Which Metallica song opens with a melody from West Side Story on The Black Album?
Answer
Don't Tread on Me
“Don't Tread on Me” opens with a melody from West Side Story on Metallica's The Black Album.
The song's introduction interpolates “America,” a melody composed by Leonard Bernstein for the musical West Side Story. The reference appears before the heavy-metal body of the track, creating one of the album's most distinctive musical details.
“Don't Tread on Me” is also connected visually and thematically to the snake on the album cover. Its title echoes the “Don't Tread on Me” motto associated with the Gadsden flag, although the song itself is not a commercial single from the album. It was issued to rock radio after release but did not receive a commercial single release.
The track sits near the middle of the original sequence, after “Through the Never” and before “Through the Never”? Actually, the correct sequence places it after “The God That Failed” and before “Nothing Else Matters.” This distinction matters because album-track questions often confuse radio promotion with commercial single status.