Dave Mustaine has been a part of many memorable songs over the years, from his early days in Metallica through his time in Megadeth. He reflects on 15 of those songs in a new Rolling Stone feature and also discussed finding some peace with his Metallica past.

Mustaine talked about Metallica using "Ride the Lightning," which he co-wrote, on their second album, well after he had left the band. "I got over them using my songs a long time ago," Mustaine says. "You can obsess on s--t like that or you can let it go, and nothing is gonna change it. You've got two great bands. We're friends. Stuff happened. F--k, I forgave Ellefson after suing me for 18-and-a-half-million dollars, I can forgive those guys for using my songs."

He recalls writing the music for "In My Darkest Hour" from 1988's So far, So Good...So What after he heard that his former bandmate Cliff Burton had died. "That song evokes a lot of feelings," Mustaine reveals. "The first time I played it, Cliff's mom and dad were at our show. I could do it in the studio and in rehearsal, but with them there, I could not get through it."

He continues, "You don't even know where those feelings come from. It's like, do I have these feelings? And then all of a sudden you do a song and we can't control ... It's like, s--t, those are real. I didn't really have a chance to say goodbye. I mean, I didn't even know where he was buried. So that kind of shows how that all went down. But I'll see him in heaven. That's the cool thing. At least I believe that."

One of Megadeth's most recognizable songs is "Peace Sells," thanks to its use by MTV News. Mustaine says he wrote it because he was tired of people mocking metal in general and mocking people who are metal fans.

"I knew when I wrote that song that I was onto something because prior to that song, everything was just shred-festing and just playing really fast, aggressive stuff," states Mustaine. "But as soon as "Peace Sells" came out, it was like, 'Wow this is really a song-song,' something that, unbeknownst to myself, would stand the test of time, something that would be my friend forever. Never had I gotten that feeling from our previous songs. I never thought, 'Hey, you're gonna be playing this song every night for the rest of your life.'"

To read the rest of what Mustaine had to say about these songs and a dozen others, head over to Rolling Stone.

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