Black Sabbath (song)

Black Sabbath is a song by the band Black Sabbath from the 1970 debut album of the same name . Because of the riffs , which sounded unusually dark for the time , it contributed significantly to the fact that the album is today one of the first "real" Metal albums. The song has been covered by numerous bands, including Type O Negative , Vader and live by Grave Digger , Megadeth and others.

The music was written by all band members; the text is by Ozzy Osbourne .

structure

The 6:21 minute long song begins with rain noises and bells, which are abruptly replaced by a heavy guitar riff in the key of G minor , played at 68 beats per minute . The riff consists of two bars , which is repeated over a large part of the song. It is based on a G5 power chord held over two notes , the highest note of which is then struck again and held for the same length. In the second bar a single Db is played, which is decorated by Tony Iommi with a fast trill in the fifth fret of the A string (note D) in every odd run of the riff (with the exception of the verses) . The change between G and Db corresponds to the interval of a tritone , the use of which is a trademark of the band, which gives the riff a dissonant sound.

After repeating the motif four times, all instruments decrease their volume, two more later Ozzy Osbourne's vocals begin. The following chorus is again kept purely instrumental and corresponds 100% to the intro riff described above .

After another block of stanzas and choruses the tempo doubles to 132 bpm and Iommi starts with an eighth triplet riff, which is driven by a ternary eighth notes by bassist Geezer Butler , where the first note of a “triplet” is emphasized Maintains rhythm. Osbourne sings the last verse, then the riff changes again. Iommi alternately plays long G5 and B5 chords, which are accompanied by a descending bass line (sequence: GFE Eb) over four bars. Immediately after the first round, the guitar solo begins, which consists exclusively of G minor pentatonic material and has typical blues elements (whole-tone bendings , unison bendings, occasional quarter-tone bendings). This reflects the fact that the band's debut album was heavily influenced by the blues. The chords are then played briefly in a triplet pattern, after which the song ends.

text

The text is about the condemnation of the protagonist. Satan appears to him as a black figure with fiery eyes pointing at him. The protagonist flees from him and realizes that he was chosen by Satan. He sees the flames rise up around him and calls on God for help. The text was inspired by Butler's experience with the occult and is intended to warn against experimentation with it. In the book Lords of Chaos this is referred to as "an almost Christian fear of demons and witchcraft". The Catholic -bred Butler was a magazine with a Satanist , confronted the world view of things that had been told as Catholics and in the course of his employment in order to face this, happened to him, "terrible things". The original third verse can only be heard on Bootlegs and the version of Black Sabbath on The Ozzman Cometh .

Web links

Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath) . In: Songlexikon ; Retrieved May 21, 2012

Individual evidence

↑ List of cover versions from black-sabbath.de (2001) accessed on June 14, 2013.
^ "A warning against dabbling in the occult, inspired by Geezer's frightening experiences." BLACK SABBATH - FAQ verion 2.0 .
^ "Although members of the band talk of the occult, and Ozzy Osbourne later in his solo career wrote his own paean to the" Great Beast "with the song" Mr. Crowley, "a closer look at the lyrics of Black Sabbath does not uncover any serious Satanic philosophy. To the contrary, it reveals an almost Christian fear of demons and sorcery. " Michael Moynihan , Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos . First edition. Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 5.
↑ "I was really interested because I was brought up Catholic. When I was a kid, I was a religious maniac. I loved anything to do with religion and God. Being a catholic, every week you hear what the Devil does, and “Satan's this” and “Satan's that”, so you really believe in it. What sparked my interest was when I was in London around 1966-67. There was a hole new culture happening and this one guy used to sell these black magic magazines. I read one magazine and thought, “Oh yeah, I never thought of it like that” —Satan's point of view. [...] I found out Satanism was around before any Christian or Jewish religion. It's an incredibly interesting subject. I sort of got more into the black side of it and was putting upside-down crosses on my wall and pictures of Satan all over. I painted my apartment black. I was getting really involved in it and all those horrible things started happening to me. You come to a point where you cross over and totally follow it and totally forget about Jesus and God. “Are you going to do it? Yes or no? " No, I don't think so. "Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos , First Edition, Feral House 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 5.
^ Black Sabbath (The Album) ( Memento July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).

