Until It Sleeps

"Until It Sleeps"
Single by Metallica
from the album Load
B-side"Overkill"
ReleasedMay 20, 1996 (1996-05-20)
GenreAlternative rock
Length4:30
Label
Composers
LyricistJames Hetfield
Producers
Metallica singles chronology
"Sad but True"
(1993)
"Until It Sleeps"
(1996)
"Hero of the Day"
(1996)
Music video
"Until It Sleeps" on YouTube

"Until It Sleeps" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on May 20, 1996, as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Load (1996). "Until It Sleeps" reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it Metallica's highest-charting single and only Top 10 hit in the United States to date. The song also topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, peaked within the Top 5 in the United Kingdom, and reached number one in Australia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, and Sweden. The song's music video, directed by Samuel Bayer and inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, won the Best Hard Rock Video award at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards. The song is dedicated to James Hetfield's mother, Cynthia Bassett.