“Enter Sandman” was written first but received its lyrics last during the making of Metallica's 1991 album Metallica.
The song began with its central musical idea and became the first of the album's songs to take shape. James Hetfield did not immediately finish the words, however, so the vocal and lyrical component arrived after the music had already been developed.
That unusual sequence contributed to the song's distinctive subject. Its lyrics use bedtime language and nightmare imagery, turning a familiar childhood ritual into something ominous and unsettling.
The finished track became the album's lead single and its opening song. Its delayed lyrics are easy to confuse with the broader recording process, since the band also spent months revising performances and mixing the record with producer Bob Rock.