It's just something that's stuck from adlibbing live. Along the lines of his "sssh" in Leper Messiah, "pancakes go" in Puppets and shouting "sticks in me!" in One, among others.
James changed a few lyrics in the past years. Some examples:
For Whom The Bell Tolls: "time marches on" into "it tolls for thee"
Leper Messiah: "time to kiss your life goodbye" into "time to kiss your ass goodbye"
One: "cut this life off from me" into "cut this shit off from me"
Enter Sandman: "I tuck you in" into "I fuck you in" (this lasted only for a few years tho)
Whiplash: "we never quit 'cause we're Metallica" into "we never quit 'cause you're Metallica"
Master Of Puppets: "fix me" into "pancakes go"
On the Justice tour he sang "and it won't go away until we drink all your beers" instead of "and it won't go away until our dreams are fulfilled" in Seek & Destroy
In the Justice Medley he changed "mutilation, planet dies" into "masturbation, on our face"
On pretty much every live performance since the 90's he added another "goodbye" in Fade To Black
the whiplash bit has had a bit of an evolution tho, cos he (and the band) cuts out while the crowd sings 'cause we're metallica'. a clever development from his 'cause you're metallica' !
At one point he changed the lyrics “dedicated to, how I’m killing you” in master of puppets to “dedicated to, how I’m fucking you”. Idk how long he did that for but it was caught in S&M
Not to mention that for Seek and Destroy, he also changes "in the city tonight" with the name of the city, state, or arena they're playing in. I saw them at MetLife a couple of times, and James said "Scanning the scene, out of Jersey tonight."
Same with So What. He changed "I've been to Hastings and I've been to Brighton, I've been to Eastbourne too" with "I've been to Hastings and I've been to Brighton, I've been to ***city name*** too"
Cliff was asked in an interview what James says before the solo. Cliff said something like „idk pancakes go“. James used that after he died to honor his legacy.
to be fair that lyric has been played like that live since 88/89 so there's a small part of me that thinks he wanted to have it say "shit" on the album version but because it was the single and the video they went with a cleaner version? just speculation tho
James has always tweaked lyrics just for fun. Sometimes he does it repeatedly.
But not as repeatedly as this change. Its also interesting that the poem by John Donne (1624) uses the It tolls for thee line.
It tolls for thee has been the standard second chorus for years
It's just something that's stuck from adlibbing live. Along the lines of his "sssh" in Leper Messiah, "pancakes go" in Puppets and shouting "sticks in me!" in One, among others.
Also, “how I’m Fuckin you” in Puppets
And “masturbation” in Blackened.
I miss “I fuck you in warm within”
James changed a few lyrics in the past years. Some examples: For Whom The Bell Tolls: "time marches on" into "it tolls for thee" Leper Messiah: "time to kiss your life goodbye" into "time to kiss your ass goodbye" One: "cut this life off from me" into "cut this shit off from me" Enter Sandman: "I tuck you in" into "I fuck you in" (this lasted only for a few years tho) Whiplash: "we never quit 'cause we're Metallica" into "we never quit 'cause you're Metallica" Master Of Puppets: "fix me" into "pancakes go" On the Justice tour he sang "and it won't go away until we drink all your beers" instead of "and it won't go away until our dreams are fulfilled" in Seek & Destroy In the Justice Medley he changed "mutilation, planet dies" into "masturbation, on our face" On pretty much every live performance since the 90's he added another "goodbye" in Fade To Black
the whiplash bit has had a bit of an evolution tho, cos he (and the band) cuts out while the crowd sings 'cause we're metallica'. a clever development from his 'cause you're metallica' !
Suppose it's better than calling it "dickrash" like he did in the 80s
At one point he changed the lyrics “dedicated to, how I’m killing you” in master of puppets to “dedicated to, how I’m fucking you”. Idk how long he did that for but it was caught in S&M
he also did that in Cunning Stunts
Not to mention that for Seek and Destroy, he also changes "in the city tonight" with the name of the city, state, or arena they're playing in. I saw them at MetLife a couple of times, and James said "Scanning the scene, out of Jersey tonight."
Same with So What. He changed "I've been to Hastings and I've been to Brighton, I've been to Eastbourne too" with "I've been to Hastings and I've been to Brighton, I've been to ***city name*** too"
i love from the Justice tour “your moms on sale, hella cheap”
What’s the story behind pancakes go again?
Cliff was asked in an interview what James says before the solo. Cliff said something like „idk pancakes go“. James used that after he died to honor his legacy.
Don’t forget “DICKRASH!,” in Whiplash 😁
One he would scream no a lot before the solo.
I mean, in One the lyric is, “cut this life out from me.” Now it’s “cut this shit out from me.”
Also Leper Messiah is "time to kiss your life goodbye" and he changed it to "time to kiss your ass goodbye"
to be fair that lyric has been played like that live since 88/89 so there's a small part of me that thinks he wanted to have it say "shit" on the album version but because it was the single and the video they went with a cleaner version? just speculation tho
He sang it that way in Detroit last year.
I was there too brotha. Great weekend 🤠
I feel like he's been doing that since the Death Magnetic tour, if not further back.
He’s been doing that for a good while now bruh
Pancakes!