CANNOT THE KINGDOM OF SALVATION TAKE ME HOME

Clifford Lee Burton , 1962 - 1986

During the European leg of the Damage Inc. tour in support of Master of Puppets, the band had complained that the sleeping cubicles on their tour bus were unsatisfactory and uncomfortable. As a minor solution the members would draw cards for the most comfortable bunk. On the evening of September 27, 1986, Burton had won the game with an ace of spades. He was asleep when, according to the driver, the band's tour bus ran over a patch of, skidded off of the road, and flipped onto the grass in Ljungby Municipality near Dörarp rural Sweden. Burton fell through the window of the bus and the bus fell on top of him. It is debatable whether Burton was dead at this point or not, although he would certainly have been critically injured. A winch that was lifting the bus off him snapped, causing the bus to crush him a second time. James Hetfield later stated that he first believed the bus flipped because the driver was drunk, or at least negligent, and had walked long distances down the road demanding this "black ice" be shown to him.

Burton's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the Maxwell Ranch. At the ceremony, the instrumental "Orion" from the album Master of Puppets was played. Burton had never played the song live, and Metallica did not perform it until June 6, 2006 (when they performed the album in its entirety to mark the 20th anniversary of its release). Until then, only sections of the song had been used as part of their performance. During the 1990s, Burton's successor, Jason Newstead would often use the bass line as part of a medley.