Which song did Jason Newsted originally write as an instrumental for Metallica's The Black Album?

Jason Newsted originally wrote "My Friend of Misery" as an instrumental for Metallica's The Black Album.

Newsted, Metallica's bassist, created the song's main riff and initially conceived the piece without vocals. It continued a tradition from the band's earlier albums, each of which had included an instrumental track. The group ultimately developed it into a vocal song for the finished record.

The change mattered because the Black Album was Metallica's first studio album to omit a fully instrumental track. "My Friend of Misery" instead became the penultimate song on the standard album sequence, with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich receiving co-writing credit alongside Newsted.

The song is sometimes confused with "The Struggle Within" or "Through the Never," both of which are also late-album tracks. Neither was Newsted's instrumental concept. The finished recording preserves the song's prominent bass-led foundation while presenting it as a full vocal composition.