"War Pigs" is an anti-war

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

by English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped def ...

, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album '' Paranoid'' (1970).

Overview

The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", dealing with the witches' sabbath. "Walpurgis is sort of like Christmas for Satanists. And to me, war was the big Satan", said bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler. "It wasn’t about politics or government or anything. It was Evil itself. So I was saying 'generals gathered in the masses / just like witches at black masses' to make an analogy. But when we brought it to the record company, they thought 'Walpurgis' sounded too Satanic. And that's when we turned it into 'War Pigs'. But we didn't change the lyrics, because they were already finished." During this time period, mandatory army service had recently ended in Britain but with the Vietnam War raging, many young men feared they'd be conscripted to fight in it. "That's what started this whole rebellion thing about not going to war for anybody", said Butler. "I was dreading being called up", the lyricist recalled. Prior to its official release, the band often altered the lyrics significantly when performing it live. An example of this can be found on

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

's compilation ''

The Ozzman Cometh ''The Ozzman Cometh'' is a compilation album by British heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne released in 1997. It is his third greatest hits collection. Its initial, limited-edition 2-CD pressing contained five previously unreleased songs. Versio ...

'', which features an early version recorded by Black Sabbath for

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on 26 April 1970. While Butler has said that "War Pigs" is "totally against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, about how these rich politicians and rich people start all the wars for their benefit and get all the poor people to die for them", vocalist Osbourne has stated that the group "knew nothing about Vietnam. It's just an anti-war song." The song's

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

outro is entitled "Luke's Wall" on US releases of the album, formatted as "War Pigs/Luke's Wall". Drummer Bill Ward's first memory of performing the song was at The Beat Club in Switzerland in 1968. The band was required to play multiple sets every night and had little material in their repertoire at that point, so they would perform lengthy

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s to fill in the sets. Co-writer and lead guitarist Tony Iommi has said that "War Pigs" originated from one of those jam sessions. The addition of the air-raid siren and the speeding up of the song's end were done by producer Rodger Bain and engineer

Tom Allom Thomas James Allom is an English record producer and sound engineer. His best-known work was in the 1970s and 1980s, working with artists such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Krokus, Loverboy, Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock ...

. The band had no input in these decisions, though they were pleased with the results.

Legacy

Music journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...

has called the song an "ugly, antiwar classic now considered one of Sabbath's top two or three most enduring compositions". ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' described the song as "the greatest HM song ever." The magazine also included the song on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" and ranked it in 56th place. Steve Huey of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

called the song a " standard". Kelefa Sanneh wrote, "What is memorable is the way Osbourne evokes not merely war's cost but its seductive appeal. Part of what made Black Sabbath seem new was a disinclination to uplifting, or hopeful, or self-righteous." "War Pigs" is widely considered one of Black Sabbath's greatest songs. In 2020, '' Kerrang'' ranked the song number four on their list of the 20 greatest Black Sabbath songs, and in 2021, '' Louder Sound'' ranked the song number one on their list of the 40 greatest Black Sabbath songs. "War Pigs" was ranked the best Black Sabbath song by . The song is notable for its publication in the American folk music magazine ''

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'', which normally did not feature rock songs. The song's iconic guitar riff largely inspired that of

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, ...

' 2014 single "Arabella", to the extent that the band often perform an interlude of the song, to enable front man Alex Turner to pick up his guitar in time for his solo. ''War Pigs'' was one of the 40 songs featured in the Music Monday series of the

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

, and thus part of the ''Reporting Vietnam'' exhibit as a major musical reflection of the time. WWE has used the song for their NXT TakeOver: WarGames events as well as their

Survivor Series WarGames Survivor Series: WarGames was the 36th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and WWE Network events, event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw (WWE bra ...

event.

Personnel

– vocals * Tony Iommi – guitar * Geezer Butler – bass * Bill Ward – drums

Certifications

References

External links