Which Black Album song was originally intended as an instrumental by Jason Newsted?

“My Friend of Misery” was originally intended as an instrumental by Jason Newsted for Metallica's The Black Album. Newsted wrote the song's main riff before it became a vocal track.

The idea connected with a tradition in Metallica's earlier albums: each previous studio album had included an instrumental. For The Black Album, Newsted's riff began as a possible continuation of that pattern, but the finished recording developed into a song with lyrics and vocals.

The track appears near the end of the standard album, after “The God That Failed” and before “The Struggle Within.” Its role in the album is distinct from the more prominent singles, making its origin easier to miss in general discussions of the record.

The song is also notable because Newsted was the band's bassist and a contributor to the album's songwriting. Most of the album's songs were written chiefly by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, but ideas from Kirk Hammett and Newsted also shaped the final material.