celebrate the original album's 30th anniversary and also to benefit the All Within My Hands Foundation and World Central Kitchen.
Lyrics
(from original recording)
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words, I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
So close, no matter how far
It couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
But I know
I never opened myself this way
Life is ours, we live it our way
All these words, I don't just say
And nothing else matters
Trust I seek and I find in you
Every day for us something new
Open mind for a different view
And nothing else matters
Never cared for what they say
Never cared for games they play
Never cared for what they do
Never cared for what they know
And I know, yeah, yeah
So close, no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
No, nothing else matters
Dave's Take
"The song itself was iconic for Metallica and Metallica fans...And the thing about it is that it's an unusual song for them. When you dig deep into the song, which I did, it's a very intimate, personal song. It's not your usual sing-along, 'let's rock' type song either; I wanted to pull that out of it. I wanted to go down a very sort of cinematic sort of approach with it. It was in the middle of COVID I was asked to do this; I hadn't been doing anything, I didn't want to do anything, and I started listening to this record again. And this song was the one that kept leaping out to me, and I was lucky enough to get the chance to do it. So yeah, I wanted to turn it on its head, and I wanted it to become a much more intimate, one-on-one, stuck in a box type of feeling. But at the same time, to have a kind of cinematic backdrop."1
"My first thought though with it was that, okay, I've got to do something very, very different. You know, I can sing balls out, I could do that if I wanted. But it hit me pretty quickly that I had to do something quite different if I was going to do this. It took me a little while, and then I suddenly clicked one day, put the guitar down, and I started singing in a [certain] way. I had this little Fender PA system where I usually warm up my voice, and I started getting closer and closer to the mic, I wanted to really hear the words as if I was talking to somebody, but singing at the same time, and honoring that melody that's in the song. I was lucky we went down that road where I wanted to do the total opposite, really, of what Metallica were doing with it, but pay great respect and compliment to the song."1
My Take
Supposedly, Dave chose to cover this song in particular from The Black Album because it is his favorite. And I can definitely see why! The music is so beautifully and classically melodic and organic. To me, it sounds more like Soulsavers than Depeche Mode. And James Hetfield's vocals take the listener on such an emotional journey with its dexterity and range to go from soft and tender to loud and rough. I also suspect that the words would really speak to a Taurean like Dave, as they express a very heart-driven and open approach to love and relationships.
The sounds that first grab me on Dave's rendition are the dark and mellow-sounding synths. They have a totally different vibe from the original instrumentation and make me feel like I'm sitting by a cozy fire on a rainy day or something. Then, Dave's vocals come in, sounding very soft and tender as if he is singing a lullaby, and they remain that way throughout. Other songs in which he applied very similar soft vocals throughout are ones like Depeche Mode's "Goodnight Lovers", Hourglass' "Miracles", and Soulsavers' "One Thing". I also get the sense of some big open space here, and I think it's because there is some very light reverb applied to his vocals, too, though I could be wrong. After more than a year since Dave's last work, this truly came as a treat and it also really whets the appetite for more, much more...and I certainly hope very soon.
Music Video
This video by Aaron Hymes, who also directed award-winning videos for Imagine Dragons, was posted on the Depeche Mode YouTube channel and serves merely as a "billboard" of sorts for the song. The text "DAVE GAHAN 'NOTHING ELSE MATTERS'" appears on a mostly black background with what looks like color-changing metallic liquid on the lower half sort of bubbling and swishing around.