[Coverliste-1] List of cover versions from black-sabbath.de (2001) accessed on June 14, 2013.

[2] "A warning against dabbling in the occult, inspired by Geezer's frightening experiences." BLACK SABBATH - FAQ verion 2.0 .

[3] "Although members of the band talk of the occult, and Ozzy Osbourne later in his solo career wrote his own paean to the" Great Beast "with the song" Mr. Crowley, "a closer look at the lyrics of Black Sabbath does not uncover any serious Satanic philosophy. To the contrary, it reveals an almost Christian fear of demons and sorcery. " Michael Moynihan , Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos . First edition. Feral House, 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 5.

[4] "I was really interested because I was brought up Catholic. When I was a kid, I was a religious maniac. I loved anything to do with religion and God. Being a catholic, every week you hear what the Devil does, and “Satan's this” and “Satan's that”, so you really believe in it. What sparked my interest was when I was in London around 1966-67. There was a hole new culture happening and this one guy used to sell these black magic magazines. I read one magazine and thought, “Oh yeah, I never thought of it like that” —Satan's point of view. [...] I found out Satanism was around before any Christian or Jewish religion. It's an incredibly interesting subject. I sort of got more into the black side of it and was putting upside-down crosses on my wall and pictures of Satan all over. I painted my apartment black. I was getting really involved in it and all those horrible things started happening to me. You come to a point where you cross over and totally follow it and totally forget about Jesus and God. “Are you going to do it? Yes or no? " No, I don't think so. "Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos , First Edition, Feral House 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 5.

[5] Black Sabbath (The Album) ( Memento July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).


Studio albums	Black Sabbath (1970) • Paranoid (1970) • Master of Reality (1971) • Volume 4 (1972) • Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) • Sabotage (1975) • Technical Ecstasy (1976) • Never Say Die! (1978) • Heaven and Hell (1980) • Mob Rules (1981) • Born Again (1983) • Seventh Star (1986) • The Eternal Idol (1987) • Headless Cross (1989) • Tyr (1990) • Dehumanizer (1992 ) • Cross Purposes (1994) • Forbidden (1995) • 13 (2013)
Live albums	Live at Last (1980) • Live Evil (1982) • Cross Purposes Live (1995) • Reunion (1998) • Black Sabbath - Live at Hammersmith Odeon (2007)
Compilation albums	We Sold Our Soul For Rock & Roll (1976) • The Best of Black Sabbath (2000) • Greatest Hits 1970–1978 (2007) • Black Sabbath: The Dio Years (2007) •
Singles	Black Sabbath (1970) • Evil Woman (1970) • NIB • Paranoid (1970) • The Wizard (1970) • Iron Man (1971) • War Pigs (1971) • Fairies Wear Boots (1971) • Sweat Leaf (1971) • Children of the Grave (1971) • After Forever (1972) • Snowblind (1972) • Tomorrow's Dream (1972) • Supernaut (1973) • Changes (1973) • Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973) • Sabbra Cadabra (1974) • Am I Going Insane (1975) • Hole in the Sky (1975) • Symptom of the Universe (1975) • Rock'Roll Doctor (1976) • Never Say Die (1978) • Hard Road (1978) • Dirty Woman (1979) • Neon Knights (1980) • The Young (1980) • Mob Rules (1981) • Turn Up the Night (1982) • Voodoo (1982) • Trashed (1983) • No Stranger to Love (1986) • The Shining (1987) • Headless Cross (1989) • Devil and Daughter (1989) • Feels Good to Me (1990) • TV Crimes (1992) • The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1994) • Psycho Man (1998) • Selling My Soul (1999) • The Devil Cried (2007) • God is Dead? (2013) • End of the Beginning (2013) • The Loner (2013)