 " Hit the Lights " was based on an unfinished Leather Charm song written by Hetfield and Hugh Tanner . Hetfield had brought the majority of the song to Ulrich and the two worked out different arrangements . Performed at 160 beats per minute , " Hit the Lights " opens with fade @-@ in distorted guitars and a short shriek by Hetfield . The song is driven by the 16th note repeated main riff and the continuous eighth note snare drum hits . The lyrics celebrate heavy metal itself and are sung with short and high pitched vocals . The song ends with several lengthy guitar solos by Hammett , who performed cleaner and more melodic version of Mustaine 's leads . " The Four Horsemen " is a revamp of the Mustaine @-@ penned " The Mechanix " , which originally had lyrics about having sex at a gas station . A modified version of his composition with the original lyrics appeared on Megadeth 's debut Killing Is My Business ... and Business Is Good ! ( 1985 ) . Although Mustaine told Metallica not to use any of his music , Hetfield wrote lyrics about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and added a bridge and cleanly picked guitar solo in the middle . Mustaine said the bridge was inspired by the main riff in Lynyrd Skynyrd 's " Sweet Home Alabama " . 
