# What does this Black Sabbath lyric mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798 "2004-05-12T15:27:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/1 "2004-05-12T15:27:48Z")
In the song Heaven and Hell there is this: “Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer” [http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/black-sabbath/19364.html](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/black-sabbath/19364.html) What in the world does that mean? I get the rest of the song. But I haven’t a clue on this part. Anyone have any real ideas or interview quotes about it? It seems to be an important part of the song because it is restated later. I really hope they didn’t just throw it in there because it rhymes and sounds mysterious. ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/2 "2004-05-12T17:22:19Z")
Dio often has cryptic lyrics. I take the dancer as _anyone_. Basically what I think it means is love and compassion is nice but that no one is going to feel any sympathy for you. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/3 "2004-05-12T18:20:06Z")
"Right, what rhymes with ‘answer’? Cancer? Good. Suggests death, but not bloody enough. This song doesn’t have nearly enough blood. Hell Cancer? No, mentioned Hell already. Heaven’s bleeding cancer? No, got heaven already in there too. Forget cancer, that sucks. Dancer? Yeah! bleeding dancer. Can I get a virgin in there too? Hmm, not mentioned one yet, or ‘tubesnake’, but there’s only so much of a good thing any one song can have. Bleeding for the dancer? That’s it! “but nobody bleeds for the dancer” Genius! Means sod all, but sounds good. Maybe get an album cover out of that! Now, have I put in the required quota of parent-baiting implications of satanism? " ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/4 "2004-05-12T19:05:49Z")
Futile Gesture, I predicted your smart ass reply. Thanks Opengrave, that sounds plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/5 "2004-05-12T20:37:36Z")
> [@Satasha](#): > > Futile Gesture, I predicted your smart ass reply. Oh, lighten up. That was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/6 "2004-05-12T21:04:29Z")
> [@Satasha](#): > > Futile Gesture, I predicted your smart ass reply. Happy to oblige. 🙂 For my next trick I will paint my face like my eye-sockets are bleeding and hang a dwarf. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/7 "2004-05-12T21:35:17Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > Oh, lighten up. That was funny. And most likely closest to the truth. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/8 "2004-05-12T22:03:22Z")
[QUOTE=Futile GestureNow, have I put in the required quota of parent-baiting implications of satanism? "[/QUOTE] Ya forgot “necromancer”, perfectly good satanesque rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/9 "2004-05-12T22:14:47Z")
For what it’s worth, I’d always thought of it as Dio’s version of “pay the piper” - you’ll notice later on he sings “You’ve got to bleed for the dancer”. So - “Love can be seen as the answer” - falling in love can make everything in the world seem “right”; “but nobody bleeds for the dancer” - but nobody wants to pay the price for happiness (i.e. working to maintain a relationship). Or something. Yeah, yeah, my older brother used to play Sabbath at full volume in the room we shared growing up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dio990](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@dio990](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dio990)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/10 "2018-04-02T05:08:43Z")
Dio obviously was into medieval philosophy, a scholar who had read extenstively. I noticed in my own studies that the contemporary French philosopher Alain Badiou identified Jacques Lacan’s site of sexuation with the figure of the dancer. Could Dio have run across that? Don’t know the actual time lines; Dio must have wrote these lyrics in late 79 early 80. But Badiou? I don’t know. But that Badiou had linked sexuation with the dancer, this is well known in academia; a recent academic book, Lacan and Meaning, has this exact Dio lyric as its opening epigraph. Wild! Fucking wild! Even if Dio didn’t know about it, and he was the true original, and these intellectuals later picked up on his lyrics and used it for their own purposes, it just speaks volumes to his genius. Dio, you will live well past your death… ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/11 "2018-04-02T05:17:01Z")
It’s a commentary on the lasting economic shadow that was cast over western Europe by the Spanish civil war. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/12 "2018-04-02T13:31:20Z")
Dio was not some lyrical genius. Though I’m sure he thought he was, since he had such a high opinion of himself. Anything that guy sings leaves me thinking “WTF is he babbling about now?” I think post #3 nailed it, lo those many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/13 "2018-04-02T14:16:16Z")
Generally, in cases like this the answer is: I needed something that fit the rhythm of the line and matched the rhyming pattern of the song and to hell with making sense. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/14 "2018-04-02T23:36:40Z")
During [an internet chat](http://ronniejamesdiosite.com/O&E/chats/june5-99/June5chat.html) on June 5, 1999 someone asked Ronnie who the “dancer” is. His response: \ The dancer is the free spirit unfettered by chains and not confined by four walls. Noone seems to care much for those they can’t control. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/15 "2018-04-06T03:24:40Z")
> [@by-tor](#): > > In the song Heaven and Hell there is this: > “Love can be seen as the answer, but nobody bleeds for the dancer” > [Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell lyrics | LyricsFreak](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/black-sabbath/19364.html) > What in the world does that mean? I get the rest of the song. But I haven’t a clue on this part. Anyone have any real ideas or interview quotes about it? It seems to be an important part of the song because it is restated later. I really hope they didn’t just throw it in there because it rhymes and sounds mysterious. i would guess it means drugs/alcohol fueled writing sessions. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/16 "2018-04-06T07:11:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Ya forgot “necromancer”, perfectly good satanesque rhyme. Dio wasn’t a Satanist. > [@TBG](#): > > i would guess it means drugs/alcohol fueled writing sessions. Dio didn’t do drugs. He was a powerful singer who was influenced by Mario Lanza and had operatic training. The devil horns thing was something he got from his Catholic Grandmother. It’s an old Sicilian gesture to ward off the evil eye. ETA: Did not realize this thread was a Zombie. Send it back to the midnight sea. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/17 "2018-04-06T14:11:37Z")
It means the same thing as “the movement you need is on your shoulder.” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/18 "2018-04-06T14:25:21Z")
A zombie thread including the word “necromancer.” How appropriate is that! ---
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/19 "2018-04-06T16:38:59Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > It’s a commentary on the lasting economic shadow that was cast over western Europe by the Spanish civil war. My office mates want to know WTF is so damn funny. I award you the thread. You may claim your prize by the door. ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798/20 "2018-04-08T02:51:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > A zombie thread including the word “necromancer.” How appropriate is that! necromancer AND an OP called by-tor. I’m getting tingly all over. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-black-sabbath-lyric-mean/244798.md?page=2)