Black Sabbath: Iron Man Meaning

Song Released: 1970

Iron Man Lyrics

I am iron man

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

He was turned...

1. anonymous

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   Nov 30th 2010 !⃝

   This song is way older than the iron man movie, and so clearly cannot represent the movie as some have claimed. Also, this doesn't reflect the comics either. It seems to be more of an anti-war protest, and complaints with the horrible way we treated some of the crippled veterans, not helping them, not caring. It warns they could turn the tables, get others to help and fight back against those they tried to save...
2. anonymous

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   Nov 24th 2010 !⃝

   I think this song is about a veteran of war. His emotional state may have been hardened("turned to steel") by the events of war. The great magnetic field might be the battle field.
   As for traveling time we all travel time as it passes in our life. War is often presented as a necessity to ensure the future of mankind. He could be in a vegetative state and his vengeance might be only a mental fantasy.
3. anonymous

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   Nov 5th 2010 !⃝

   Erecting a 66 foot pole carved in phallic image with a goats head made of molten gold adorning the top,with naked nymph witches on the summer equinox's midnight,you hear the tolling of a churchs bell heard in the graveyard with 11th century necromonic monks, all in the rapture of worhipping the almighty baal,with "Iron man"Iommi'ific riffs echoing off the evil black sky of this heinous night, is much more enlightening, than mere "molech mischief"Please be sure to destroy the double circle with the words ''ave satanus''and the inverted pentagram within the circle when you leave.Thank you
4. EclecticFortune

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   Oct 15th 2010 !⃝

   This song has a Terminator/Terminator 2-like theme. Iron Man represents man's technology that is advancing exponentially as it travels into the future:
   "When he traveled time For the future of mankind
   Nobody wants him He just stares at the world Planning his vengeance That he will soon unfold."
   As in the Terminator films, Iron Man represents technology that will turn against us to destroy us. Many of Sabbath's songs are loosely based upon Bible prophecy. The Bible hints/indicates that apart from God, man will destroy himself with his own technology. Example given:
   Revelation 16
   16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
   18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed.
   2 Peter 3:10
   But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
5. anonymous

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   Sep 20th 2010 !⃝

   I think its a song about an idol-- an image of worship like molech. Goes along with the whole black sabbath doesnt it? the make references in other songs to satan and witchcraft. listen to the song while staring at the image of molech at the bohemian grove and see what I mean.
6. anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2010 !⃝

   I believe that the ironman is prophetic of a man who in the future will present himself as the hope of uniting the world and saving it. The plan will go terribly wrong and he will lead the world to armagedon. He will be a tool of Satan and become the world dictator. He is the king of Babylon, the antichrist. He will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire by the true messiah, Jesus the Christ-the prince of peace.
7. anonymous

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   Mar 27th 2010 !⃝

   Now I know the actual meaning is different, but I offer a alternate veiw. When I first heard this it reminded me of a generic horror story:
   
   A story about a dark man who was an outcast of the villege and indirectly caused death and woe. At the same time he felt alone and unloved. He is taunted for his nature and murdered. He then returns from the grave by the force that gave him life, to murder those who killed him. It turns out that he was nither living nor dead to begin with rather a body with a force controling his flesh like a puppet. A man born evil by some unnammed force to cause terror in this world. Reminds me almost of a hybrid story of Jason and Mike Myers
8. geodesik

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   Feb 15th 2010 !⃝

   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.
9. anonymous

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   Feb 14th 2010 !⃝

   The song is about rejection we all sometimes feel, and the revenge we'd all like to exact for it, LET THE CLEANSING BEGIN!!
10. geodesik

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    Feb 7th 2010 !⃝

    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.
11. anonymous

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    Dec 23rd 2009 !⃝

    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.
12. anonymous

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    May 18th 2009 !⃝

    Ok I'm going to put it in a way you can understand it's about iron man you know the cartoon hero in the comics its a show too

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. RedXDeath

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    Feb 28th 2009 !⃝

    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."
14. mcrawfo1

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    Dec 3rd 2008 !⃝

    I've always taken this song to be about a man, not a particularly special man. Honestly, I imagine him as a Forrest Gump type of character, someone who is often trodden upon. Like Gump, the future "Iron Man" fights for mankind, how he fights...who knows? Regardless of how, he fights hard to protect people.
    However, something happens then and there, he "turns to steel." I've never taken this to be a literal meaning; it's a metaphor. He now holds no feeling, no conscience.
    At this point, he snaps and goes back home to "kill those he once saved," mostly those who continued to ignore and berate him.
15. anonymous

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    Nov 25th 2008 !⃝

    Its basically I a guy who goes into the future and witnesses the apocalypse. On his was back to the present he is turned into an ironman made up completely of iron. He trys to warn people of the coming apocalypse but nobody believes him. In his anger of being shunned and avoided he goes mad and destroys the world, he then relises that he is the apocalypse.

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