Iron Man (song)

"Iron Man" is the name of a song by Black Sabbath. It was on their second album, Paranoid (1970). The song is one of Black Sabbath's greatest hits. "Iron Man" appears to be about a man who travels to the future and witnesses 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.

"Iron Man" has been used many times, and is frequently performed at events. Its riff has become one of the most easily recognizable riffs in music.

The 2008 movie Iron Man features portions of this song at the end of the movie.

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

Covers

• Green Day covered part of the song live.
• The Cardigans covered a jazz version of the song on their 1996 album, First Band on the Moon.
• Cat Rapes Dog covered the song for the 1990 single, "Fundamental".
• Electric Eel Shock from Japan recorded an up tempo version on their 2005 album Beat Me they also often open live shows with the intro.
• Giant Sand covered the song on their 2002 album, Cover Magazine.
• The Bad Plus covered the song on their 2004 album, Give.
• Sir Mix-a-Lot (backed by metal band Metal Church) covered the song with new lyrics on Mix-A-Lot's 1988 album, Swass.
• NOFX recorded a cover of the song which was released years later on their 1992 compilation, Maximum Rocknroll.
• Irish band Therapy? covered the song for the 1994 Black Sabbath tribute album, Nativity in Black. Vocals on the track were provided by Ozzy Osbourne, who sang on the original.
• Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids covered the song on their 1990 demos, albeit with the lyrics altered to make reference to the Son of Sam murders.
• Metallica covered the song when Black Sabbath was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
• Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder has, on occasion, such as at the Reading Festival 2006, played the song humorously on ukulele.
• Kanye West samples the song on his song "Hell of a Life" on his album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
• Four Tet performs an instrumental cover on the Black Sabbath covers album, Everything Comes & Goes.
• William Shatner covers the song alongside Zakk Wylde (former Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist) on his 2011 album, Seeking Major Tom.
• Comedian Bob Rivers recorded a parody as the title track of his album, I Am Santa Claus.
• Phish covered the song at their New Year's Eve show at Madison Square Garden on 31 December 2012. The cover was their final song of the encore and tour, with Page McConnell on vocals.
• Cancer Bats covered the song on the 2013 re-issue of their 2012 album, Dead Set on Living. This "Deluxe" or "Bat Sabbath" version included 9 extra tracks, all being Black Sabbath covers.
• Tanzwut used the main riff as melody in their song "Eisenmann" on their self-titled debut album.