Metallica

Bleeding Me's Bridge Lyrics (*URGENT HELP NEEDED*)

I am planning to get the first line of Bleeding Me's bridge lyrics tattooed on my forearm, which for the longest time I thought were:

"caught under wheels' roll"

These were the official lyrics listed on Metallica's website, and they stayed this way right until the Load remastered set dropped

HOWEVER

Now the website lists them as "caught under, wheels roll"

Does anyone have an idea of what the correct versions is? They both mean pretty much the same thing, but ideally I'd like to know what James intended them to be

https://www.reddit.com/r/Metallica/comments/1luxpld/bleeding_mes_bridge_lyrics_urgent_help_needed/
Reddit

Discussion

Shats-Banson

Just get it without the comma and add it later if you want lol

18 hours ago
ThroawayIien

I love fucking Metallica and food.

I love fucking, Metallica, and food.

Edit: added commas later.

18 hours ago
Shats-Banson

I’d only have two commas in that sentence….y’all can guess where lol

18 hours ago
joeyjohnnybilly

lol this is the correct answer

18 hours ago
Ninegun

Hetfield's handwritten lyrics included in the box set do not include the comma. I just checked them and the first time he writes simply "CAUGHT UNDER WHEELS ROLL" and the second time he writes "CAUGHT UNDER WHEEL'S ROLL". Sounds like you could go either way, just no comma! Sorry- I took a picture but don't think I can post it in a reply

18 hours ago
roozven OP

can you dm it to me? not that I don't believe you haha, I'm just curios to see the booklet

18 hours ago
Ninegun

https://preview.redd.it/j7ixs3q4gpbf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92caab07fadb2c1388d3ec2f020fe0c9486b68f1

18 hours ago
Relevant-Rooster-298

Looks like it also says "wheel's roll"

18 hours ago
Ninegun

Yep it does. He changes back and forth a few times between including that apostrophe and not throughout the entire lyric sheet. Probably the grammar nerd in me but I find it interesting that he puts the apostrophe where he does. He's talking about a singular wheel, not wheels plural.

18 hours ago
nocommunicatio

I wouldn’t worry about punctuation at all. The message doesn’t change either way

18 hours ago
ThroawayIien

That punctuation does change the message, though. I’m sure it wasn’t an arbitrary change either. Had James intended and penned something different than was originally published, then it explains why it was changed: because there’s a different meaning.

“Caught under (James is trapped beneath) wheels’ roll (the roll of the wheels)” is different than “Caught under (possibly under more open-ended obstacle like life, pressure, or burdens), (like a cinematic break) wheels roll (instead of being crushed by the motion, James is crushed while the motion continues).”

The punctuation changes the meaning a lot.

18 hours ago
roozven OP

with not that much abstraction applied, both of them portray the feeling of being trapped in an unescapable predicament. As someone noted bellow, James' handwriting points towards wheels' roll, which is how I initially thought it went

18 hours ago
ThroawayIien

I think that’s the most parsimonious implicature of his vocal contribution. The textual lyrics as currently shown aren’t as meaningful. I mean, James tended to be more open-ended and universal and play on words with this album, but the latter reading seems to be void of that “hit.” I don’t know what to call it. I’m not a fucking poet. But, I’d go with “caught under wheels’ roll” if I were getting a tattoo of that kind.

17 hours ago
SgtPepper670

According to his handwritten lyrics someone shared here, he NEVER wrote "wheels' roll". He switched between "wheels roll" and "wheel's roll".

"Wheel's roll" is correct. It's clear from his handwriting he was referring to a singular wheel, not multiple wheels.

12 hours ago
silverfish477

No one is going to study the punctuation in a tattoo and work out the meaning lol

17 hours ago
ThroawayIien

No one is going to study the punctuation in a tattoo and work out the meaning lol

You can either conclude that I’m a “no one” (maybe a bot?) or amend sarcasm to your reply, but I certainly do. Hell, I catch my own poor grammar in situ but trust other’s employ enough Grice’s razor so we can meaningfully understand each other and be understood, but a permanent tattoo is different than texting with one free hand.

16 hours ago
roozven OP

fair enough, I'm probably going with the first one

18 hours ago
dlc0027

I’m going with first. That’s what I heard and what the lyrics said for like 29 years.

18 hours ago
DEATHRETTE
Wasted My Hate

Caught under wheels, roll.

Spotify version shows "caught under wheel's roll" and I'd accept that one after hearing it twenty more times.

16 hours ago
punchline86

Grammarly:

  1. "CAUGHT UNDER WHEEL'S" suggests being caught under a single wheel, with the apostrophe indicating possession.

  2. "CAUGHT UNDER WHEELS' ROLL" implies that you are caught under the rolling action that belongs to multiple wheels, using the apostrophe correctly to denote possession.

  3. "CAUGHT UNDER WHEELS ROLL" refers to being caught underneath any wheels that are rolling, without the possessive, making it more general.

14 hours ago
Opposite_Village9112

I feel like caught under, wheels roll makes more sense. Or else it would say caught under the wheels roll. But that’s just my thinking

11 hours ago
Coffeedemon

It's nice to see the tattoo blunders before someone comes in with it already permanently etched on their body sometimes.

Super meaningful stuff when you don't even really know what the words are.

16 hours ago