Blog 8.Rock God Wisdom

Life Lesson - Don't get fired from Metallica.

Part of being human means, we feel discontent with our lot in life, sometimes derived from a sense of what could have been.

Maybe you were fired, dumped, or cut from a team. None of which are pleasant. However, chronic problems bubble up when we believe it's because we always held the shortest straw.*

*Song title from Metallica’s 1988 album And Justice for All

Tales of woe follow a typical structure: if only this injustice—real or imagined—hadn’t occurred, then I would get what I deserve. It works magically well. We temporarily soothe our tender egos, but at a steep price. With each telling of the story, we believe it more, further stripping away our power to grow and change.

That being said, a simple cure exists.

Tell a new story, one where you morph from hapless victim into the accountable, resilient hero.

Therein lies the challenge. To make that leap, we must first look inside, to see whether our behavior contributed to the circumstances we find ourselves in. We were cut loose for a reason. Our job is to figure out WHY!

Have you ever heard Dave Mustaine’s story, or better put, his lament? No big deal if you haven’t. He only sold 38 million records and toured the world, fronting the landmark metal band Megadeth. To most, those achievements suggest mind blowing success, except for one guy, Mustaine himself.

Once upon a time, Dave played in a little band named Metallica. Fired for bad behavior—drugs, alcohol, temper—Mustaine’s transgressions must have been excessive if you know anything about Metallica’s history. But that was 1983. His tragedy wasn’t being cut loose, but rather, failing to move past it. He held onto it for decades. A choked-up Mustaine admitted as much in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster—always in second place no matter what I do.**

No question about it, such experiences are incredibly painful. But then watching your old band (or company, partner, team) absolutely crush it without you, which Metallica did, just amplifies the hurt.

To some, and mostly to Dave, Metallica made a bad decision. It’s so obvious. Threatened by his talent and stage charisma, they merely used his destructive habits as a guise to fire him. Such dicks. Dave totally got screwed over.

See how I did that? Just flip the narrative and paint yourself as the wronged party, free of blame.

Regardless, he held onto the belief that the Metallica incident blocked him from achieving the level of fame he thought rightly belonged to him. Mustaine could have avoided years of anguish had he only courageously asked one tough question: was my—my poor work ethic, abrasive personality, or clownish antics—in any way, detrimental and toxic to the group? Illuminating if answered with honesty and a killer opening for a new story.

So, ask yourself this: have you experienced a similar set-back like Dave's where you can’t shake the feeling of being “cut-loose” for reasons you can only speculate about? This didn’t cripple Dave’s success but some may say it crippled his ability to live free from blame, hatred, or negativity. So help yourself. Rewrite a fresh narrative, be accountable for you, and let the past Rust in Peace.***

**Actually, Dave agrees, he should have been fired. However, he does wish they had given him a second chance, at least, to see if they worked as a band with him sober. Also fueling the rift was that in the following months and years, Metallica referred to Dave as just a placeholder, never really a full-fledged group member. Keep in mind, these guys were 20 when all this went down, and as always, there are multiple sides to every story.

***1990 Megadeth album. #19 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Metal Albums