War Pigs
Encyclopedia
"War Pigs" is a song by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

 from their 1970 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Paranoid
Paranoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...

. It is generally believed that the band wrote the song as a protest against the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

; however, when Sabbath played "War Pigs" in the mid-'70s, they projected scenes from World War II.

As explained in the liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...

 of the band's live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 Reunion, the original title of the song was "Walpurgis"
Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night is a traditional spring festival on 30 April or 1 May in large parts of Central and Northern Europe. It is often celebrated with dancing and with bonfires. It is exactly six months from All Hallows' Eve.-Name:...

, dealing with a witches' sabbath. The title, lyrics, and theme were subsequently changed during the recording of Paranoid. An early version, with the original theme, can be found on Ozzy Osbourne's
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

 compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 The Ozzman Cometh
The Ozzman Cometh
The Ozzman Cometh is a compilation album by Ozzy Osbourne released in 1997. It is his second greatest hits collection and its initial, limited edition 2 CD pressing contained five previously unreleased songs...

.

"War Pigs" is the opening track on Paranoid, Black Sabbath's best-selling album. It can also be found in every live and compilation album by the band except Cross Purposes Live
Cross Purposes Live
Cross Purposes Live is a live album recorded by the British metal band Black Sabbath. It was released in 1995. It is the only live-record with singer Tony Martin. It was available only as part of CD and VHS double-pack. The CD was housed within an oversize videotape-case but had its own inserts and...

, along with "Paranoid
Paranoid (song)
"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid . It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100...

" itself and "Iron Man
Iron Man (song)
"Iron Man" is a song by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their second studio album Paranoid released in 1970. It was later included on their initial greatest hits compilation We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll , as well as all subsequent greatest hits compilations.-Writing and...

". The outro to "War Pigs" has its own name, "Luke's Wall" (named in homage to the band's two-man road crew, Geoff "Luke" Lucas and Spock Wall) and features a more melodic tone than the rest of the song.

"War Pigs" is ranked number two on Digital Dream Door's "100 Greatest Metal Songs". Readers of Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...

ranked the song #56 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the song was placed in the list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles distributed by Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...

.

The tape copy sent to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...

 records in America contained a tape drop-out (in the left stereo channel) about a minute into the song, which has been heard on every other U.S. compilation and reissue since 1971.

Background and lyrical themes

According to Black Sabbath's drummer, Bill Ward, his first memory of working on the song was at The Beat Club in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 in 1968. Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

, the band's guitarist, has said that the song originated as a jam session
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...

. The original title of the song was "Walpurgis", which the band often played live and featured different lyrics. Bass guitarist, Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler
Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

, claims that the band's record company thought this version of the song sounded "too Satanic". The group decided to change the lyrics to more of an antiwar theme. Butler has said that the song was "totally against the Vietnam War, about how these rich politicians and rich people start all the wars for their benefit and get all the poor people to die for them.", while Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

 has stated that the group, "knew nothing about Vietnam. It's just an anti-war song."

The intro to the song also features an air raid siren.

Reception

Martin Popoff has called the song an "ugly, antiwar classic now considered one of Sabbath's top two or three most enduring compositions." Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...

described the song as "the greatest HM song ever." The magazine also included the song on their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" and ranked it in 56th place. Steve Huey of allmusic called the song a "standard".

Covers

  • Elf
    Elf (band)
    Elf was a rock band founded in 1967 by the late singer and bassist Ronnie James Dio, keyboardist Doug Thaler, drummer Gary Driscoll, and guitarists Nick Pantas and David Feinstein . The band was originally called The Electric Elves, but was shortened to The Elves and finally Elf in mid-1970...

  • Sacred Reich
    Sacred Reich
    Sacred Reich is a Phoenix, Arizona-based thrash metal band that formed in 1985. Singer/songwriter Phil Rind's interest was in socially conscious and political speed metal. After several records on Metal Blade Records, they signed to Hollywood Records for a short stint, but later returned to Metal...

     on the EP Surf Nicaragua
    Surf Nicaragua
    Surf Nicaragua is an EP from Arizona thrash metal band, Sacred Reich. It was released in October, 1988 on Metal Blade Records and follows the band's debut album, Ignorance, released the previous year....

    and their live EP Alive at the Dynamo
    Alive at the Dynamo
    Alive at the Dynamo is an EP from Sacred Reich, a thrash metal band from Arizona, United States. It was recorded at the Dynamo Open Air Festival in Eindhoven, Holland, in May 1989, and released on Metal Blade Records and Roadracer Records....

