Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)

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For other uses, see Paranoid (disambiguation).

"Paranoid"
Paranoid-The Wizard 1970 7.jpg
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Paranoid
B-side"The Wizard" (1970 original)
ReleasedAugust 1970[1]
Format7-inch single
Recorded1970
Genre
Length2:48
LabelVertigo
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
"The Wizard"
(1970)		"Paranoid"
(1970)		"After Forever"
(1971)

"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]

About

"Paranoid" was the first Black Sabbath single release, coming six months after their debut album was released. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (from Guitar World magazine, March 2004):

A lot of the Paranoid album was written around the time of our first album, Black Sabbath. We recorded the whole thing in about 2 or 3 days, live in the studio. The song "Paranoid" was written as an afterthought. We basically needed a 3 minute filler for the album, and Tony came up with the riff. I quickly did the lyrics, and Ozzy was reading them as he was singing.[4]

"Paranoid" eventually became the name of the album, and somewhat unusually, the word paranoid is never mentioned in the lyrics. Originally the band had wanted to call the album War Pigs after the song of the same name, but the record company persuaded them to use "Paranoid" instead because it was less offensive.[5]