Don't Tread on Me is the Metallica song on The Black Album whose intro interpolates “America” from West Side Story.
The melody was composed by Leonard Bernstein for the musical West Side Story. Metallica incorporated that musical reference at the beginning of Don't Tread on Me, a song whose title and imagery connect to the Gadsden flag and its “Don't Tread on Me” motto.
The track appears sixth on the standard album, following Wherever I May Roam. It is not one of the five commercial singles released from Metallica, although it was sent to rock radio promotionally after the album came out.
The song is sometimes mistaken for a cover because of its borrowed musical phrase. It is not a cover of America or a West Side Story recording; the interpolation is a brief musical quotation within an original Metallica composition.