Holier Than Thou Lyrics
No more, the crap rolls out your mouth again
Haven't changed, your brain is still gelatin
Little whispers circle around your head
Why don't you worry about yourself instead?
Who are you? Where ya been? Where ya from?
Gossip burning on the tip of your tongue
You lie so much, you believe yourself
Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself
[Chorus]
Holier than thou
You are
Holier than thou
You are
You know not
[Verse 2]
Before you judge me, take a look at you
Can't you find something better to do?
Point the finger, slow to understand
Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand
It's not who you are, it's who you know
Others' lives are the basis of your own
Burn your bridges and build them back with wealth
Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself
Holier than thou
You are
Holier than thou
You are
You know not
Yeah, who the hell are you?
[Post-Chorus]
Yeah, you
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Holier than thou
You are
Holier than thou
You are
You know not
[Outro]
Not
About
Although described by James Hetfield as “one of the sillier songs” by the band, “Holier Than Thou” deals with the issue of a self-righteous person, paraphrasing Jesus in the book of Matthew:
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
- Matthew 7:1,4-5
FUN FACT: Bob Rock initially suggested that this song should be the first single from Metallica. That’s probably about all you need to know about him!
The band still teases me about this song because it was the first track that jumped out at me as a potential single. I should point out that at this stage in cutting the record there were no lyrics, so initially, something about the song spoke to me. It rocked in a very aggressive way that said ‘Metallica’ to me.
As we got deeper into the record, the tide turned and other songs blossomed and became bigger and turned into things like “Enter Sandman,” whereas “Holier Than Though”… great song, not a single. I still like its energy and tempo. It’s got such a lethal bite to it. Every time I see the band, they always say the same thing: ‘“Holier Than Thou,” huh?’ They’ll never let me live it down. What can I say?
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Final mixes were done in New York. “Enter Sandman” took 10 days. As time ground Rock, Ulrich and Hetfield down, “Holier Than Thou” was mixed in one last, desperate session. That was ironic. Lars and James had felt that “Holier Than Thou” would probably be the first single from the record when theyʼd completed the initial demos at Larsʼs eight-track home studio.
Yes, there is.