anonymous February 24th, 2006 07:04PM  
This is about a man who goes into the future he stays there for a little while and while he is there he sees the end of the world. He is gonna go back to tell everyone and warn them on how to prevent it but on his way back he is turned to Iron in the magnetic field in the time travle thing.When he arrives back no one belives him and he gains revenge by bringing the end of the world which he was trying to prevent.

anonymous April 8th, 2006 09:37PM  
A man makes a time travel into the future of the world. He sees
the apocalypse. When he comes back he tries to warn the world but
nobody takes care of him. So he gets mad and has revenge on mankind.
In the end it becomes clear that he is the reason for the apocalypse.
"Ozzy came up with the title 'Iron Man' and I wrote it about this
guy who's blasted off into space and he sees the future of the world, which
isn't very good. Then he goes through a magnetic storm on the way back and
is turned to iron. He's trying to warn everyone about the future of the
world, but he can't speak, so everyone is taking the mickey out of him all
the time, and he just doesn't care in the end." - Geezer
The Iron Man's destruction of the people who ignore and mock him unwittingly
fulfills his own vision.

anonymous October 21st, 2006 10:32AM  
Ozzy was a seventh day adventist as a child and was taught a lot about prophecy. Iron man is a twisted view of jesus christ. Jesus came as the lamb but will return as the lion as iron man kills the people he once saved. Is jesus live or dead? Why should we even care? Nobody cares if there is a jesus and in ozzy’s mind he’s sitting up there just waiting to come down and punish the world for not caring for him. Also in prophecy iron represents a very fierce and violent kingdom or country like rome.

anonymous February 14th, 2007 06:47PM  
well I kind of saw it as like he (iron man whoevere) was a vietnom soldier.

"has he lost his mind" makes referance to either the heat of the battle and him doing his 88mm chain gun thing (as seen in predator) or it could meen the post-war stress.

"can he walk at all ect" is like mabey attempting to overcoming injury.

"is he live or dead... why should we even care" well when you shoot into the brush that's whats going through your mind.

"he once turned to steel": steel statue? or like the unbendable, unbreakable man suddenly anticlimacticly emerges 0_0 [gasp]

"the great magnetic field" the war

"when he traveled time":he reminesess of the war

"nobody wants/helps him ect" is for all the unrecognized troops, fallen or alive, from the war that deserve recognition.

"for the future of man kind" see the light past the war.

"vengance from the grave, kills the people he once saved": the war lasted, what 12 years (?) so he saves the kids, who grow up to be soldiers....

[guitar solo woot]

"heavy boots of lead fills his victems full of dread" (steel toed boots??????) as he chases after them they run in fear.


well I'm not sure if BS is really sober enough to go with that interpretation but either way I think we can all agree a music video would sure as hell clear things up!

anonymous May 30th, 2008 10:29AM  
This song is really self explanatory. The song is about a man who is turned to steel, because of traveling in time, then takes his vengeance out on the world, bringing about exactly the future he foresaw, etc... Contrary to popular belief, it is not about the comic book character.

--Saint J--

RedXDeath February 28th, 2009 03:53PM  
I think it's about how seldom do we care about they who differ from the mass population. Because the "iron man" is different, people look down to him, a morally wrong action. And so they regret it later. It's sort of like saying "Dude, he's insane because of his opinions/interests/etc., so why should we care". The moral is "Just because someone's different, doesn't give you the right to look down upon them, and in doing so, you will later regret it."

anonymous December 23rd, 2009 06:39AM  
Anon #2 is correct. Ozzy was an SDA as was I. Ozzy knows as I do that our creator is a twisted sadistic fucking space alien who created us out of pure boredom, and will continue to fuck humanity up - into eternity.

geodesik February 7th, 2010 03:06PM  
Forget The SDA Rot. Ozzy Ozbourne didn't even write the lyrics to "Iron Man". Ozzy suggested the title, and Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics based on Ozzy's suggestion.

It is almost certain that Ozzy and Geezer were both inspired by the popular Marvel comic character of the same name, but were obliged to modify the character, to avoid copyright infringement.

Therefore "Iron Man" carries two meanings: The literal meaning, to protect against copyright, and the implied or "hidden" meaning - drawn from the marvel comic story which almost certainly provided the inspiration.
Both the literal and hidden interpretations present a tale of irony - a holocaust caused by very person who tried to prevent it.

