Main riff of "Iron Man"
Ozzy Osbourne
Geezer Butler took to writing the lyrics around the title, but was careful not to make it about the superhero of the same name so as to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit thus making the song telling the story of a vengeful villain instead of a superhero. Nonetheless, instrumental sections of the song would be used decades later in the 2008 feature film Iron Man at the beginning of the credits, and in the television commercials.
The lyrics tell the story of a man who time travels into the future of the world, and sees the apocalypse. When going back in time trying to warn the world, he is turned into iron by a magnetic field. Unable to speak, he is ignored and mocked by the other people. This causes Iron Man to become angry, and have his revenge on mankind, causing the destruction seen in his vision. The song is used in trailers for both films and and in the end credits of Iron Man(2008).
Awards and chart position
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- In 2000, 30 years after the song was first released, it won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
- (Iron Man" also won spot #310 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
- "Iron Man" was awarded the #1 spot on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs in 2006.
- The song peaked at #52 in 1972.
- The song returned to the charts in 2008 peaking at number 5 on Billboard's Hot Ringtones chart.
PersonnelEdit
- Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
- Tony Iommi - lead guitar
- Geezer Butler - bass guitar
- Bill Ward - drums
