Megadeth - Lyrical Themes

Lyrical Themes

As Megadeth's primary lyricist, Mustaine is known for his often controversial, political, and more recently, personal lyrics. War and nuclear war are common topics, including the military-industrial complex in songs such as "Architecture of Aggression", "Hangar 18", "Return to Hangar", and "Take No Prisoners", as well as the aftermath of war in songs such as "Dawn Patrol" and "Ashes in Your Mouth". The name Megadeth is a deliberate misspelling of the word megadeath, a term coined in 1953 by RAND military strategist Herman Kahn to describe one million deaths, popularized in his 1960 book On Thermonuclear War. Politics are also a common theme in Megadeth songs, as seen in Mustaine's scathing assessment of Tipper Gore, the PMRC, and music censorship in the song "Hook In Mouth". Mustaine takes an environmentalist stance in "Countdown to Extinction" and "Dawn Patrol", and shows a general cynicism regarding politics in songs like "Symphony of Destruction", "Peace Sells", "The World Needs a Hero" and "Blackmail the Universe". The UN is criticized for its ineffectiveness in "United Abominations" and "Peace Sells".

Controversial and misunderstood lyrics have also caused problems for the band. For instance, the music video for "In My Darkest Hour" was banned from MTV in 1988 when the music channel deemed the song to be pro-suicide. The music video for "À Tout le Monde" was later banned by MTV, also interpreted as being pro-suicide. According to Mustaine, the song was written from the perspective of a dying man, saying his last words to his loved ones.

Addiction is also a common theme in songs such as "Use the Man", "Burnt Ice", and "Addicted to Chaos". "Use the Man" is about a former substance abuse counselor who died of a drug overdose. Some lyrics have taken on overtly Christian themes, such as "Never Walk Alone... A Call to Arms", and "Shadow of Deth", with spoken lyrics taken directly from Psalm 23 of the King James Bible. "My Kingdom", "Looking Down the Cross" and "Of Mice and Men" also feature Christian themes.

Mustaine dabbled in black magic in his teenage years, which became the theme for the song "The Conjuring" off Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?. Mustaine stated that it was emotionally difficult to play because of his conversion to Christianity.

"I put two hexes on people, and they both worked and the result was just what I was asking for. Now, it took forever to get that Satanic depression off of me because it's just like playing with a Ouija board. You open the doorway to the dark side, and spirits come through. It took almost 20 years to get rid of that Satanic depression. I did it when I was 15, and I don't think I got free of it until I was in my mid-30s. You ask yourself, 'How is it possible that this is happening to me?' Well, because you flirted with the devil and you put a hex on somebody and you put another hex on somebody, and, well, you owe him. And that's why I have a problem playing 'The Conjuring' today." —Dave Mustaine