WALPURGIS
Why “War Pigs” is the Greatest Rock Song of All Time
Thwonk. Thwonk. Thwonk. Thwonk.Thwonk. Thwonk. Thwonk. Thwonk.
Eight kicks on the bass drum, nothing special, really. Then the first guitar cord ripping through followed by futuristic, powerful distorted vocals.
I am Iron Man.
Another two droning chords leading into the unmistakable riff that inspired the song in the first place.
Recorded in June 1970 for Black Sabbath’s second album, Paranoid, I first heard it in 1980, when as a freshman I walked into the high school bandroom after lunch. Standing in front of the gigantic wardrobe cabinet were Dave and Jeff, playing “Iron Man” on vinyl. I’d never heard anything like it, and it definitely changed my life that day.
I went from a kid who listened to his mom’s Sam Cooke records and the hits on the AM/FM car radio to one who would fall in love with a great many ’70s rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, and especially Pink Floyd. I could write for days about the great songs of the 1970s but this piece is about one song and one song only. The Greatest Rock Song of all time— “War Pigs.”
It was “Iron Man” that hooked me, and Ozzy’s solo albums that deepened my love for hard rock. But it took decades for me to come to understand that I’d been worshipping the wrong song.
Don’t get me wrong, “Iron Man” is a great, great song. With a time-traveling superhero unable to communicate with the people he’s trying to save, this Iron Man song, originally called Iron Bloke, was about a hero before his time. As the decades progressed, this Iron Man seemed to represent the everyman for each decade. In the Reagan-Thatcher-Bush 80s, he was us, fueled with the knowledge of capitalism spiraling out of control, our voices were ignored by those in charge. Through the complacent 90s and beyond 9/11, Sabbath’s Iron Man character could be interpreted and reinterpreted endlessly, a kind of heavy metal golem always up to fight pervasive evil. I would be happy to have “Iron Man” as the greatest heavy metal song ever, but then I’d be overlooking the real hero, the real Greatest Rock Song Ever.
With this kind of proclamation, you’d expect that I’d have a lot of objective support to bolster my claim. I do not. I can trot out a few authoritative rankings like #5 on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time; or #2 on the uDiscover website list of Best Heavy Metal Songs.
Indeed, several sources place “Iron Man” or some other Black Sabbath song ahead of “War Pigs”. And I understand this impulse, this need to shy away from the depths of the song in order to broaden the appeal of the website. We all need eyeballs, this is true. But beyond this, I need your heart.
First, I must confess. In the mid-1980s, I turned my back on heavy metal. As bands adopted some of the glam of the 70s, they also lost so much of their intellectual depth. Hair bands came to dominate the airwaves, and I went the other way into U2, Joy Division, The Cure and all the innovation of modern rock. Yeah, I still had my mixes with Krokus and Dokken, but I was more interested in The Sisters of Mercy and Nine Inch Nails than Black Sabbath. This went on for over two decades. Until I reconnected with Dio.
The Story of War Pigs
You can read the account of how the band composed the song and how Gerard Butler originally wrote lyrics focused on witches conducting a sort of Satanic ritual of black blood magic. Though on brand, the sort of routine mock evil image this original version doles out is nearly predictable and trite in our post-Spinal Tap era. Apparently, the record company wanted this edge tempered and forced the “Walpurgis” to “War Pigs” name change.
Perhaps in response to this meddling, but certainly in response to the Viet Nam war and increased militarization across the globe, Butler reforged the lyrics into the brilliant antiwar screed it would become on Paranoid. Placed at the marquee spot of Side A, Track 1, “War Pigs” sets the tone for what may well be the best side of vinyl ever tracked. There is no question that three of the four songs could make up three of the Top Five heavy metal songs ever. I can say this now, in 2023, with certainty because I’ve been focusing on “War Pigs” for most of the past decade.
To be fair, “War Pigs” has actually been there for me since the 1980s. I didn’t listen to a lot of hair metal, but in 1989, a cover of “War Pigs” bubbled to the surface. Faith No More had a huge hit with their song “Epic” and they recorded a version of “War Pigs” as a bonus track. They played “War Pigs” live on their tour and contributed a live version to the Black Sabbath tribute Nativity In Black. I bought NIB when it came out in 1994 primarily because of the 1000 Homo DJs cover of “Supernaut,” but playing that cd got me into FNM’s version of “War Pigs”.
