Birmingham’s notoriously rebellious rock stars had everyone gathering “in their masses.” Born out of factory noise, postwar grit, and working-class roots, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward came together in 1968 to form what would become the heavy metal unit Black Sabbath. In just two years, they pioneered the genre with tracks like “Iron Man” and “War Pigs.” Despite the “satanic” reputation that long hovered over the band, and Osbourne’s infamous “bat-head chomping” incident, Black Sabbath were never actually the Devil’s band. What they were, however, was dark by nature. So in tune with that creative energy, the band once wrote one of their biggest songs on a whim as a quick afterthought.
Black Sabbath Originally Wrote “Paranoid” as a Filler Track for the ‘Paranoid’ Album
Released in August 1970, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” is widely recognized as one of the most accomplished heavy metal songs of all time. By the numbers alone, the song reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making it Black Sabbath’s first song to chart in both countries. Surprisingly, “Paranoid” made it to the mainstream. Not only did it attract their loyal fanbase, but as guitarist Iommi recounted, “Paranoid” earned them a spot on the popular show Top of the Pops and attracted “screaming girls.”
Despite its success, the band never intended “Paranoid” to be a hit.As bassist Butler explained in 2004, the song was written as a last-minute filler to complete the album.
“A lot of the Paranoid album was written around the time of our first album, Black Sabbath. We recorded the whole thing in about two or three 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.”
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Black Sabbath Almost Cut “Paranoid” for Sounding Too Much Like Led Zeppelin
Unlike the more political and complex tone of the album’s bigger hit, “War Pigs,” which critiques how the wealthy and powerful start wars while the poor suffer for their gain, “Paranoid is far more straightforward. The song follows a clear A-B-A-B (or A-A-B-B) structure, yet it remains just as in-your-face. Driven by its rumbling drums and punchy guitar riffs, “Paranoid” is self-explanatory: it’s about the feeling of being blinded by an ominous mental fog that takes over the mind, making it impossible to see happiness.
However, even if it was intended as a filler track, Black Sabbath still had doubts about releasing it. One of their major concerns was that “Paranoid” sounded too similar to Led Zeppelin‘s “Communication Breakdown,” which had been released only a year earlier. Black Sabbath themselves were fans of Led Zeppelin, having sat around and listened to their first album. As Butler later recounted, when Iommi wrote the riff for “Paranoid,” Osbourne immediately told him to scrap the song, prompting an instant debate within the band.
“In fact we ended up having quite a big argument about it. Guess who was wrong? The fact that it became such a big hit for us—and is now probably our best known song—says it all, really.”
From Megadeth to Weezer, “Paranoid” Became Every Rock Band’s Favorite Cover Song
Over the decades, “Paranoid” has become hugely influential, with bands across many rock genres putting their own spin on it. One of the most notable covers came from thrash metal giants Megadeth, who recorded the song for the 1994 tribute album Nativity in Black. Their version even earned a Grammy nomination in 1995 for Best Metal Performance. Somewhat ironically, during Black Sabbath’s final concert, Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo revealed that the band hadn’t been invited to perform. As LoMenzo later shrugged it off, “The truth of the matter is, I don’t believe that anybody asked us, which was fine. Not everybody gets invited to every party.”
On a lighter note, geek-rock favoritesWeezer also took a crack at “Paranoid,” covering the song for their 2019 Teal album. The record marked the band’s twelfth studio release and their first full album composed entirely of cover songs, featuring hits like “Africa” and “Billie Jean.” This wasn’t Weezer’s first foray into heavy rock, either. The band previously appeared on The Metallica Blacklist, the 2021 tribute album celebrating the 30th anniversary of Metallica’s Black Album, where they covered the iconic “Enter Sandman.” Just like what they did to “Paranoid,” true to form, Weezer put their own kitschy, alt-rock spin on the track while still staying faithful to its heavy rock core.
