"Sweating Bullets" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released in 1993 as the third single from their fifth album, ''

Countdown to Extinction ''Countdown to Extinction'' is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on July 14, 1992, through Capitol Records. It was the group's second studio release to feature the "classic" lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty ...

(1992)''. A music video for the song was made, directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born in December 2, 1958. He attended the Univers ...

. The song charted at No. 27 on the US

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart and at No. 26 in the UK.

Lyrics

The lyrics, written by frontman

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has relea ...

, are from a first-person perspective of someone suffering from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

. Mustaine wrote the lyrics to express an idea that everyone suffers from the mental illness in their own ways, stating:

"I wrote that about myself. It was pointed out to me that I'm kind of schizophrenic and that I live inside my head. Which is something I don't subscribe to, but I enjoyed the theory nonetheless. I think all of us are sweating bullets all the time. Society's a joke right now, and people are getting more and more hostile. When you think about having an evil twin or schizophrenia, I think a lot of us are schizo, because we live inside our heads. There's someone we all confer with; it's called our conscience. Some people cannot control their other side; it takes them over. Everybody has that psychotic side. Everyone has a thing that will make them snap."

Music video

The music video of this song starts with

looking at himself in the mirror until a hand touches his shoulder and when he turns around, he notices that it is himself. Then, multiple Mustaines appear everywhere doing weird things. Then, the real Mustaine appears holding his brain sitting on a chair with two other Mustaines singing the song. In the guitar solo section of the song, the camera filming the music video moves backwards showing the other Megadeth members

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadi ...

Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: ''Rust in Peace'' (1990), ''Countdown to Extin ...

and

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 unti ...

locked in cells as prisoners in a paranoia state with their instruments.

Appearances

"Sweating Bullets" is featured in the 2009 video game ''

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 music rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internat ...

''.

Accolades

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweating Bullets (Song) 1992 songs 1993 singles Megadeth songs Songs written by Dave Mustaine Music videos directed by Wayne Isham