"Planet Caravan" is a song by the English heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

. It was originally released on their 1970 album ''

Paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...

''.

Overview

Black Sabbath's

Geezer Butler Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (born 17 July 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and primary lyricist of the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He has also recorded and performed with Heave ...

– who composed the song's lyrics – said the song is about floating through the universe with one's lover. Black Sabbath lead vocalist

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

uses a

Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...

to achieve the vocals' treble and vibration effects. The piano parts on the track were played by album 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 (band), Krokus, Loverboy, Def Leppard, KIX (band), Kix and Rou ...

. Iommi overdubbed

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

to the reversed multitrack master which was then re-forwarded and treated with stereo delay. On 31 May 2020, "Planet Caravan" was used as wake-up music for the crew of a SpaceX

Crew Dragon Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which consi ...

before the craft's launch later that day. It was the first time music was used to wake astronauts since the last shuttle mission in July 2011. The craft was bound for the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

Personnel

– vocals *

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...

– guitars, flute *

– bass guitar * Bill Ward – congas *

– piano

Pantera cover

"Planet Caravan" was covered by American heavy metal band

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

for their 1994 album ''

Far Beyond Driven ''Far Beyond Driven'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 21, 1994 in the UK and March 22 internationally by Elektra Records and East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at n ...

''.

Release and reception

The song was released as the second single from the ''Far Beyond Driven'' album, and the follow-up single to their hit single "

I'm Broken "I'm Broken" is a song by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera, released on their 1994 studio album, ''Far Beyond Driven''. It was the first Single (music), single released from the album. Meaning The song is about the back pain th ...

" in 1994 on

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

as a

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

. It became Pantera's highest-charting single, peaking on the UK Singles Chart at number 26. ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' magazine ranked the cover of "Planet Caravan" number 31 on their list of the 50 best Pantera songs.

Track listing

;American single ;European single 1 ;European single 2

Charts

References

{{Authority control Black Sabbath songs Pantera songs 1970 songs Songs written by Geezer Butler 1994 songs 1994 singles Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Songs written by Tony Iommi Songs written by Bill Ward (musician) British psychedelic rock songs Song recordings produced by Rodger Bain Space rock songs