"The Day That Never Comes" is a song by heavy metal band Metallica, and the lead single from their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic. The song was released to the radio and for digital download on August 21, 2008.

The working title of the song was "Casper", as shown in the Mission: Metallica videos and in "Demo Magnetic".

Like previous ballads and downbeat songs by Metallica, it is the fourth track of the album. Rock Sound has also compared the song to the likes of Thin Lizzy. The intro starts out with clean guitars that carry into the verses, while the choruses are backed with heavily distorted guitars. The bridge speeds up gradually and eventually leads into fast paced harmony between the guitars and a long guitar solo by Hammett, a build-up comparable to that of "One", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Fade to Black". The ending of the song, like the previously mentioned ballads, is purely instrumental, featuring numerous solos and chord progressions.

A music video for the song was filmed in the desert outside Los Angeles on July 31, 2008, directed by Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg. It was premiered on the band's official page at midnight on September 1, 2008.

The video depicts two Marines riding a HMMWV in a desert and getting hit by an explosion. After they take cover and look for the attacker, one of them reveals that he suffered a wound. The other Marine provides first aid and calls for help, and while he's eventually medevaced by a helicopter, it is implied that he fainted. The video then forwards to another situation involving the remaining Marine in another group riding a HMMWV and getting stopped in the road by a car and a civilian in front of it holding a jumper cable in the air. The group, suspecting it might be an ambush, circles around the car and keeps the man at gunpoint, only to find a woman in chador in the back seat. They order her out of the car, but she approaches the protagonist, who keeps holding her at gunpoint. The video then climaxes when the Marines nervously look at each other, fearing that she might be a suicide bomber, but eventually the Marine lowers his weapon and signals to the rest to do the same. The Marines help the man to push start the car, and the protagonist remains looking at the sky. Scenes of the band performing in the desert are interspersed within the video.

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