By the late ’90s, Metallica was on a creative streak, releasing 4 albums in 4 years. Garage Inc was a release that consisted of covers and saw the band pay homage to their influences.
“Turn the Page” Reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Charts
The lead single from the release of Garage Inc was a cover of the Bob Seger song, “Turn The Page”. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for 11 consecutive weeks. It was the longest stretch that Metallica has ever spent at the top in their career.
Bob Seger wrote the song back in the ’70s about the loneliness and the hardships of being a travelling musician. It was Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich who came up with the idea for the band to cover the song. He claimed in an interview, that he heard the Bob Seger version when he was driving in San Francisco across the golden gate bridge and recalled, “It had James Hetfield all over it.”
Guitarist Kirk Hammett talked about covering the song during a promotional interview for Garage Inc, “It’s a very odd choice. I’m not a big Bob Seger fan but ‘Turn the Page’ is a great song about being on the road. It’s kind of ballady, but when you hear it you can really picture James singing it.”
“It seems like the only people who do my stuff are these really off-the-wall cats looking for really off-the-wall stuff.” – Bob Seger
Seger sometimes had trouble with musicians covering his material, admitting in an interview, “It seems like the only people who do my stuff are these really off-the-wall cats looking for really off-the-wall stuff.”
“Turn The Page” has been covered numerous times, including by an Australian singer named Jon English who actually won several awards for his performance of the song.
While Seger’s song tells the story of life on the road as a touring musician, Metallica’s music video shined a light on the hard life of single mothers who have to make ends meet and provide for their children by being sex workers or stripping. The video had shots of the band performing the song while also starring adult actress, Ginger Lynn who portrays a single mother living in a motel with her daughter.
Lynn told Popgeeks.com that she initially turned down the offer to appear in the video several times over the course of three months. She admitted the reason for her turning down the role, claiming that she thought it would be denigrating and involve her bouncing around naked in the video. In addition, “Turn The Page” was one of her favourite Bob Seger songs so she had some reservations about the band covering the track.
“I wanted that role more than anything I’d ever wanted.” – Ginger Lynn
She eventually agreed to meet director Jonas Akerland, recalling how she changed her mind about the role after meeting him, but there was still one problem. She revealed to Pop Geek, “I went in and I sat down with the director, and he told me a story that it just touched me so deeply. I wanted that role more than anything I’d ever wanted. I got the phone call the next day from the casting director. Now, remember, they’d been trying to get me for three months to do this role, and the casting director said to me, ‘Well, Jonas absolutely loves you, but you’re too thin and you look too good.'”
In order to get the role, Lynn had to gain 10-15 lbs. She added in the same interview, “If I had to say there was something that I’m the most proud of that I’ve done in my mainstream career, I’m going to put ‘Turn The Page’ right up there.”
The video saw Lynn playing a single mother who strips during the day and works as a sex worker during the night, only to meet a John who assaults her with her daughter in the next room.
“Turn The Page” drew criticism from women’s rights groups. Acklerand told MTV in 1998, “Sometimes when I hear stuff about it, I realize the people that say stuff haven’t even seen it.” The director came up with the idea for the “Turn The Page” video by drawing from his own life experiences.
“We all have our different problems.” – Jonas Akerland
Akerland, a single parent himself, told MTV, “She has the same kind of problems that a lot of people have every day, but she’s into something else. I am a single father and I do work a lot and I should be more with my kid and I’m struggling in life like a lot of people do. I’m not planning on hooking and stripping, but I do other stuff. We all have our different problems.”
While women’s rights groups cried afoul at the video, the director claimed the video’s message was getting lost. He told MTV, “I hate violence. I’m against violence. But sometimes when you have an idea, to make that idea really strong, you need to go all the way. If I have that kind of idea, I have to go all the way.”
A week after the video premiered on MTV in November of 1998, the network reached out to the band’s publicist Joel Amsterdam, but the band declined to comment. Amsterdam, however, release a statement on why Metallica covered the track.
“They liked the song because of the road-dog aspect of it, talking about that life and what that’s like and to experience that kind of loneliness. They used the video as a metaphor for loneliness in general and the kind of toll that takes on people’s lives. Any information on what the band was thinking and what the director was thinking has to come from them.”
“…I think they chose it to symbolize all the people who are just trying to make it through the day.” – Justin Thompson, Metallica fan
The band’s fans seemed to get the video’s message though. MTV published a letter from a 16-year-old fan named Justin Thompson. “I think the band was trying to make people realize that people are just trying to get by however they can so I think they chose it to symbolize all the people who are just trying to make it through the day.”
The network highlighted a woman named Fatima Jaffer, who worked as an information coordinator for the Vancouver, British Columbia-based Women’s Support Center. She criticized the band, saying, “I don’t think Metallica is all that qualified to make deep comments about women. To do so without context, it’s easy to misread. I, myself, prefer them to stay away from subjects like this that can do a lot of damage, and leave it to organizations like us. Basically profiting from music that’s on this topic is something I stand totally opposed to.”
“I’d say Metallica should be prosecuted under child endangerment laws…” – David Levy, a lawyer for the Children’s Right Council
The network interviewed a lawyer named David Levy who represented a group named Children’s Right Council in Washington, DC. The group was upset with the daughter being left alone in a motel room while her mother works at night, “I’d say Metallica should be prosecuted under child endangerment laws because kids are watching that at home on MTV.”
MTV reported that a week after the video aired, they hadn’t received any viewer complaints about the video and I couldn’t find any evidence that it was banned.
How did Bob Seger feel about the band covering his song? “I loved it. Yeah, yeah. It’s great. They told me they were going to do it and I loved it. You know, I really like the drum, especially because our drums are really simple and a whole lot more cool take on it…”
Like this story? Check out The Sad Story of Crazy Town
Check out our YouTube channel