The intro to Metallica’s “Don’t Tread on Me” interpolates “America” from which musical?

The intro to Metallica’s “Don’t Tread on Me” interpolates the melody of “America” from West Side Story.

“America” was composed by Leonard Bernstein for the 1957 musical West Side Story. Metallica used an interpolation of that melody at the beginning of “Don’t Tread on Me,” creating a brief connection between a classic Broadway work and a heavy-metal album.

An interpolation means that a recognizable musical idea is incorporated into a new composition or arrangement. It is not the same as simply naming the original song or presenting a full cover version. The Black Album track remains a Metallica original.

The connection can be easy to miss because the reference appears in the introduction rather than forming the main body of the song. “Don’t Tread on Me” was also sent to rock radio after the album’s release, but it was not issued as a commercial single.