Iron Man [song, not movie]
Yeah, title sucks, deal with it. I've been stuck under house arrest with some head lice or something. Bleh.
Not the point. Now, to the real reason I'm writing this.
I remember a time back when I was six-ish. I was listening to the radio and on came "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Yeah, that's my parents for ya. Have your impressionable six-year-old daughter listen to Black Sabbath when she goes to sleep. And they still won't admit that it's their fault I'm so... macabre.
Still not the point, but more to the point.
Anywhoo, I asked my mom about the song and she told me the story of Iron Man. I don't remember exactly what she said, but the song's really easy to interpret.
LYRICS:
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
why should we even care?
He was turned to steel
in the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
for the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
that he will soon unfurl
Now the time is here
for Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again!
It all starts with our hero, who, for whatever reason, travelled into the future. He stayed there for a while, long enough to witness... THE APOCOLYPSE! (dun dun dun!)
So he somehow survives this apocolypse and somehow goes back in time to warn everyone of their impending doom. Nice guy, huh?
But something went wrong.
Magnetic fields in the time stream turned his body to iron, rendering him hideous and worst of all speechless. Now nobody trusts him, nobody wants him, nobody acknowledges him, and he gets sick of it. So he becomes a superhero, thinking that maybe if he does this he can get on everyone's good side and find some way to warn everyone about the apocolypse.
But he becomes a wanted man - err, machine, I suppose - and everyone is on the hunt for Iron Man. They all want him dead after all he's done for them just because he looks different.
Needless to say he goes berserk and kills everyone. As it happens Iron Man ends up being the apocolypse that he was trying to warn everyone against. The sick, twisted irony of this? If he would've done nothing nothing would've happened.
It's like a cross between Umbrella Academy and That's So Raven. Like, the apocolypse thing and the time travel altering his body is from Umbrella Academy, the part about if he did nothing nothing would've transpired is from That's So Raven.
Though they both came after the song.
Another interpretation of this is that Iron Man is synonymous with Jesus. Everyone in the world has pretty much forgotten Him. Once there isn't a single person left who doesn't truly hold Him in their heart, He will strike.
Apparently Ozzy had this idea when he wrote the song or something. He can make everything macabre.
But I got the Jesus one from somewhere else. Half of the people think it's the first, half the second, and a few think it's about a Vietnam War soldier, a hobo, or even a guy who has to take a huge shit but ran out of toilet paper which the store conveniently ran out of. [I'm serious - that's really someone's interpretation of the song]
Anyways, I wrote this because I remember my Nine In The Afternoon blog and figured I'd try it again. I've been told I can interpret songs pretty well.
Not the point. Now, to the real reason I'm writing this.
I remember a time back when I was six-ish. I was listening to the radio and on came "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Yeah, that's my parents for ya. Have your impressionable six-year-old daughter listen to Black Sabbath when she goes to sleep. And they still won't admit that it's their fault I'm so... macabre.
Still not the point, but more to the point.
Anywhoo, I asked my mom about the song and she told me the story of Iron Man. I don't remember exactly what she said, but the song's really easy to interpret.
LYRICS:
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
why should we even care?
He was turned to steel
in the great magnetic field
When he travelled time
for the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
that he will soon unfurl
Now the time is here
for Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again!
It all starts with our hero, who, for whatever reason, travelled into the future. He stayed there for a while, long enough to witness... THE APOCOLYPSE! (dun dun dun!)
So he somehow survives this apocolypse and somehow goes back in time to warn everyone of their impending doom. Nice guy, huh?
But something went wrong.
Magnetic fields in the time stream turned his body to iron, rendering him hideous and worst of all speechless. Now nobody trusts him, nobody wants him, nobody acknowledges him, and he gets sick of it. So he becomes a superhero, thinking that maybe if he does this he can get on everyone's good side and find some way to warn everyone about the apocolypse.
But he becomes a wanted man - err, machine, I suppose - and everyone is on the hunt for Iron Man. They all want him dead after all he's done for them just because he looks different.
Needless to say he goes berserk and kills everyone. As it happens Iron Man ends up being the apocolypse that he was trying to warn everyone against. The sick, twisted irony of this? If he would've done nothing nothing would've happened.
It's like a cross between Umbrella Academy and That's So Raven. Like, the apocolypse thing and the time travel altering his body is from Umbrella Academy, the part about if he did nothing nothing would've transpired is from That's So Raven.
Though they both came after the song.
Another interpretation of this is that Iron Man is synonymous with Jesus. Everyone in the world has pretty much forgotten Him. Once there isn't a single person left who doesn't truly hold Him in their heart, He will strike.
Apparently Ozzy had this idea when he wrote the song or something. He can make everything macabre.
But I got the Jesus one from somewhere else. Half of the people think it's the first, half the second, and a few think it's about a Vietnam War soldier, a hobo, or even a guy who has to take a huge shit but ran out of toilet paper which the store conveniently ran out of. [I'm serious - that's really someone's interpretation of the song]
Anyways, I wrote this because I remember my Nine In The Afternoon blog and figured I'd try it again. I've been told I can interpret songs pretty well.
Great song. I've heard that whole story being told somewhere before, but I can't remeber where. Oh well. Good blog!
Blarg!, February 6th, 2009 at 05:57:21pm
There can be so many meanings to one song.
It's amazing how deep some song writers can get.
padfoot, February 6th, 2009 at 02:53:39pm
I offered my parents an Ozzy poster. LOL.
Skippy., February 6th, 2009 at 09:59:01am
I remember reading an interview with Tommi Iommi and he was talking about Iron Man, not the meaning of it as such, but how when they were in the studio coming up with material for Paranoid he said he had come up with a new riff, which he played and which we are all now familiar with. The guys listened and I guess given the apocalyptic sound of that riff Ozzy's mind couldn't really come up with anything other than what it did.
Grandma, February 5th, 2009 at 07:17:56pm
Wow, my parents also listened to Ozzy and Sabbath xD Look where I am now xD Iron Man is a great song (: sabbath are pretty cool too. I have a conversation with my dad for about an hour about Randy Rhodes and Zakk Wyld (or like however it's spelt) Because he's a guitarist (: Enough about me.
Awesome blog I must say [: ! Also, head lice sucks D: I mean, having your head in a sink for 45 minutes is pretty painful after a while.
icegirl., February 5th, 2009 at 03:43:29am