Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)

Last updated

"Paranoid"
Paranoid-The Wizard 1970 7.jpg
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Paranoid
B-side "The Wizard"
Released7 August 1970 [1]
RecordedJune 1970
Studio Island Studios, London [2]
Genre
Length2:48
Label Vertigo
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
"The Wizard"
(1970)		"Paranoid"
(1970)		"Children of the Grave"
(1971)
Music video
"Paranoid" on YouTube

"Paranoid" is a song by English rock band Black Sabbath, released in 1970 off the band's second studio album, Paranoid (1970). It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". The song is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It reached number 4 on the UK singles chart and number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100. [1]

Contents

Song information

"Paranoid" was the first Black Sabbath single release, coming six months after their self-titled debut was released. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (from Guitar World magazine, March 2004):

A lot of the Paranoid album was written around the time of our first album, Black Sabbath. We recorded the whole thing in about 2 or 3 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. [6]

The song is an E minor pentatonic and only uses power chords. The guitar solo is a dry signal on the left channel, which is patched through a ring modulator and routed to the right channel; this effect was used again on the 1978 song, "Johnny Blade".

According to extant lyric sheets, "Paranoid" was at one time titled "The Paranoid." [7]

"Paranoid" eventually became the name of the album, and somewhat unusually, the word paranoid is never mentioned in the lyrics. Originally, the band had wanted to call the album War Pigs after the song of the same name, but the record company persuaded them to use "Paranoid" instead because it was less offensive. [8]

"Paranoid" drew controversy for apparently encouraging suicide, much like the song "Suicide Solution". Particularly, the lyric "I tell you to enjoy life" was misheard as "I tell you to end your life". [9]

Reception

Cash Box described the song as being "as dense, musically as 'Whole Lotta Love,'" stating that "crashing, non-stop beat with gobs of bass and drums laced liberally with stinging, echoey vocals and hot guitar licks move the song along at a blistering pace." [10]

"Paranoid" was ranked No. 34 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. [11] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it number 250 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time [12] and 13th on their 2023 list "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time." [13] "Paranoid" was ranked the fifth best Black Sabbath song by Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check. [14] In 2020, Kerrang ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest Black Sabbath songs, [15] and in 2021, Louder Sound ranked the song number six on their list of the 40 greatest Black Sabbath songs. [16]

Personnel

Accolades

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
NME United Kingdom"All Time Top 100 Singles" [17] 197641
Spin United States"100 Greatest Singles of All Time" [18] 198981
Radio Veronica Netherlands"Super All-Time List" [19] 198916
Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
United States"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs
that Shaped Rock and Roll" [20]
1994*
Guitarist United Kingdom"Top 100 Guitar Solos of All-Time" [21] 199884
Rolling Stone United States"500 Greatest Songs of All Time" [22] 2004250
Q United Kingdom"1010 Songs You Must Own!" [23] 2004*
Q United Kingdom"100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!" [24] 200511
Q United Kingdom"100 Greatest Songs of All Time" [25] 2006100
VH1 United States"40 Greatest Metal Songs" [26] 20061
VH1 United States"100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs" [27] 20084

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

  1. "Paranoid" – 2:45
  2. "The Wizard" – 4:20
  1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
  2. "Rat Salad" – 2:30
  1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
  2. "Happy Being Me" [I] – 15:54
  1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
  2. "Evil Woman" – 3:25
  1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
  2. "Tomorrow's Dream" – 3:11
  1. "Paranoid" – 2:45
  2. "Snowblind" – 5:25

Note

Charts

Chart (1970–1971)Peak
position
Australian Go-Set National Top 60 [29] 18
Austrian Singles Chart [30] 3
Canadian Singles Chart [31] 54
Danish Singles Chart 1
French Singles Chart [32] 7
Irish Singles Chart [33] 12
Italian Singles Chart [34] 9
Netherlands Singles Chart [30] 2
Norwegian Singles Chart [30] 6
South African Springbok Radio Top 20 [35] 3
Swiss Singles Chart [30] 2
UK Singles Chart [30] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [36] 61
US Cashbox Top 100 [37] 79
West German Singles Chart [38] 1
Chart (2023)Peak
position
Hungary (Single Top 40) [39] 20

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [40] Gold45,000‡
Germany (BVMI) [41] Gold250,000‡
Italy (FIMI) [42] Platinum50,000‡
Poland (ZPAV) [43] Gold25,000‡
Portugal (AFP) [44] Gold20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [45] Platinum600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Legacy

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References

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