The Story Behind: "Iron Man"

The song we are taking a look at today is »Iron Man« from the English rock band Black Sabbath. The song was the second single of their second studio album Paranoid, which was released in 1970.  

Background

It is commonly stated, that the song was inspired by the classic Marvel superhero Iron Man – which is not the case, as the bassist Geezer Butler (whom wrote the lyrics of the song) did not even know that the comic even existed at the time (Iron Man first appeared in 1963). The songs title came about when Ozzy said that the guitar riff that Tony Iommi played, sounded »like a big iron bloke walking around«, and that they should call it Iron Man or Iron Bloke. The lyrics were heavily inspired by science fiction, which Butler was at the time, a huge fan of.

Meaning of the Lyrics

The lyrics talk about a man that travels to the future and witnesses the apocalypse. The man traveles back into his own time, to warn the people of the dangers, but encounters a magnetic field, which turns the time traveler into a mute, huge steel creature. When he tries to warn the people of the apocalypse, they only mock him leaving him angry and fed up with humanity. The way that the people treated the time traveler, later made him the villain of the story, when he kills the people he once tried to savefrom the apocalypse.  

Recording process

The recording process proved difficult for the band, because the recording equipment just wasn't developed enough to capture the sound that the band was going for. Drummer Bill Ward wanted a huge bass drum sound which wasn't possible with the microphones they had. It is also rumored that the beggining line »I am iron man« Ozzy recorded through a metal fan, which gave it that distorted effect. The producer Rodger Bain and Tom Allom made the most of the equipment, and made the song sound exceptionaly good,considering the recording equipment they have used in that time period.