Because of the instrumental style of the song it has also become one of Cliff's trademark songs for many fans.

Album:
Master of Puppets

The song live:
The first time the song has been played live was in the "100 Club" in London, England on a secret gig which has been afterwards called "Damage Inc." on August 20th '87. The entire song has been only played live various times on tour between '87-'89 and once in '92. On the Load tour Metallica played it instrumentally as a pre-encore jam. Such a "Leper Messiah" jam is also included on "Cunning Stunts" which was filmed in September 1997 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Jaymz's dedication:
Once on tour James sarcastically dedicated the song to Jim and Tammy Fey Baker, two TV evangelists who embezzled millions of dollars of charity money.

The claimed credits:
Dave Mustaine claimed he wrote the song's main riff and was not given credit by Metallica. The matter was settled quietly.

The subject matter:
It is about so called messiahs who make a good profit on other people's faith.

"Send me money, send me green"
"Heaven you will meet"
"Make a contribution"
"And you'll get a better seat"