The 6.66 Most Christian Songs of Black Sabbath

by Saliha Enzenauer

How many of us had to hide our Black Sabbath records from the parents: they looked satanic with witches on them covers, sounded satanic echoing lyrics sprinkled with variations of Lucifer’s name, and the bandname promised nothing good but a Carrie-style carnage while you were trying to peacefully enjoy your Sabbath meal (Lucifer an antisemite?).

I have heard of Mothers who ripped Black Sabbath posters from their son’s walls, and my own father did a research on if I could possibly be satanic after a closer inspection of their records that I was blasting out loud. I didn’t really know what a Satanist was back then and I’m not sure if I do now, but every morning in the school bus a mysterious young couple walked in 3 stations after mine: pale and all dressed in black, both wearing a little bottle of blood on a necklace. They had my full respect – they looked very mature and with a secret knowledge which probably applies to all individuals living out subculture to the full, but those two I imagined on graveyards and full-moon sacrifices through the remaining bus ride and so I chose to be quiet in awe until it was over. I never heard them talk either, which clearly added to the dark flair that they gave themselves .

My favorite Ozzy anecdote that he tells in his biography is that of fans camping in front of his hotel room door with the full Satanic starter-kit: a pentagram drawn on the floor, candles lit up, spirits cooking. When Ozzy walks out of the hotel room and is confronted with the scenery, he bends down, blows the candles off and smiles at the group: „Happy Birthday!“

And this anecdote along with the two smileys tattoed on Ozzy’s knee-caps probably tell us best about the nature of the relation between the members of Black Sabbath and the Church of Satan: a big misunderstanding and laughable number. Not only that, but Black Sabbath have a lot of references condemning or at most just anxiously respecting Satan, and rather advocating for the fallen angel’s opposite force that is God and one monothestic religion like Christianity.

I wouldn’t go so far to call Black Sabbath the first Christian Metal Band, since there is a difference between true faith and lordship and the mere reference to Christian truth in rather few lyrics. Yet still, the references are there and stand in stark contrast to this bands public Satanic image that still lingers around, fed by episodes by Ozzy biting off a bat’s head etc.

Before we move on to the Vatican-Rock of Black Sabbath, let’s extract the two big truths that can be found here in this popular misunderstanding: the outwardly open pale Satanists with their signature look of black clothes and pentagrams are not the ones we should really fear. They’re just playing and flirting with a certain idea that they mainly touch on the aesthetic surface, driving it to a caricature level. And they are also not the brightest candles on the cake to buy into the cheapest branding like that implemented by Black Sabbath, completely blending out the crosses on those people’s necks and some of their lyrics.

It also shows that Black Sabbath are not the most sophisticated guys and mainly wanted one thing: to have fun and rock. Truly poor working class guys who wanted to have some fun and drugs and girls and who are not really concerned with unraveling the dark secret truths of the world. They are not on par with cosmic seers like Kubrick and his Eyes Wide Shut, or Bowie with Blackstar, or even Nic Pizzolatto with True Detective, where those artists dealt with the Satanic structures they recognzed in our societies.

Or is it all just a huge distraction by the devil herself, Sharon Osbourne, who in the end achieved her goal and made Satanism great and relevant again? We will never know for sure, but maybe this list of Christian Black Sabbath songs help to shed light on the mystery.

Enjoy in shivering fetal position, thumb in mouth!

1. ‘Black Sabbath’ (Black Sabbath, 1970)
„What is this that stands before me?“ It’s Satan!
The song is a warning of all sorts of black magic. You are the chosen one because you are sure guilty of something, and s/he has come to get you and throw you into the burning flames of hell and bend to the evil’s will- you are left crawling and begging: “Oh no, no, no, please God help me”. For the cynicals of you this might sound like a mockery of God, but truly- do these lines endorse you to search salvation in the tender and loving arms of the devil? No. It scares the hell out of you. Instead, God is the protector to whom people turn to in slightly problematic situations. So if one force is empowered here, then it’s God.

2. ‘N.I.B.’ (Black Sabbath, 1970)
N.I.B. is the next of just two songs on Black Sabbath’s debut album where the devil is mentioned by name. According to Geezer it is a tongue-in-cheek song about how Lucifer would think about everything if he fell in love- a very beautiful and cute thought actually, but apparently nobody got the point: “People in America only had to hear the words Lucifer and Satan and nobody cared for the rest of the lyrics anymore. Which was a shame, because some of my other Black Sabbath lyrics were really religious.“, Geezer commented.

“Some people say my love cannot be true
Please believe me, my love, and i’ll show you
I will give you those things you thought unreal
The sun, the moon, the stars all bear my seal
…
Look into my eyes, you will see who i am
My name is Lucifer, please take my hand“

3. ‘War Pigs’ (Paranoid, 1970)
War Pigs is the phenomenal opener of ‘Paranoid’ and sets off with the unforgettable lines:

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses

Being a fierce anti-war song, it condemns the hypocrisy of politicians and propagandists sending young men into war to die. But there’s justice of biblical proportions in the Black Sabbath universe: The war pigs receive their pay packet on Judgement Day, where they beg for forgiveness on their knees while “Satan laughing spreads his wings“.
Now, “no more war pigs have the power / Hand of God has struck the hour / Day of judgement, God is calling / On their knees the war pig’s crawling“.

