Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

The Welcome Home debuted on the 1986 Metallica album, Master of Puppets. The song was passed over and not given as much recognition on the album because most of the fans at the time were the metal heads that craved for another thrash single that would rock their musical souls. What Welcome Home lacked in speed, it made up with rhythm changes and cadences that matched the lyrics and the intensity of the song. The lyricist of song, James Hetfield, drew upon the Ken Kesey novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest for inspiration for this particular single. The lyrics and matching emotion from the vocals and instrumentals builds Welcome Home into a masterfully created song.
As the inspiration to the song was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, not surprisingly the speaker comes in the form of a inmate who has a grip upon reality. In keeping with the spirit of the novel, those in control of the facility restrict all from leaving that place. “Welcome to where time stands still, No one leaves and no one will.” The second line tells this in blunt words, that escape from this place never happens. The first line of that quote works in conjunction with another to illustrate a different aspect of the facility. “Whisper things into my brain, Assuring me that I'm insane.” The time standing still, meaning he loses touch with reality and nature, along with the words from his jailors pushes the speaker closer to insanity than he was whenever he entered into the facility. The last stanza of the song pays tribute to Kesey’s novel. Much like in the novel, the speaker has a fear of living on, but in this it is unlike Kesey’s novel because he does not suffer from lobotomy, rather he fears insanity. Much like how Chief Bromden kills to save others from the terrors of the facility, the speaker appears to plan to do the same.
While striking similarities take place within the lyrics, Hetfield manages to create he own work with some of his inventions in the song. He makes use of apostrophe whenever the speaker calls out to Sanitarium in the chorus. In this way the speaker not only faults the people in the facility for keeping him locked up, but also places blame to the physical place as though it acts a being that torments him. The speaker also challenges those in charge saying, “They see it right, they see it well, But they think this saves us from our hell.” He uses a sarcastic tone with this line, mimicking how the doctors believe they know what ails those in the facility when they really can not see what goes on inside of everyone’s minds. The speaker in the song escapes from this insanity with his dreams, which he sees freedom and things the way he desires. “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” He also alludes to his sanity when he mentions, that nothing makes his brain “seem” scarred. Use of the word seem instead of some affirmative word leaves it open to interpretation to whether he has gone mad.
At key moments in the song the rhythm helps to create the mood which the speaker feels. From the beginning the song sounds sad and somber, almost as if depressed. During the second stanza the beat picks up and the singer makes use of a more harsh tone that finishes on an elongated delivery of the word “rage.” This channels the frustration which the speaker experiences within the Sanitarium. During the first chorus, this passionate sound continues until the singer mutters the words, “just leave me alone.” During these words his voice trails off, almost as if the he were losing the hope and inspiration which he had moments ago. In the next stanza, his stress upon the word insane makes the listener more aware to the situation which the speaker can not escape. During the next stanza, the increased tempo and once again harsh singing exposes the emotion of the speaker and creates a sound like the speaker attempts to rally the other inmates to rise against the jailors. In the second chorus, in juxtaposition to the first, when the speaker addresses the Sanitarium, instead of trailing off on his command he stands firm and yells it to his target. After this point the rhythm of the instruments speeds up significantly in comparison to the rest of the song, which helps to illustrate the unrest which the speaker experiences. For the last stanza, the speaker does not back down at all and tells the himself in the mirror that he will do what it takes to escape, which then crescendos into a speedy guitar solo to cap off the emotions which have been building for the entire song. After the solo the same music utilized for the entire songs plays again but with different distortion and tempo as to illustrate that the speaker’s emotions from the beginning in a similar yet entirely different light. Then the beat slows at the end as though the speaker gained control of his emotions.
All of these different elements create a song that one the surface appears as a song about just a crazy man locked up. However, the deeper that one digs into the lyrics and the use of the musical elements the more one can see how all are used to create a song which goes beneath the surface and offers more than just face value.

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.