Iron Man (song)

original song written, composed, and performed by Black Sabbath

Iron Man is a song by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was first released on 18 September 1970 as the fourth track on the band's second album Paranoid. It was later released as the second and final single from the album in October 1971. The song is one of the band's biggest hits.

"Iron Man"
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Paranoid
B-side"Electric Funeral"
ReleasedOctober 1971[1]
RecordedJune 1970
GenreHeavy metal
Length
  • 5:56 (album version)
  • 3:33 (single version)
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
"Children of the Grave"
(1971)
"Iron Man"
(1971)
"Tomorrow's Dream"
(1972)

Background and composition

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"Iron Man" is about a man who travels to the future and sees the apocalypse. On his way back, he is caught in Earth's magnetic field, and turned to steel. When he comes back, he tries to warn the people about the apocalypse, but they do not believe him, and shun him, so he takes his revenge by killing them all, thus bringing about the apocalypse he saw. It would appear that he died and came back to life, for "vengeance from the grave kills the people he once saved" is a line from the song.

The title of the song was conceived by Ozzy Osbourne.[2] Geezer Butler took to writing the lyrics around the title. The song was called "Iron Bloke" originally. Upon hearing the main guitar riff for the first time, Osbourne said it sounded "like a big iron bloke walking about".[3] The title was later changed to "Iron Man".

Reception and legacy

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The song peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, and its riff is one of the most easily recognizable in all of music. The live rendition of the song from Black Sabbath's 1998 live album Reunion won them the 2000 Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance.[4]

It ranked in 317th place on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and in 7th place on their "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time" list in March of 2023.[5][6]

"Iron Man" was used in the end credits of Iron Man (2008), its video game adaptation and the trailer for the 2010 sequel, Iron Man 2.

The professional wrestling tag team The Road Warriors used "Iron Man" as their entrance theme in the mid-1980s in the American Wrestling Association and other promotions.

Covers

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References

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  1. Hung, Steffen. "Black Sabbath - Iron Man". hitparade.ch.
  2. "Tony Iommi & Geezer Butler Interview - May 1994". Black Sabbath Online. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
  3. Classic Albums - Paranoid, by Isis Productions/Eagle Rock Entertainment
  4. "Black Sabbath". GRAMMY.com. 23 November 2020.
  5. "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2023-03-13. Archived from the original on 2023-03-13. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  6. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
  7. Bush, John. "Review: First Band on the Moon". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  8. Collar, Matt. "Review: Give". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  9. "Metallica - Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover)". YouTube. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  10. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  11. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Samples)". Hypetrak.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2023-02-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)