As they do, my taste in sounds changed and once again “War Pigs” slipped from my consciousness. However, the mid-2000s, following 9/11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, would be a ripe time for Butler’s sharp lyrics. Of course, FNM kept the heavy riffs of Sabbath, but the song has so much open space, despite its killer crunchy sonic landscape, that bands found it malleable enough to keep the structure the same and bring their own twists to the song. Mike Patton, singer of FNM, is no Ozzy, and it shows on their version of the song, especially the Live from Brixton version. So it is a bit of a revelation to hear the version from funky alt-rock Cake they recorded in 2005.
Cake is an alternative rock band known for its bass-heavy, slinky songs that chug along and sometimes groove like FNM’s proto nu-metal. This sound is more progressive and relies heavily on that bass, and its signature complementary instrument, the trumpet. Lead singer John McCrae’s vocals are very prominent in the mix, highlighting the lyrics. McCrae’s delivery is more deadpan than Ozzy’s though no less earnest. The 2005 song has all the poignancy of the 1970 original, but strikes the listener differently, daring you to start dancing instead of banging your head. The track has many sound effects, but the best part is a multitracked trumpet solo where you would expect a guitar solo. In their official live recording, they open the song with an acoustic riff and a minimalist drum, letting the bass and vocals carry the lyrics. This hypnotic approach caters to McCrae’s delivery, and it seriously remakes the song in Cake’s style. Unmistakably though, the song is still the antiwar protest song Gerard Butler wrote in 1970.
On the heels of Cake’s “War Pigs” revival, another alternative giant took a shot at the song to grand effect. At their Austin City Limits show in 2006, The Flaming Lips, along with Cat Power, offered up a a faithfulish powerful cover with some trademark flair. The band also did a version for their iTunes Session, and so the song was back in the public’s consciousness for a couple years. But as things do, “War Pigs” bubbled back into the ether for a respite, waiting to come roaring back.
Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters were well on their way to becoming the most popular rock band on the planet in October 2014 when they appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman along with guest Zach Brown. Forsaking either a Foo or Brown song, they tore into “War Pigs”. Brown and Grohl traded vocals and guitar solos, all while being anchored by Taylor Hawkins’s massive drums. Coming as it did, the song would have been seen as a critique on President Obama’s policy of not ending the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq. With Brown guesting so prominently, there’s no doubt that the rock-country crossover was intended to bring notice to the overtly political song. Brown and Grohl would play this cover at shows a couple times.
I watched the Letterman show and I immediately dug into the “War Pigs” rabbit hole. I had moved the previous year to Cortland County, and started listening to more Ronnie James Dio. I knew his career in general, but I wanted to round out my knowledge of how he went from high school in Cortland, NY to leading global rock tours.
One of the most important things I learned was that Dio had a hard rock band in Cortland prior to becoming the vocalist for Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Digging through YouTube, I ran across a live show, audio-only, purportedly recorded at a local Cortland venue known as The Bank. In this 2-hour recording, Elf covers a slew of contemporary rock hits by the likes of Led Zeppelin and The Who, ending with a nearly 10-minute version of “War Pigs”.
On this live “War Pigs”, it is not only Dio that shines, but the recording captures Gary Driscoll’s drums powerfully, providing an incredible introduction that I believe exceeds the original Black Sabbath studio recording. There is also a long Dave “Rock” Feinstein guitar solo that brings sonic balance to the proceedings, and incredibly, Dio rocks a bass solo in the middle. According to BraveWords.com (https://bravewords.com/news/rare-elf-live-tapes-discovered-dio-covers-sabbath-in-1972), this recording was rediscovered in 2005 by a fan. I first learned of it in 2015 on YouTube, which is par for the course.
Because my own words cannot possibly do it justice, I present for you the Greatest Rock Song of All Time in its greatest version — Elf, led by Ronnie James Dio, and their cover of “War Pigs.”
Bonus Track 1: Jack Black on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Bonus Track 2: Spongebob
Bonus Track 3: Mac Sabbath
