# Black Sabbath's "Paranoid": Not Really About Paranoia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 18, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991 "2023-02-18T15:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/1 "2023-02-18T15:42:46Z")
What’s up with that? Ozzy seems to be describing severe depression throughout the song. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/2 "2023-02-18T15:54:31Z")
The song is about the depression and other mental health issues that someone who is suffering from paranoia experiences, not so much about the paranoia itself. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/3 "2023-02-18T16:07:41Z")
Am a huge fan of them. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qanF-91aJo) is a classic video of them playing it. It’s one of my favorite music videos. They also look healthier in this one vs. some of their [later videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6gPouusHs), where drugs had become more of an influence on them, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/4 "2023-02-18T19:39:54Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Am a huge fan of them. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qanF-91aJo) is a classic video of them playing it. It’s one of my favorite music videos. They also look healthier in this one vs. some of their [later videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6gPouusHs), where drugs had become more of an influence on them, unfortunately. When Beavis and Butthead watched an early Black Sabbath video of “Paranoid”, one of them remarked that the singer looked like Ozzy, only younger. “Maybe it’s his son?” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/5 "2023-02-18T19:41:44Z")
I heard an interview with Geezer who was explaining that the term “paranoid” is just one that stoners were using a lot, so they called the song Paranoid. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/6 "2023-02-18T21:24:30Z")
Sabbath’s main lyricist Geezer Butler explained: “Basically, it’s just about depression, because I didn’t really know the difference between depression and paranoia. It’s a drug thing; when you’re smoking a joint you get totally paranoid about people, you can’t relate to people. There’s that crossover between the paranoia you get when you’re smoking dope and the depression afterwards.” > **[Geezer Butler Opens Up About Past Struggles With Depression](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/geezer-butler-depression/)** > > Geezer Butler opened up about past struggles with depression in May 2016. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/7 "2023-02-18T22:05:10Z")
On the other hand, The Kinks’ “Destroyer” _is_ about paranoia; not a small warship. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/8 "2023-02-18T22:15:05Z")
Depression is a relatively common feature in multiple other mental disorders, including [paranoia](https://pulsetms.com/depression-issues/paranoia/). Distinguishing between paranoid depression and depressed paranoia sounds tricky. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/9 "2023-02-19T02:44:40Z")
I think it was “maybe Ozzy’s this guy’s grandpa.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/10 "2023-02-19T12:57:34Z")
For many years I thought the last lines of the song went: _I tell you to end your life_ _I wish I could but it’s too late_ Which I thought was extremely dark, and also, made me wonder “how could it be too late for the song character to end his life? It was only fairly recently I learned it was “enjoy life”, not “end your life”. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/11 "2023-02-20T03:45:21Z")
I’ve always heard the last two lines of the song as: I tell you to enjoy life I wish I could ???peremulate?? I just figured that peremulate was some kind of Britishism. I also just realized that the word Paranoia does not actually appear in the song. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sabbaths-paranoid-not-really-about-paranoia/979991/12 "2023-02-20T05:01:38Z")
There’s a great version of the song by the Dickies over in the Cover Songs thread…