Top 5 Black Sabbath Songs

"Iron Man" isn't just one of the best Black Sabbath songs, it's one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It's the type of song you could listen to 50 times and hear something new every time. Lyrically, it's a very dense tale of alienation.The song, released in 1970, contained references to magnetic fields and robots - pretty heady stuff for any hard rock outfit. Like many Black Sabbath songs, "Iron Man" only grows better with time and continues to influence generations of hard-rock fans. The riff alone is worth listening to for hours non-stop.

Arguably Black Sabbath's most political song, "War Pigs" is an outright condemnation of the war going on at the time. Released at the height of the Vietnam War, the song empathizes with the belief in the corrupt nature of war. Ozzy sings that "politicians hide themselves away" and that they are "treating people just like pawns in chess." Like many music groups at the time, Black Sabbath expressed their outrage at the war. They did so not by gently strumming an acoustic guitar with flowers in their hair, but by hammering home piercing chops on heavily distorted guitar amps.

"Paranoid" is likely Black Sabbath's most well-known song, next to "Iron Man." Tony Iommi's infectious guitar riff is impossible not to love. "Paranoid" is an ode to self-doubt and not fitting in. Who hasn't felt like they didn't fit in at some time or another? One of the reasons this song became so popular is because of the brutally honest lyrics. Ozzy reveals his world of darkness when he sings: "happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal." That's the "prince of darkness" for you.

Starting off with a blistering guitar riff and some fierce drumming, "Symptom of the Universe" remains a heavyweight metal song. Black Sabbath created an interesting hodgepodge by mixing grinding guitar and quick drumming with airy lyrics referencing "all I have to give you is a love that never does" and "riding through the sunshine from above." The down-tempo outtro proves they were comfortable mixing genres without even switching songs.

"Supernaut" has three verses and no chorus, but you'd never notice because of the hypnotic drumming and Tony Iommi's fierce guitar chops. The lyrics are mystical in nature, but the music is fierce. Ozzy sings: "I've been through magic and through life's reality/ I've lived a thousand years and it never bothered me." The lyrics are puzzling, but I'm inclined to think they're drug references.