My Last Words (song)
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"My Last Words" is a song by American
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
from their 1986 album '' Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?'', written by
Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...
.


Music and lyrics

"My Last Words" is about a game of
Russian roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...
and the fear one goes through when playing the game. Despite being one of the lesser known tracks on the record, music journalist
Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of '' Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has written over twenty books ...
said that the song was an example of the band's "fast thrashers" and an evidence why Megadeth were dubbed as the "fearless speed progenitors". The end section features shouted
gang vocals Screaming is an extended vocal technique that is popular in "aggressive" music genres such as heavy metal, punk rock, and noise music. Screamed vocals are usually harsh, loud and aggressive, used to create an angry, emotional or intense tone. I ...
.


Live performance

"My Last Words" is rarely performed live by Megadeth nowadays. The song was a setlist staple through the eighties, having been played at many shows, including their first (where it appeared under the title "Next Victim"). After
Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: '' Rust in Peace'' (1990), '' Countdown to Extinc ...
and
Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
joined the band, however, it was mostly dropped from setlists. It has popped up sporadically for the past three decades. In 2010,
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
drummer
Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician who is the drummer and a founding member of American heavy metal band Metallica. Along with James Hetfield, Ulrich has songwriting credits on almost all of the band's songs, and the ...
requested that the band played the song at a concert at the Cow Palace on August 31, 2010. The song is reportedly his favorite Megadeth song. In June and July 2018, Megadeth played the song at a few shows in dedication to
Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...
drummer
Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, ...
, who died on June 22, 2018. The performance at Hellfest was professionally shot and later uploaded to
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Mustaine announced the song by saying it was the first time the band played it in 20 years, although it had been played in 2005 and 2010.


Accolades


Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes. Megadeth *
Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...
– guitars, lead vocals *
David Ellefson David Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist and backing vocalist for thrash metal band Megadeth across two stints. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills whi ...
– bass, backing vocals *
Chris Poland Chris Poland (born December 1, 1957) is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz rock bands OHM and OHMphrey, among othe ...
– guitars *
Gar Samuelson Gary Charles "Gar" Samuelson (February 18, 1958 – July 14, 1999) was an American musician best remembered for being the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1984 to 1987, contributing to their first two albums, '' Killing Is My Busines ...
– drums Additional personnel *Casey McMackin - backing vocals Production *Dave Mustaine – production *Randy Burns – production,
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
*Casey McMackin – engineering *Paul Lani – mixing *Stan Katayama – mixing 2004 remix and remaster *Dave Mustaine – production, mixing *Ralph Patlan – engineering, mixing *Lance Dean – engineering,
editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
*Scott "Sarge" Harrison – editing *Tom Baker – mastering


References

{{Megadeth 1986 songs Megadeth songs Songs written by Dave Mustaine Songs about death