Literal: The Black Sabbath Iron Man travels through time into the future of the world, and witnesses a nuclear holocaust.
Implied: The Marvel Iron Man is a wealthy but despised weapons manufacter - creating weapons to combat the threat of nuclear holocaust.

Literal: In the process of returning to the present, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field. He is rendered mute, unable to warn the people of his time of the impending destruction.
Implied: In the process of watching his weapons in action, he is captured by the enemy. He is rendered mute by his captivity, and wounded by shrapnel kept out of his heart using a magnetic field.

Literal: His attempts to communicate are ignored and mocked. This causes Iron Man to become angry, and have his revenge on mankind, causing the destruction seen in his vision.
Implied: Forced to make enemy weapons, he unintentionally "gets revenge" on the people who despised him, as the weapons he builds threaten them with the very holocaust they were designed to prevent.

anonymous February 14th, 2010 02:54PM  
The song is about rejection we all sometimes feel, and the revenge we'd all like to exact for it, LET THE CLEANSING BEGIN!!

geodesik February 15th, 2010 09:46PM  
Forget The Seventh Day Adventist Rot. This song is not about Ozzy's view of Jesus, Stalin, or Vietnam.
Ozzy Osbourne didn't even write the lyrics to "Iron Man".
Ozzy merely suggested the title, and Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics based on Ozzy's suggestion.

It is almost certain that Ozzy and Geezer were both inspired by the popular Marvel comic character of the same name, but Geezer was obliged to modify the lyrics, to avoid copyright infringement.

I say "almost certain" because even Ozzy Osbourne hasn't taken enough drugs to think its a good idea to confirm Black Sabbath may have borrowed material from anyone who can afford more high-priced lawyers than they can.

In any event, however, the lyrics do not borrow directly from the Marvel comic, and thus Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" stands alone as an original work in it own right.

The lyrics to "Iron Man" therefore carry two meanings: The literal meaning, of Geezer's creation, inspired by the Marvel comic - and the implied or "hidden" meaning - the marvel story itself, obscured by Geezer's lyrics.

Both the literal and hidden interpretations present a tale of irony - a holocaust caused (or potentially caused) by very person who tried to prevent it.

This was well suited to the Black Sabbath lyrics at the time which painted an almost comic view of nuclear holocaust (as witnessed in other songs, such as "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral").

However the implicit meaning refers to the Marvel character Tony Stark, a wealthy, well-educated industrialist and weapons contractor, despised by the very people his weapons are designed to protect.

The verse by verse literal/implicit interpretation follows:

"Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?"

Describes a victim of a horrific accident.
Literally it refers to the Black Sabbath Iron Man.
Implicitly it refers to the crippling of Tony Stark.

"We’ll just pass him there
Why should we even care?"

Literally this describes the apathy of the people in response to the accident which kills the Black Sabbath Iron Man. Implicitly, it refers to apathy of the people in response to the news that Tony Stark has been captured by the enemy, possibly killed.

"He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
Where he traveled time
For the future of mankind"

The literal Black Sabbath Iron Man is restored to life, turned into steel within the same magnetic field which killed him as he travelled through time to protect the human race. The implicit Marvel Tony Stark becomes concerned for the people and attempts to confirm that his weapons are not being used for evil - which unwittingly makes him vunerable to the enemy. Crippled, he is kept alive by a magnetic field preventing the steel shrapnel in his wounds from penetrating his heart.

"Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfold"

The literal Black Sabbath Iron Man, rejected by the very humans he died to protect, becomes angry and begins planning what he views as vengeance. The Implicit Tony Stark, forgotten by his own people and thus denied any hope of rescue, begins the covert construction Of Iron Man, which he plans to use to escape and exact vengeance on his captors.

"Now the time is here
For iron man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved"

"Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge"

"Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron man lives again!"

The Literal Black Sabbath Iron Man is ready to get his revenge. He unleashes his new powers, killing the very people who regarded him with apathy, the few who survive now regard him with fear. The Implicit Tony Stark metaphorically returns from the grave by becoming Iron Man. He kills his captors, and escapes. Tony Stark returns, unintentionally effecting a revenge of karma - the people panic when they learn that their apathy allowed the enemy to force Tony Stark to produce weapons (for use against the people) during his imprisonment.