Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Finished with my woman
'Cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane
Because I am frowning all the time

All day long I think of things
But nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind
If I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me occupy my brain?
Oh yeah!

I need someone to show me
The things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true happiness
I must be blind

Make a joke and I will sigh
And you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel
And love to me is so unreal

And so as you hear these words
Telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life
I wish I could but it's too late
************************************************
Paranoid by Black Sabbath

Album: Paranoid Released: 1970

This was the first Black Sabbath single. It came out 6 months after their first album.

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."

This is about a man who is paranoid. The driving guitar and bass create a nervous energy to go along with Ozzy's lyrics.

This was used as the title to the second Sabbath album. The band wanted to call it "War Pigs," after another song on the album, but the record company made them use this instead because it was less offensive. The album cover was a literal interpretation of a "War Pig" - it showed a pig with a sword and shield.

The word "Paranoid" is never mentioned in the lyrics.

"The Wizard," a song from their first album, was used as the B-side of the single.

Black Sabbath waited 2 years before releasing another single, "Iron Man." They did not want to become a "Singles Band," with kids coming to their shows just to hear their hits. This also ensured that fans would buy the albums.

In England, this was re-released in 1980 to capitalize on the success of Black Sabbath: Live At Last, which was released earlier that year. The album was taken from a Sabbath concert in 1975 with the original band members.

Black Sabbath played this in their set at Live Aid in 1985.

Megadeth covered this on the 1994 Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity In Black.

This song is heard briefly during the film We Are Marshall.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=544