Was pigs
| Was pigs | |
|---|---|
| Black Sabbath | |
| publication | September 18, 1970 |
| length | 7:55 |
| Genre (s) | Rock , heavy metal |
| Author (s) | Bill Ward , Geezer Butler , Tony Iommi , Ozzy Osbourne |
| Label | Vertigo Records |
| album | Paranoid |
| Cover versions | |
| 1988 | Sacred realm |
| 1989 | Faith No More |
War Pigs (German "war pigs ") is a song by the English band Black Sabbath , which was released in 1970 as the opening song and with a length of 7:55 minutes longest song on the album Paranoid . As a classic of rock and early heavy metal music, it was picked up by numerous artists in the following decades and published as a cover version .
background
The song War Pigs is about the desire of humans to kill and destroy. Black Sabbath were inspired for the song by descriptions of war they heard while touring Europe at an American air force base. In addition, the USA was in the Vietnam War and Great Britain was already preparing to enter the war. Geezer Butler named the protests against the war as one of the main inspirations of the song in an interview. They wrote the song in Zurich, where they performed shortly afterwards. Contrary to what is often interpreted, the song is not a glorification of war, but an anti-war song, in which the actions of the "war pigs", the warmongers, are accused.
The song describes the planning and execution of the war that leads to the killing of many people and destruction. In the first verse, he compares the generals to witches during a black mass ("just like witches at black masses") while they are planning the destruction. This contrasts with the burning bodies and the war machines on the battlefield (“In the fields the bodies burning, as the war machine keeps turning”). The second stanza deals with the role of politicians who shirk responsibility and see no reason to go into battle themselves. They leave this to the poor and see war only as a joke in which they use people like pawns in a game of chess (“Making was just for fun, treating people just like pawns in chess”). The last stanza looks at the world after the war, when darkness settles on the world. The "War Pigs" are losing their power and God calls for the Day of Retribution, when they crawl on their knees and ask for mercy. The winner of the war is only Satan , who laughs and spreads his wings.
Ozzy Osbourne took over the vocals, accompanied by Bill Ward , Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi on drums, bass and guitar. Much of the song, which is more than seven minutes long, consists of instrumental passages that are interrupted by the three stanzas.
Publication and response
The album Paranoid was released in September 1970 by Vertigo Records and contained the song War Pigs as the first and longest song. All tracks were composed and written by Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne. The album was originally supposed to be called War Pigs, but that was too provocative for the record company.
The album was internationally successful and was able to place in the charts. It reached second place in the German album charts and stayed in the top 100 for 7 weeks. At the same time, the single Paranoid rose to number 1 in the German single charts and remained in the charts for 13 weeks and was also able to place itself in the charts of other international hit parades, for example in Switzerland and Austria. War Pigs itself was released as a single in 1971, but couldn't make it into the charts. Like Paranoid and the song Iron Man , which was also included on the album, it became a rock classic that is still included on several compilations of rock and heavy metal songs. Along with these, it is considered a rock standard.
Cover versions
War Pigs was mainly covered and re-released by several bands and musicians in the 1990s and 2000s. As a rule, the original song was reinterpreted, the range of musical directions ranges from various rock, metal, black metal and punk interpretations to songs by the band Hayseed Dixie , a blues version of, played on banjos and mandolins Ruthie Foster or a version of the funk and brass band Bonerama . The bands and performers who released the song in a cover version include: u. a.
The best-known and earliest cover versions include the interpretation of Sacred Reich on her album Surf Nicaragua 1988 and the version of Faith No More , which she performed for the first time in 1989 for the album The Real Thing and again live for Live at the Brixton Academy by 1990 recordings. The live cover then appeared in 1994 on the tribute album Nativity in Black , on which numerous other cover versions of Black Sabbath songs were published.
- 1982: Ozzy Osbourne - War Pigs
- 1988: Sacred Reich - War Pigs
- 1989: Faith No More - War Pigs
- 1990: Freakwater - War Pigs
- 1998: Bathory - War Pigs
- 1999: Gov't Mule - War Pigs
- 1999: Loudness - War Pigs
- 2000: Dream Theater - War Pigs
- 2000: Vital Remains - War Pigs
- 2005: Bonerama - War Pigs
- 2005: Michael Schenker feat. Tim "Ripper" Owens - War Pigs
- 2005: The Dresden Dolls - War Pigs
- 2006: Hayseed Dixie - War Pigs
- 2007: Cake - War Pigs
- 2007: Freya - War Pigs
- 2007: Tesla - War Pigs
- 2009: Deathrow - War Pigs
- 2009: Suck - War Pigs
- 2012: The Acacia Strain - War Pigs
- 2012: Bushman's Revenge - War Pigs
- 2012: Hellsongs - War Pigs
- 2013: Cancer Bats - War Pigs
- 2013: Avatarium - War Pigs
- 2017: Ruthie Foster - War Pigs
In total, cover.info lists 33 cover versions and secondhandsongs.com 47 versions of the song (as of July 2020).
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet on songfacts.com, accessed July 19, 2020.
- ↑ Paranoid on discogs.com, accessed July 28, 2020.
- ↑ Black Sabbath - Paranoid (album). hitparade.ch, accessed on July 28, 2020 .
- ^ Black Sabbath - Paranoid (Song). hitparade.ch, accessed on July 28, 2020 .
- ↑ Paranoid , album review on allmusic.com, accessed July 30, 2020.
- ↑ a b War Pigs on secondhandsongs.com, accessed July 28, 2020.
- ↑ a b War Pigs on cover.info, accessed July 28, 2020.
- ↑ Black Sabbath - War Pigs. hitparade.ch, accessed on July 28, 2020 .