Re: The Gospel According to the Osbournes

Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 15:42:26 -0700
Newsgroups: alt.music.black-sabbath,alt.music.ozzy,rec.arts.tv,rec.music.christian
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<email-address-deleted> wrote in message
news:email-address-deleted...
> On 11 May 2003 15:12:01 -0700, email-address-deleted (David Buckna)
> wrote:
>
>>
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> i think that crap about sabbath having no interest in the occult is
> bullshit. many songs do have some 'christian' themes."war pigs"
> "after forever"-ozzy sings-"i think it is true it was people like you
> who crucified christ"- my interpretation is that he's attacking blind
> conformists, sheeple -in fact many professed 'xtians' among them.of
> course ozzy didnt write early sabbath lyrics.
After Forever was penned by Iommi, the song , according to Iommi an
interveiw, is an account of a conversation he had with a "xtian" bible
thumper trying to witness to him. The words are sung as if the "xtian" was
talking to Iommi not Iommi or Sabbath talking to you. So the song represents
what was said to Iommi and not Sabbath attacking "blind conformists" .
> the album that is non christian in theme is "sabbath bloody sabbath"
> not only is the albumcover in the same colors as the satanic bible,
> with 666 over the bed..but the song "sabbath bloody sabbath" seems to
> be speaking to a satanist and the loss of naivete esp the first
> verse.
This is were Sabbath gets a bad rep, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was the title
of a scathing article written about the band in a British magazine in '73.
the author of the article basically crucified the band saying the were no
talent bums stealing peoples money and could understand their popularity. SBS is the tale of a burnt out rock star. The song is not satanic nor
does it have any religious applications other than the use of some
analogies.
The painting on the cover was chosen as part of the gag on the " Sabbath
are Satanists" that they were dealing with in the early '70s.
> "who are you?" is also non xtian in its meaning,questioning god."you
> think all the people who worship you are blind"..
This is one of the only songs that they wrote that has a *direct* religious
overtone, but some say that it could be aimed at the "devil" rather than
Christ. As they are asking who the anti-Christ will be when he appears.
> "killing yourself to live"- he says "its not the way the world was
> meant, so preacher you dont understand"
the lyric is
It's not the way that the world was planned
It's a PITY you dont understand.
and is more a tale of doing drugs to escape from the harsh realities of the
world.
>
> i think the whole "were not into the occult" was to keep from
> alienating too many fans. it also creates an aura of mystery and
> contradictions, which might help publicity.
The whole "were not into the occult" was a reaction to zealots and the media
merely assuming that the band were due to the name of the band. Look through
there catalog of Songs there are very few that talk about religion. People
say N.I.B is Satanist, well its a song about the devil who falls in love and
is ready to give up everything for the girl. Most of there material was
about drugs or current events of the time. As Time went on the band used
this to their advantage{ especially when Ronnie Jame Dio replaced Ozzy in
1979.RJD wrote with more medieval themes.} to sell more albums and keep
themselves in the public eye. The same thing was being said of Led Zeppelin
and the Rolling Stones at the time. They were into the occult. J.Page buys
Crowley's home and suddenly Zeppelin are Satanists.The Stones record one
song called Sympathy for the Devil and there satan worshipers. It's a real
"knee-jerk" reaction to the name Black Sabbath or to the song title or
taking one lyric out of context..
As time went on and the '80s rolled around the "satanic" imagery was
popular and Sabbath hopped on the band wagon to sell albums just like
I.Maiden, Judas Priest and just about every other band of the early '80s.
> in his solo career- "i dont know"-seems to say he doesnt know what to
> think about god/morality.
again you read to much into the song. The tune is about Ozzy not wanting the
kids to look at him for the answers of life. Saying he was no "messiah" ,
he's not blessed with some divine knowledge and he's knows no more than the
rest of us.
> ozzy's "believer" seems to not be religous at all in my view. its
> about self enpowerment and not waiting for help or a "hand out" from
> anyone including god.
Well your right, it just about Ozzy believing in himself, I don't think he's
rebuking God in the song though
(he "ain't no reciever"-maybe in reference to the
> biblical "ask and you shall recieve")
the lyric:
I'm a believer
I ain't no *deceiver*
> "mr. crowley" may be critical of aleister crowley but its obvious he
> has an interest in the occult.
> in "waiting for darkness" "Bark at the moon" many other songs there
> seems to be a contempt for the herd which in our society is
> xtians...its also fair to say most of his fans (especially in the
> early 80's)were/are not die hard christians.
>
You read way to much into the meaning of these songs.I mean geeez were
talking Ozzy here he's no rocket scientist , he's a burnt out rocker trying
to sell records.If you did some research you know that Bob Daisley { the
bass player} wrote most of the lyrics to the first 3 or 4 Ozzy albums. In
the early '80s it was all monsters, Satan and such it's what sold
records. The same thing in the late '80s and early '90s when every one was
doing gansta rap, just because to you made the music didn't mean you were
out rollin' in da hood bustin' caps in peoples asses. The majority of those
acts were just that ... an act. Same goes for the "heavy Metal" bands of
the early '80s.
This is not to say there were bands out there who practiced satanic ways as
well wrote and performed about it. It just that those bands and people were
not really in the mainstream at that time. Most of the time groups like
Sabbath and Iron Maiden are victims of the " judging a book by its cover"
syndrome. People read way too much into song or album covers. C'mon the FBI
spent time to analyze Louie, Louie to make sure there were any subversive
language or messages in it cause the words are unintelligible.
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