One

Hetfield and Ulrich wrote it in November 1987, and the band produced it with Flemming Rasmussen at One on One in 1988. It draws on Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun and its 1971 film, about a First World War soldier left blinded, deafened, mute and immobile by a landmine. The single came out on 10 January 1989, in an album version of 7:27 and a radio edit of 5:02. Hetfield told Guitar World in 1991 that the opening Bm to G change came from an idea prompted by Venom's Buried Alive.

Bill Pope and Michael Salomon directed the video, which debuted on MTV on 20 January 1989. Shot in black and white in Long Beach on 7 December 1988, it intercuts the band with scenes from the film, and Metallica bought the film's rights. The single reached number 35 on the Hot 100 and number 1 in Finland. It won the first Grammy for Best Metal Performance, in 1990. Some journalists credit its breakdown as the first start-stop double-kick passage in metal. Rolling Stone placed it at 11 on its 2023 list of the 100 greatest heavy metal songs. Three versions were made, one of which leaves out the film footage. Guitar World readers voted the solo seventh among the greatest ever.

Live

The band played it at the 31st Grammys in 1989, and again with the pianist Lang Lang at the 2014 Grammys. A 7:53 version appears on S&M.