James Hetfield Turns “One” Lyrics into Bad Beatnik Poetry Over Apocalyptica Track

Heavy metal cellists Apocalyptica have such a weird story. Having started out playing Metallica covers on their classical instruments, the guys in the band have branched out into writing and touring in support of their own music, taking their love of metal and classical to new heights.

So I can’t imagine the level of excitement when they learned that they’d get the legendary man with the killer right hand James Hetfield his voice to their rendition of the classic track 1988 track “One”. Bassist Rob Trujillo also contributes to the track. And while that might sound like it could be cool, I gotta say — it’s pretty damn… weird.

The track is the third single off the band’s Apocalyptica Plays Metallica, Vol. 2, which is due for release on June 7 via Throwdown Entertainment. Throughout the length of the track, you get classical sounding “One” for a while before the verse kicks in and Hetfield can be heard speaking the lyrics, rather than croon or sing them normally. It’s weird to just hear a song you’ve listened to scores of times talked over, rather than done full send. Ultimately, it sounds like Hetfield’s simply reciting poetry, beret on head, and an espresso placed on the stool next to him.

Still, that little bit of oddity didn’t stop the dudes in Apocalyptica from being excited about the whole thing. Eicca Toppinen said this situation one was a bucket list item for the band.

“I think it’s incredible that James wanted to do it. We were always thinking, ‘it’d be great to someday do something with Metallica!’ I think the excitement for him came from the different approach we were taking – sometimes the craziest ideas are what excites people and that was our challenge.”

Similarly, Perttu Kivilaakso said the band worked at making the track as big and “epic” as the original track, with a cinematic music video (that you can watch below) as well.

“We used everything at our disposal to make it as bombastic as possible. It had to be epic! The result was truly cinematic, with James Hetfield narrating the story with those poetic lyrics. It was powerful and touching. As a fan I have to say it was unbelievable to finally hear it. I was in my home crying. My hands were shaking. It was an incredible journey.”