The song deals with the theme of the struggle of the individual against the efforts of those who would subjugate him.
Finnish Singles Chart, peak position 1, 1992.
Though one of the slower tracks on the album, its chord progression is distinctly one of the heaviest.
The song has since spawned two sequels, in the form of "The Unforgiven II", from the album Reload, and "The Unforgiven III", from the album Death Magnetic.
The horn intro was essentially taken from The Unforgiven (a Western movie) and then reversed so its source would be hidden, as Hetfield later explained on the documentary Classic Albums: Metallica - Metallica.