It Takes Mettle
11 September 2007
Did you know that members of the band Metallica, willingly subjected themselves to group therapy? (See documovie, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.)
Apparently they did so in the effort to improve their communication and heal their dysfunctional group dynamic. But doesn’t that sound like an oxymoron: Heavy metal’s angry blokes work through their rage issues?
You wouldn’t be alone if you imagined all that processing and emoting and group hugging activity extinguishing the fury and passion, the creative flame behind Metallica’s enormous success.
FYI: It didn’t, they’re still going strong selling head-banging, angry-sounding music -now accompanied by self-reflective lyrics.
When I saw the biopic about France’s “little sparrow,” Edith Piaf, who boozed and drugged her way to an early death, I wondered whether I might have a more profound experience of life - of my creativity - if I too lived on the edge in the manner of a passionate, self-destructive artist.
I pondered this for a week or two, until I heard James Hetfield, Metallica’s founder and vocalist, comment to the contrary.
(By the way, Hetfield was also a serious boozer and addict à la Edith, that is, until Mettallica started therapy whereupon the other band members nudged him into rehab.)
James said, “As artists, they believed the myth that you need hell in your life to create.” Then Hetfield continued, “Now sober the connection from wherever creativity comes is cleaner.”
Apparently it’s not necessary to suffer in order to be creative, though it is necessary to be sober in order to function effectively as a creative member of a group.
What a pity Edith didn’t have the courage to give up her addiction to the emotionally and physically numbing effects of alcohol and drugs. Though if she had, she would have had to face the harrowing pain of tragic personal loss. And perhaps that pain was, in her mind, too much to bare - hence her death from liver disease.
Mettallica ventured into un-chartered territory for a metal band. On the verge of imploding they sought help, confronted their personal and collective issues thereby freeing the group from conflict so it could do what it does best: make music.
Most of us are not in the entertainment industry, but we can all claim a creative side and we all belong to groups: groups of friends, family groups, book groups, women’s groups. In which case, Metallica’s story of dysfunctional to functional is one we can learn from.
