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"Last Rites/Loved to Deth" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the opening song their debut studio album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! which released in 1985 under Combat Records. The song was one of the first written for the group, and was the title track on their Last Rites demo tape.

Music and lyrics

As the title suggests, "Last Rites/Loved to Death", consists of two parts. "Last Rites" is a melodic piano piece, while "Loved to Death is an aggressive thrash track.

Last Rites

The opening, "Last Rites", is an instrumental centered around Dave Mustaine playing the piano, as well as having David Ellefson's bass playing accompanying it. The song is a reinterpretation of J.S. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. There is also a short guitar solo near the end of the piece.

Loved to Death

Mustaine explained that "Loved to Death" was his "version of a love song" to his girlfriend at the time. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Dave Mustaine went more in depth on the topic. He revealed that, like many Megadeth songs, it was written about his ex-fiance Diana. "I wrote the song about her because I couldn’t have her and she was just so far outside of my batting average when I first started seeing her. It’s the 'boy meets girl, girl doesn’t like boy, so boy kills girl so no one else will have girl' kind of mentality."

Legacy

In a 2017 interview with Ultimate Guitar, frontman Dave Mustaine said he was very proud of the song. "That's one of my favorites because it’s really difficult to play and it's got a really cool funky rhythm pattern to it," he said, adding, "So to play it right is one thing but to play it right and sing is a whole other ball game." The song is among their most streamed tracks on Youtube, featuring as #10 on their top songs playlist.

Accolades

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Notes

1. Original pressings list it as "Loved to Death"; reissues from 2002 onwards list it "Loved to Deth".

References

1. CMJ Network, Inc (February 11, 2002). "Loud Rock". CMJ New Music Report: 45. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
2. "Killing Is My Business.. and Business Is Good! - Review". metal-archives.com.
3. Wiederhorn, Jon. "37 Years Ago: Megadeth Unleash 'Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good'". Loudwire. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
4. Reuter, Jerome. "MEGADETH AND THE SOUNDTRACK FOR RETRIBUTION: KILLING IS MY BUSINESS…AND BUSINESS IS GOOD! (1985)". Diabolique Magazine. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
5. Meyer, Frank. "Megadeth: Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good (Deluxe Edition)". KNAC. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
6. "Last Rites/Loved to Deth". Megadeth.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
7. ^ Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! liner notes (2002 reissue). Loud Records. 2002. pp. 2, 7–8.
8. Grow, Kory. "Megadeth's Dave Mustaine: My Life in 15 Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
9. DiVita, Joe. "Megadeth's Dave Mustaine: The Riff in 'Loved to Deth' Is the One I'm Proudest Of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine: The Riff in ‘Loved to Deth’ Is the One I’m Proudest Of Megadeth's Dave Mustaine: The Riff in 'Loved to Deth' Is the One I'm Proudest Of Read More: Dave Mustaine: The Riff in 'Loved to Deth' Is the One I'm Proudest Of". Loudwire. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
10. "Megadeth: The Official Playlist". Youtube. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
11. "Megadeth Song's Ranked". Return of Rock. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
12. "Last Rites/Loved to Deth". Megadeth.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.

• 1985 songs
• Megadeth songs
• Songs written by Dave Mustaine