During a recent appearance on “The Metallica Report,” the podcast that offers weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, frontman James Hetfield shared the story behind the creation of the logo for METALLICA’s All Within My Hands foundation. Hetfield explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET), “We came up with the name first, inspired by the song ‘All Within My Hands’. The obvious idea was to incorporate a hand into the logo. So, I traced my own hand — yes, that’s my hand [laughs], whether you like it or not. Then we thought about adding a key and a keyhole in the hand, symbolizing something that needs to be unlocked or inspired. The key represents unlocking the knowledge that it’s better to give than to receive.
“As corny as it might sound, there’s no better feeling in this world than helping someone else without seeking recognition,” he continued. “There’s something fantastic about that. It goes against the typical human instinct of ‘I need this; you give me that.’ Especially considering my experience growing up in a band that was struggling — fighting over the only towel in the motel, or grabbing the last can of food. That scarcity mentality can be transformed, and the key in the logo represents unlocking that understanding. Despite everything I’ve learned, the old saying ‘it’s better to give than to receive’ rings true.
