paranoid

"Paranoid"
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Paranoid
B-side	"The Wizard" (1970 original)
Released	August 1970[1]
Format	7" vinyl
Recorded	1970
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock,[2] protopunk[3]
Length	2:53
Label	Vertigo
Writer(s)	Butler/Iommi/Osbourne/Ward
Producer	Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
"The Wizard" (France, 1970) "Paranoid" (1970) "Iron Man" (1970)
Paranoid track listing "War Pigs" (1) "Paranoid" (2) "Planet Caravan" (3)

"Paranoid" is a song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, featured on their second album Paranoid (1970). 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.^[1] The song also topped the German Singles Chart.

Legacy

"Paranoid" is consistently ranked as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It is typically associated with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath due to its popularity. After Osbourne left the band in 1979 to pursue a solo career, he continued to perform this track, normally at the end of the set. Various different live versions have been recorded with Osbourne. This is due to the changes in band line-up since the original Blizzard of Ozz in 1980. Popular live versions featuring various guitarists including Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde were all recorded and later released.

It was ranked No. 34 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.^[4] In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it number 250 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time^[5] and called the song, "a two-minute blast of protopunk".^[6] In 2009, it was named the 4th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[7]

The original Black Sabbath recording has been used numerous times in various films and television shows including Sid & Nancy,^[8] Dazed and Confused,^[9] The Stoned Age,^[10] Any Given Sunday,^[11] Almost Famous,^[12] and We Are Marshall.^[13]

In Finland, Paranoid has the same status as Free Bird in the United States, Raul Seixas in Brazil or Stairway to Heaven in the United Kingdom as a song the audience finds great humour to request during a concert. So regardless of the band or the style of music they're playing "Soittakaa Paranoid!" ("Play Paranoid!") can usually be heard at least once during any gig.^[14][15]

Accolades

(*) designates unordered lists.

Covers

Cover versions of "Paranoid" were performed by:

• Cindy & Bert: "Der Hund von Baskerville" – German schlager version, 1971
• Heavy metal band Megadeth for the Black Sabbath tribute album, Nativity in Black. At the end of the recording, while the rest of the band stops, drummer Nick Menza continues playing until singer Dave Mustaine shouts to him, to which Menza replies profanely. The cover was later nominated for a Grammy^[26], and appeared on the Hidden Treasures EP.
• The Dickies on their album The Incredible Shrinking Dickies.
• The Dillinger Escape Plan for the reissue of their Under the Running Board EP.
• Synthpop band New Clear Sky on their album Newer, clearer...^[27]
• Avenged Sevenfold on a tribute album called Covered, A Revolution in Sound.^[28]
• Hellsongs on their debut EP Lounge^[29] and again on Hymns in the Key of 666.^[30]
• Type O Negative on their Origin Of The Feces EP.
• The Clay People for the Black Sabbath tribute album, Tribute To Black Sabbath: Eternal Masters.^[31]
• 3rd Strike on their album Lost Angel.
• Soviet (later Russian) heavy/thrash-metal band Master(rus. Мастер) their on album Talk of the Devil.
• Mystic Prophecy as a bonus track on their album Satanic Curses.
• Steel Pole Bath Tub as a track on their debut album Butterfly Love.
• Gus Black as a track on his album Uncivilized Love.
• George Lynch as a track on his album Guitar Slinger (with Mötley Crüe's singer Vince Neil).^[32]
• Adam Parfrey in the album A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows.^[33]
• Rob Lamothe in the album Above the Wing is Heaven
• Green Day played it live on their 21st Century Breakdown World Tour
• Big Country Recorded it and released in on Disc2 of the Ships UK Limited Edition 2 x CD Single Set
• Queens of the Stone Age live at the VH1 Rock Honors in 2007.
• Crescencio Salgado on Hell Rules: A Tribute to Black Sabbath released in 1999.^[34]
• New Wave of British Heavy Metal Band Angel Witch covered this song in their 1980's tours
• Metallica played it live at the 25th Anniversary of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, with Osbourne guest singing. This track is playable in the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.
• Show of Hands played a comedic snippet of the song live, which features in the hidden track on As You Were.
• Metalcore band Convoluted Tides covered the song in early 2012.^[35]

Track listing

7" single (Vertigo 6059 010)^[36]

1. "Paranoid" – 2:45
2. "The Wizard" – 4:20

7" single (Vertigo 6059 014)

1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
2. "Rat Salad" – 2:30

7" singles (Vertigo AS 109)

1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
2. "Happy Being Me"^[I] – 15:54

7" 1977 re-release (Immediate 103 466)

1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
2. "Evil Woman" – 3:25

7" 1977 re-release (Nems SRS 510.044)

1. "Paranoid" – 2:50
2. "Tomorrow's Dream" – 3:11

7" 1980 re-release (Spiegelei INT 110.604)

1. "Paranoid" – 2:45
2. "Snowblind" – 5:25

• I^ "Happy Being Me" is performed by Manfred Mann Chapter Three and appears on their second album Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two.

Chart positions

Notes