Harvester of Sorrow is a song by Metallica, released on August 28, 1988, as the first single from their fourth studio album, …And Justice for All (1988). The song debuted at a live performance prior to the release of …And Justice for All while the band was on the summer Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988 with Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come.
The single contained two B-sides, both of which were cover songs: “Breadfan”, originally by Budgie, and “The Prince”, originally by Diamond Head. There was an error in the mastering of the recording: At the end of “Breadfan”, a distorted voice can be heard saying “Mommy, where’s Fluffy?”. This was actually intended to be the intro to the next track, “The Prince”. However, it was separated in the wrong place. The band decided not to correct this error when the tracks were included on their 1998 Garage Inc. compilation.
The song’s subject matter refers to a man who is traumatically abused during his childhood, descends into alcoholism and drug addiction, and takes out his anger on his family. At the end of the song, it is implied his sanity snaps and he murders them.
Tracklist:
- Harvester of Sorrow
- Breadfan
- The Prince
Metallica
James Hetfield: vocals, rhythm guitar, production
Kirk Hammett: lead guitar
Lars Ulrich: drums, production
Jason Newsted: bass
Technical personnel
Flemming Rasmussen: production, engineering
Toby “Rage” Wright: assistant and additional engineering
Steve Thompson, Michael Barbiero: mixing
George Cowan: assistant mixing engineer
Bob Ludwig: mastering
George Marino: 1995 remastering
Reuben Cohen: 2018 remastering
