To Live Is to Die

"To Live Is to Die" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica from their fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All, released on September 7, 1988. Made as a tribute to their former bassist Cliff Burton, who died two years before the song's release, the heavy metal track is built on a riff that he wrote before his death. Though predominantly an instrumental, it incorporates a spoken word section where James Hetfield recites a poem written by Burton, with some lines taken from German poet Paul Gerhardt and American novelist Stephen R. Donaldson.

The song has received positive responses from music critics, many of whom commented on its role as a tribute and its associated sentimental value. Metallica initially went several years without performing the song in their live concerts due to the emotional context behind it. They played the song for the first time during one of the performances of their 30th anniversary celebration at The Fillmore in 2011, after their current bassist Robert Trujillo pushed for it to be played.