War Pigs: Black Sabbath's Anti-War Anthem Suffers No Illusions
A child of the 1970s reflects on the lasting power of protest rock
To us, Black Sabbath was a rock band. Only years later did we realize that this UK foursome was probably the first heavy metal group. At least, that’s the way it was sold. Even now, some count Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple as heavy metal rockers.
Nnnnoo, not really! This is all revisionist thinking. We listened to rock, period. Heavy metal was not a thing. Yes, they were probably pioneers of early metal sound, but the real banger stuff came much later. We had to pass the punk rock phase first that ignited a new sound full of anger and hard riffs.
Punk rock saved us from the lingering delusions of disco. It knocked disco off the airwaves and made us shake our booty to a resurgent beat. For these reasons alone, I adore the Clash and the Sex Pistols. But it’s not heavy metal.
Metalhead bands took off early with the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and others. This set the stage for thrash metal bands like Metallica, Megadeath, Anthrax and Slayer playing with lots of angst and aggression. I never bought any of these albums.
I never got into heavy metal. And I never lost my ear for Black Sabbath.
In the early 1970s, everything centered around rock ’n’ roll, the Vietnam War and the drug scene. The Nightly News tallied up the dead and wounded each evening. Radio stations blasted rock tunes from the Rolling Stones, Canned Heat, CCR, War, Marvin Gaye and countless other artists. We watched In Concert on late-night TV.
And we absorbed the cultural conflict between military supporters and anti-war activists. My dad was on a two-year tour of duty with the Air Force in Vietnam. It was a turbulent time to be a teenager.
War Pigs and War Machines
I grew up in middle America - Missouri and South Dakota. I remember the first time I heard Black Sabbath. We were visiting my cousins in Rapid City. Mark was older and had his own room located on the stairway turn leading to the basement. His door was always shut.
Soundwaves shot through the door and enveloped my eardrums. It was loud. It was banging. It was rock ‘n’ roll. It stuck to my skinny kid ribs. For two days Mark replayed that new Black Sabbath album over and over. Those songs pulsated through the ground level window as we tumbled and talked in the front yard.
By the time my family returned to Whiteman Air Force Base outside Knob Noster, I was hooked on their provocative sound.
War Pigs is a strong song. It is an anti-war anthem without any pretentiousness. It exposes the true hypocrisy and brutality of warmongers. It is nuclear in its delivery.
Despite the realism of the song, it finishes with a fatal end that resembles a Hollywood movie over justice. The “Hand of God” punishes the crawling war pigs only after the world turns to ashes from their deeds.
It is too late for redemption. The world is toast.
Warmongers and Perpetual War
Every stanza in War Pigs reads like Nostradamus. It is eerie to note the same machinations that characterize the horrors of war. The song came out of the Vietnam era, but it applies to every overt and subvert conflict since the 1970s - Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Nicaragua, Ukraine.
Let’s review the war damage as sung by Black Sabbath:
Generals gathered in their masses - The Pentagon is loaded with warmongers, not unlike a cockroach infestation. According to Col. Douglas Macgregor, during the height of the Vietnam War, there were a few million soldiers and only 7 Generals. Today, there are nearly 40 Generals commanding far fewer troops and jostling for future positions as media analysts and corporate consultants for weapons manufacturers. In the fields, the bodies burning - War images are not burned into our memory because the smoke and smell waft far away in foreign lands. Americans watch videos of battleground atrocities and fast forward to catch the latest zombie shows as the war machine rolls on. They leave that role to the poor, yeah - Politicians cater to the moneyed classes and send the poor to war. The goal is to keep enough citizens in debt so they can be recruited for the war effort. That's how the volunteer Army works. The military uses education as an incentive to sign-up, so if student debt is cancelled it helps more kids stay out of the firing line.
Treating people just like pawns in chess - Ukraine is a perfect case study for war posturing. NATO and the Pentagon use Ukrainian soldiers and citizens as cannon fodder to fulfill their imperialist aims to destabilize Russia. While politicians vote to send stockpiled weapons to support the military cause, ill-trained and ill-equipped conscripts die for war profits. Pigs at the trough. Begging mercy for their sins - I wish. There is rarely accountability for warmongers. They are a protected class. If the Judgement Day exists, then God needs to reroute crawling war pigs to the gates of hell, where Satan greets them wearing dress military garb with handsome medals and colorful ribbons.
Black Sabbath is a rock band. I never put them in the activist camp. But they tapped into the zeitgeist of the time and wrote a classic anti-war song. I often wonder who gets to listen to more of the truth, church-goers or concert-goers.
Listen to War Pigs and remember that it’s not only religious scriptures that warn humans to keep their warmongers, politicians and elites in check before the world explodes.
War Pigs (1970)
Generals gathered in their masses Just like witches at black masses Evil minds that plot destruction Sorcerer of death's construction In the fields, the bodies burning As the war machine keeps turning Death and hatred to mankind Poisoning their brainwashed minds Oh lord, yeah! Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor, yeah Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah! Now in darkness, world stops turning Ashes where their bodies burning No more war pigs have the power Hand of God has struck the hour Day of judgement, God is calling On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging mercy for their sins Satan laughing, spreads his wings Oh lord, yeah! War Pigs lyrics © Westminster Music Ltd., Westminster Music Ltd
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