In what tuning is Metallica's “Sad but True” played on The Black Album?

Metallica's “Sad but True” is played in D standard tuning on The Black Album.

D standard lowers every string of a guitar by one whole tone, producing D–G–C–F–A–D instead of the usual E–A–D–G–B–E. The lower tuning gives the song its unusually deep and heavy guitar sound while preserving the same interval relationships between the strings.

The song was originally written and demoed in E standard. During pre-production, producer Bob Rock pointed out that Metallica admired the lower-tuned sound on Mötley Crüe's Dr. Feelgood. The band then tuned down to D, and the central riff took on the weight Rock wanted.

“Sad but True” was released as the fifth and final single from the album in February 1993. It is sometimes incorrectly described as using drop D, but drop D changes only the lowest string. D standard lowers all six strings, making it the correct tuning for the original recording.