Use the Man
Encyclopedia
"Use the Man" is the third song as well as the second single of Megadeth
's seventh studio album Cryptic Writings
. The song went up to the 15th position in the U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.
This song is about a man who died after he had his first shot of heroin. Dave Mustaine stated that "I went to where this guy had lived and saw a lot of his stuff. There was a bunch of photographs of him, a Guitar Player magazine, song lyrics and a song he had written. This guy had plans. He planned on shooting heroin just one time and getting his life together, but he died." David Ellefson also added that "We have a friend in town here [Phoenix] that tries to help people with addictions and he had lost a friend to an overdose. He told us the story on that."
The song's introduction is the beginning of The Searchers
' 1964 version of "Needles and Pins", which was a tentative title for the album. Marty Friedman expressed his opinion about this: "Cheers to Dave on a great idea for the intro part. The Searchers had a hit with Sonny Bono
's 'Needles and Pins' in the '60s, so what a great idea to start a song about a drug overdose with a clip from it! Classic Megadeth and very cool. This song has me playing much more guitar textures than ever before in the band. We were growing big time here." This introduction was removed on the remaster.
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
's seventh studio album Cryptic Writings
Cryptic Writings
Cryptic Writings is the seventh studio album by heavy metal band Megadeth. The album was released on June 17, 1997 and debuted at #10 on Billboard Top 200. This is the last Megadeth studio album to feature drummer Nick Menza. His departure would mark the end of the band's longest lasting lineup to...
. The song went up to the 15th position in the U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.
This song is about a man who died after he had his first shot of heroin. Dave Mustaine stated that "I went to where this guy had lived and saw a lot of his stuff. There was a bunch of photographs of him, a Guitar Player magazine, song lyrics and a song he had written. This guy had plans. He planned on shooting heroin just one time and getting his life together, but he died." David Ellefson also added that "We have a friend in town here [Phoenix] that tries to help people with addictions and he had lost a friend to an overdose. He told us the story on that."
The song's introduction is the beginning of The Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
' 1964 version of "Needles and Pins", which was a tentative title for the album. Marty Friedman expressed his opinion about this: "Cheers to Dave on a great idea for the intro part. The Searchers had a hit with Sonny Bono
Sonny Bono
Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.-Early life:...
's 'Needles and Pins' in the '60s, so what a great idea to start a song about a drug overdose with a clip from it! Classic Megadeth and very cool. This song has me playing much more guitar textures than ever before in the band. We were growing big time here." This introduction was removed on the remaster.