"Don't Tread on Me" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica from their self-titled fifth album. The title is connected with the American Revolutionary War. The words "Don't Tread on Me" constitute the motto of the Gadsden flag, and the snake image on the flag is pictured on the cover of the album
The instrumental introduction uses an eight-bar phrase from "America", a popular song from the musical West Side Story. It is in a moderate tempo of 104 bpm in 12/8.