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About

Genius Annotation

This song by Black Sabbath is consistently ranked as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. Maybe the biggest hit of Ozzy’s group, along with “Iron Man.”

The lyrics were written by and about bassist Geezer Butler, whom the band often called paranoid, even though he didn’t know what the word meant. They are about Butler’s feelings as a depressed teenager and him thinking he was going insane.

According to the band, the song only took 20 minutes to write. It was supposed to be just a filler song and the album was supposed to be called War Pigs. When they released it as a single and it got very popular, however, the record label wanted them to name the album Paranoid.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Translations
Genius Answer
What did Black Sabbath say about "Paranoid"?
Genius Answer

Tommy Iommi:

I started fiddling about on the guitar and came up with this riff. When the others came back [from lunch], we recorded it on the spot.

Geezer Butler:

Basically, it’s just about depression, because I didn’t really know the difference between depression and paranoia. It’s a drug thing; when you’re smoking a joint you get totally paranoid about people, you can’t relate to people. There’s that crossover between the paranoia you get when you’re smoking dope and the depression afterwards.

Credits
Produced By
Mixing Engineers
Lead Vocals
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Recorded At
Regent Sound Studios and Island Studios (London, England)
Release Date
September 18, 1970
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