    .
  • PIG on the Prime Evil EP
    Extended play
    An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

    .
  • Faith No More
    Faith No More
    Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...

     on the CD release of their 1989 album The Real Thing
    The Real Thing (Faith No More album)
    The Real Thing is the third studio album by the American rock band Faith No More. It was first released through Slash Records on June 20, 1989. It was the first release by the band not to feature vocalist Chuck Mosley, instead the album featured Mike Patton from the experimental band Mr. Bungle...

    and the 1991 Live At The Brixton Academy concert album. The Brixton performance was also released on the Nativity in Black
    Nativity in Black
    Nativity in Black is the name of two Black Sabbath tribute albums that came out in the 1990s and 2000s. The albums were recorded with various heavy metal bands paying tribute to Black Sabbath for their influence on the heavy metal genre of rock music....

    tribute album.
  • Psychedelic punk band Alice Donut
    Alice Donut
    Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001. Between 1989 and 1996 the band toured vigorously in the US, Europe and Japan and played over 1000 live performances...

     have recorded a brass band
    Brass band
    A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...

     version of this song on their 1991 opus, Revenge fantasies of the impotent
    Revenge Fantasies of the Impotent
    Revenge fantasies of the impotent is Alice Donut's fourth studio album, release in 1991. It was produced at NY Noise, New York.-Track listing:# "Rise To The Skin"# "My Best Friend's Wife"# "Telebloodprintmediadeathwhore"# "What"# "Dead River"# "Sleep"...

  • Gov't Mule
    Gov't Mule
    Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...

     on their 1999 album Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends.
  • Hayseed Dixie
    Hayseed Dixie
    Hayseed Dixie is an American band which began in the autumn of 2000 with the release of their first album, A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a unique fusion of bluegrass and rock music and are...

     on A Hot Piece of Grass
    A Hot Piece of Grass
    A Hot Piece of Grass is the fifth album by American band Hayseed Dixie, released in 2005 .-Track listing:# "Black Dog"  – 3:07# "War Pigs"  – 4:27...

    .
  • Tesla
    Tesla (band)
    Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...

     on Real to Reel.
  • Cake
    Cake (band)
    Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and...

     on their 2007 album B-Sides and Rarities
    B-Sides and Rarities (Cake album)
    B-Sides and Rarities is the first rarities compilation album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California...

    .
  • Alex Skolnick Trio
    Alex Skolnick Trio
    The Alex Skolnick Trio is an American jazz music trio comprising the guitarist Alex Skolnick, Matt Zebroski on drums, and Nathan Peck on bass. Previously, John Davis played bass for the group. The Trio is known for its inventive jazz take on hard rock and heavy metal "standards"...

     on their 2002 album Goodbye to Romance: Standards for a New Generation.
  • The Acacia Strain
    The Acacia Strain
    The Acacia Strain is an American deathcore band from Chicopee, Massachusetts. Originally founded in 2001, the band itself has undergone numerous changes in the member line-up...

     Covered the song for the video game Homefront
    Homefront (video game)
    Homefront is a first-person shooter video game developed by now defunct Kaos Studios and published by THQ, in which players play as members of a resistance movement fighting against a near-future Korean military occupation of the United States. The story was written by John Milius, who co-wrote...

  • Cover version is featured in Guitar Hero 2 and is downloadable content for Rock Band series.
  • Celldweller
    Celldweller
    Celldweller is a Detroit, Michigan-based Electronic Rock project that was created by multi-instrumentalist Klayton, former frontman and songwriter of the bands Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Angeldust . Celldweller's music is multi-faceted, often labeled electronic rock and more commonly being...

     remixed and released a cover version titled "Disposable War Pigs" in 2011 .

Personnel

  • Ozzy Osbourne
    Ozzy Osbourne
    John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

    : vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

  • Tony Iommi
    Tony Iommi
    Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...

    : guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

  • Geezer Butler
    Geezer Butler
    Geezer Butler is an English musician and songwriter. Butler is best known as the bassist and lyricist of heavy metal band Black Sabbath. He was also involved in Heaven & Hell from 2006 to 2010.-Career:Butler formed his first band, Rare Breed, with old friend John "Ozzy" Osbourne in the autumn of...

    : bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Bill Ward: drum
    Drum
    The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

    s
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