"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid (1970). It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] The song also topped the German Singles Chart. The song was written in the key of E Minor.
About[]
'Paranoid' was the first Black Sabbath single release, coming six months after their debut album was released. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (from Guitar World magazine, March 2004):
A lot of the "Paranoid" album was written around the time of our first album,"Black Sabbath". We recorded the whole thing in about 2 or 3 days, live in the studio. The song "Paranoid" was written as an afterthought. We basically needed a 3 minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff. I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy was reading them as he was singing.[3]
The song focuses on a paranoid man and the theme of paranoia, with the driving guitar and bass creating a nervous energy to go along with Butler's lyrics. Paranoid was also used as the name of the album, and somewhat unusually, the word paranoid is never mentioned in the lyrics. Originally the band had wanted to call the album "War Pigs" after the song of the same name, but the record company persuaded them to use Paranoid instead because it was less offensive. The album cover was a literal interpretation of a "War Pig"; it showed a pig with a sword and shield.[4]
The Wizard" a song from their first album, was used as the B-side of the single. The band waited 2 years before releasing their second single "Iron Man", because they did not want to become a "singles band", with kids coming to their show just to hear their hits. This also ensured that fans would buy the albums instead of individual singles.
In his book Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi stated he and Ozzy probably had no idea what the word "paranoid" even meant at that time. They left the lyrics to bassist Geezer Butler, whom they considered "the intelligent one". The band also famously performed the song on Top of the Pops in 1970. In 2002 Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Phil Collins, and Pino Palladino (of The Who) played this song in Buckingham Palace during the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
Legacy[]
"Paranoid" is consistently ranked as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It is typically associated with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath due to its popularity. After Osbourne left the band in 1979 to pursue a solo career, he continued to perform this track, normally at the end of the set. Various different live versions have been recorded with Osbourne. This is due to the changes in band line-up since the original Blizzard of Ozz in 1980. Popular live versions featuring various guitarists including Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde were all recorded and later released.
It was ranked No. 34 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.[5] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it number 250 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[6] and called the song, "a two-minute blast of protopunk".[7]
The original Black Sabbath recording has been used numerous times in various films and television shows including Sid & Nancy,[8] Dazed and Confused,[9] The Stoned Age,[10] Any Given Sunday,[11] Almost Famous,[12] and We Are Marshall.[13] The song was used in the Sega Mega Drive game Rock n' Roll Racing in 1993.
In Finland, "Paranoid" has the same status as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in the United States as a song the audience finds great humour to request during a concert. So regardless of the band or the style of music they're playing "Soittakaa Paranoid!" ("Play Paranoid!") can usually be heard at least once during any gig.[14][15]
Accolades[]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NME | United Kingdom | "All Time Top 100 Singles"[16] | 1976 | 41 |
| Spin | United States | "100 Greatest Singles of All Time"[17] | 1989 | 81 |
| Radio Veronica | Netherlands | "Super All-Time List"[18] | 1989 | 16 |
| [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame ] |
United States | "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs
that Shaped Rock and Roll"[19] |
1994 | * |
| Guitarist | United Kingdom | "Top 100 Guitar Solos of All-Time"[20] | 1998 | 84 |
| Rolling Stone | United States | "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"[21] | 2004 | 250 |
| Q | United Kingdom | "1010 Songs You Must Own!"[22] | 2004 | * |
| Q | United Kingdom | "100 Greatest Songs of All Time"[23] | 2006 | 100 |
| VH1 | United States | "40 Greatest Metal Songs"[24] | 2006 | 34 |
| VH1 | United States | "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"[25] | 2008 | 4 |
(*) designates unordered lists.
Covers[]
Cover versions of "Paranoid" were performed by the following artists:
- 1971: Corporal Gander's Fire Dog Brigade (On the Rocks)
- 1971: Cindy & Bert (German schlager version of the song "Der Hund von Baskerville", set to the tune of "Paranoid")
- 1979: The Dickies (The Incredible Shrinking Dickies)
- 1981: Angel Witch (known to have played the song in 1980s tours)
- 1990: Steel Pole Bath Tub (Lurch)
- 1992: Type O Negative (The Origin of the Feces)
- 1992: Master (Talk of the Devil)
- 1993: Big Country (as a b-side to the single Ships; later appeared on Under Cover)
- 1994: The Clay People (Tribute To Black Sabbath: Eternal Masters)
- 1994: Megadeth (Nativity in Black and Hidden Treasures; At the end of the recording, while the rest of the band stops, drummer Nick Menza continues playing until singer Dave Mustaine shouts to him, to which Menza replies profanely. The cover was later nominated for a Grammy[26])
- 1997: Adam Parfrey (A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows[27])
- 2002: 3rd Strike (Lost Angel; added rapping verse)
- 2003: Gus Black (Uncivilized Love)
- 2005: Show of Hands (a comedic snipped appeared in As You Were)
- 2006: Hellsongs (Lounge[28] and Hymns in the Key of 666[29])
- 2007: George Lynch (Guitar Slinger; with Mötley Crüe's singer Vince Neil[30])
- 2007: Mystic Prophecy (Satanic Curses)
- 2007: Queens of the Stone Age (live at the VH1 Rock Honors, 2007)
- 2008: The Dillinger Escape Plan (Under the Running Board reissue)
- 2009: Avenged Sevenfold (Covered, A Revolution in Sound[31])
- 2009: Green Day (played live on the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour)
- 2009: Metallica (played live at the 25th Anniversary of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert, with Osbourne guest singing. This track is playable in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.)
- 2010: Ministry (Undercover)
Track listing[]
- 7" single (Vertigo 6059 010)[32]
- "Paranoid" – 2:45
- "The Wizard" – 4:20
- 7" single (Vertigo 6059 014)
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Rat Salad" – 2:30
- 7" singles (Vertigo AS 109)
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Happy Being Me"[I] – 15:54
- 7" 1977 re-release (Immediate 103 466)
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Evil Woman" – 3:25
- 7" 1977 re-release (Nems SRS 510.044)
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Tomorrow's Dream" – 3:11
- 7" 1980 re-release (Spiegelei INT 110.604)
- "Paranoid" – 2:45
- "Snowblind" – 5:25
- I^ "Happy Being Me" is performed by Manfred Mann Chapter Three and appears on their second album Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two.
Chart positions[]
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Go-Set National Top 60[33] | 18 |
| Austrian Singles Chart[34] | 3 |
| German Singles Chart[35] | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart[36] | 12 |
| Italian Singles Chart[37] | 9 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart[34] | 2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart[34] | 6 |
| South African Springbok Radio Top 20[38] | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[34] | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart[39] | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[40] | 61 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100[41] | 79 |