My tribute week (and a half) to Ozzy Osbourne wraps up with this post. Today I’ll discuss one of Black Sabbath’s most significant songs, perhaps their most profound and noted work.

In 1970 Black Sabbath released two albums – their self-titled debut, and the breakout hit record Paranoid. The latter has a whole story behind its name which directly relates to today’s song, so of course we’ll get into it.

Sabbath originally had the framework for a song they were going to call Walpurgis, which is some kind of pagan or witch’s sabbath. The record label was not cool with the name so they changed the song’s name to War Pigs. The band’s intent was also to name the album the same thing, so they devised a cover photo with someone dressed (loosely) as a pig, with a sword to indicate war-inclined thoughts, I guess.

The record label again intervened, this time because a quickly-recorded single from the record had gained a ton of traction and the label wanted the album named after that song. The record was rechristened Paranoid, but the band were stuck with the odd sword guy on the cover because there wasn’t enough time for a different concept.

Everything worked out in the end – Paranoid the album became the band’s breakthrough hit and also their signature record. Paranoid the song was the band’s biggest hit single, and War Pigs became a foundational track of heavy metal on its own.

The song opens with a plodding duel between Geezer Butler’s bass and Tony Iommi’s guitar, with Geezer anchoring the proceedings. Air raid sirens come in to generate the war atmosphere being discussed here. It’s a very effective intro for setting the tone.

The song delivers three verses without any sort of chorus or deviation. These feature short bursts of Bill Ward’s drumming with Iommi and Butler going on their own paths while Ozzy offers up the dark lyrics conflating warmongering politicians with evil and Satan. Each verse is broken up by jam-style pounding, fitting since the song was conceived out of jams the band used to do to fill time in sets in their early days.

The coupling of war-motivated politicians and evil was the original goal of lyricist Geezer Butler. Anti-war sentiment was huge around this time, as the US had mistakenly involved itself in Vietnam while UK residents were fearful of being dragged into it. Sabbath members have offered up differing opinions of just how much Vietnam played in the song’s conception – Butler considered it a central point, while Osbourne felt this was more just a general anti-war song. But there’s no denying War Pigs has a connection to the Vietnam era.

War Pigs caught fire with the crowds around the world also concerned about warmongering and became an immortal hit despite not being released as a single. The song has gone on to be one of the most covered tracks in history, both within heavy metal and beyond. It is often cited near the top of countless best of Black Sabbath lists as well as heavy metal and rock offerings. The song did not chart originally due to not being a single, but Black Sabbath’s final tour in the 2010’s did see War Pigs dance around the UK charts, and it again showed up after Ozzy’s death a few weeks ago.

War Pigs is one of heavy metal’s greatest treasures. The song has withstood the shift of time and generations to become immortalized in the collective conscious, both as an anti-war protest and as a heavy metal masterpiece. It is a true crown jewel in the legacy of heavy metal’s most iconic band, Black Sabbath.

This post concludes my Ozzy Osbourne tribute. There will be more Ozzy posts in the future, of course, but next week I will get up to some other stuff. There are a few unusual posts next Monday and Wednesday, one a commemoration and the other a hilarious story I was just made aware of last week. ‘Till then.