It is a sophisticated observation Geezer makes here: the symbiotic division of labor between God and the Beelzebub.

Afraid of American sensitivities concerning the Vietnam War, the record company decided against ‘War Pigs‘ as record title and opted for ‘Paranoid‘ instead. But because there was no time left to change the record cover, its illustration of a piggish-pink man storming out of the forest with helmet, sword, and shield remains confusing and trippy to this day.

4. ‘After Forever’ ( Master Of Reality, 1971)
Whatever Geezer Butler did to get away from the satanic image and express his faith in God, it was just never right. Like many things concerning faith were the context of church is missing, ‘After Forever‘ was labeled as ‘blasphemic’ by the church and satanists were mad at Black Sabbath for running over to God.
The message of the song is a bit confusing and contradictionary. Had Geezer expressed an ironic rejection of organized religion or rather created a spiritual reinsurance for a band that was haunted by death-threats and curses?
Ozzy sings of having seen the “light and truth“, and having changed his life in order to not belong to the group of people “who are lonely and scared at the end of our days“. He condemns those who don’t recognize that „God is the only way to love“ or those who are scared at being laughed at if they show it openly. The song concludes like a roaring thunder at Judgement Day: „I think it was true it was people like you / That crucified Christ“.

In 1990, Ozzy answered the Gretchen-question in an interview: „I believe in God. I don’t believe in the devil. I am no worshipper of Satan. My kids do not hang from the ceiling while sleeping in the attic.”

5. ‘Into The Void’ (Master Of Reality, 1971)
In this track the Birmingham-Four condemn wars, bigotry, brain-washing, meanness, the pollution of the world, and they dream of an escape in a spaceship to a place „where love is here to stay“- „Leave the earth to Satan and his slaves / Leave them to their future in the grave.“

„No matter how often we told people that all of this Satan talk is not meant seriously- they would answer ‘Sure…you can’t fool me’ and give you a knowing wink“ Ozzy complained frustratedly.

6.’Under The Sun’ (Vol. 4, 1972)
The Black Sabbath members had some good, nihilistic snorts of Cocaine during the recordings of ‘Vol 4’, with the icicles in Geezer’s brain readjusting the centre of all things along to where it belongs – his self. Same icicles probably triggering a new truth by more relentlessly regarding God and Satan as two sides of the same coin. Probably the wisest of all Sabbath songs, and another example of how drugs can open the doors of perception.

“Well, I don’t want no Jesus freak to tell me what it’s all about
No black magician telling me to cast my soul out
Don’t believe in violence, I don’t even believe in peace
I’ve opened the door, now my mind has been released

Well, I don’t want no preacher telling me about the god in the sky
No, I don’t want no one to tell me where I’m gonna go when I die
I want to live my life, I don’t want people telling me what to do
I just believe in myself ’cause no one else is true“

6.66: ‘God Is Dead?’ (13, 2013)
What can I say? Just savor these lyrics- recite them out loud with your most expressive and dramatic voice, the way true poetry is supposed to be read and felt:

Lost in the darkness
I fade from the light
Faith of my father, my brother, my Maker and Savior
Help me make it through the night
Blood on my conscious
And murder in mind
Out of the gloom I rise up from my tomb into impending doom
Now my body is my shrine

The blood runs free
The rain turns red
Give me the wine
You keep the bread

The voices echo in my head
Is God alive or is God dead?
Is God dead?

Rivers of evil
Run through dying land
Swimming in sorrow, they kill, steal, and borrow, there is no tomorrow
For the sinners will be damned
Ashes to ashes
You cannot exhume a soul
Who do you trust when corruption and lust, creed of all the unjust,
Leaves you empty and unwhole?
When will this nightmare be over? Tell me!
When can I empty my head?
Will someone tell me the answer?
Is God really dead?
Is God really dead?

To safeguard my philosophy
Until my dying breath
I transfer from reality
Into a mental death
I empathize with enemes
Until the timing’s right
With God and Satan at my side
From darkness will come light

I watch the rain
As it turns red
Give me more wine
I don’t need bread

These riddles that live in my head
I don’t believe that God is dead
God is dead

Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
Wondering if we will meet again
On the other side
Do you believe a word
What the good book said?
Or is it just a holy fairytale
And God is dead?
God is dead, God is dead
God is dead, God is dead

Right!

But still the voices in my head
Are telling me that God is dead
The blood pours down
The rain turns red
I don’t believe that God is dead
God is dead, God is dead
God is dead

No more words needed.

by Saliha Enzenauer