“Enter Sandman” is the Metallica song on The Black Album whose lyrics concern a child's nightmares.
The song uses the Sandman, a traditional figure associated with sleep, as a sinister presence. Its lyrics combine bedtime imagery, a child's prayer, and frightening dream scenes, turning a familiar nighttime ritual into psychological horror.
The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich, while Hetfield wrote the lyrics. The song's compact arrangement and heavy central riff made it an unusually accessible entry point into Metallica's catalog without removing the band's intensity.
The subject is sometimes mistaken for “The Unforgiven,” whose lyrics focus on exploitation and regret, or “Sad but True,” which explores a darker relationship between self and other. “Enter Sandman” is the Black Album track most directly centered on sleep and nightmares.