In the afterglow of the program launch, while thinking about Michael’s family receiving the outline of his hand and the Baldwin quote inscription, Ozzy Osbourne passed, taking from us one of the most enigmatic rock voices to have ever roamed the planet. While some might pause at my mention of The Prince of Darkness amongst those populating this story, where the throwback snowflakes of old likely saw only an eyelinered devil-worshipping biter of bat heads, I saw the empathic songwriter and operatic performer of one of the most powerful yet underappreciated social justice rock anthems ever recorded.
To me, Black Sabbath’s War Pigs was, and still is, as meaningful and relevant today as say, Living Colour’s Cult Of Personality. Ozzy never got his proper flowers for this work while alive, and, sadly, the unjustified satanic stigma of Black Sabbath’s marketing will likely never allow anybody looking back objectively now to dare to appreciate what I always have—War Pigs is the rock version of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?
Had Ozzy been a stoner-hippy folk singer, and Black Sabbath’s band name been anything other than that which evoked the occult, his roaring interrogation of the war machine and class-based critique of the civil servant politicians who send the nation’s youngest and poorest citizens unnecessarily into the meat grinder might have enjoyed a greater regard. If you’d never seen Ozzy, watched Black Sabbath, or heard the song War Pigs, but merely read the song lyrics in a poetry anthology, you’d immediately connect with its people-powered struggle message.
With an eye toward Black History Month in 2026, my content objective is to remix the Black Sabbath War Pigs instrumental, re-order its vicious cyclone of drums, open up verse pockets with minimal guitar, and perform a full-throated rap-rock hybrid titled Gross National Product, which chronicles how slavery built the modern global economy. I won’t do what Kanye did—I’ll seek the band’s permission.
With the freedom to dream, if permitted, my rebirth of Sabbath’s immaculate sound wouldn’t dare to add a sliver of new music—in honor of what is a bonafide timeless classic, I would merely rearrange what is. You see, War Pigs is really a political ballad that intentionally arranges these open sound cliffs for Ozzy to soar vocally from like a song dragon, while tucked deep into the breakdowns are three of the most vicious and thunderously unique drum cyclones ever packed into a single rock song, that nobody has snatched, centered, and repurposed. Even Kanye missed the best ingredients idling in the War Pigs master mix.
When I hear those drums, I imagine the songs Rick Rubin might have produced off of them had those been his go-to drum loops, the same way I hear Public Enemy-style pockets when I remix my favorite System Of A Down slaps. In my rebirth version, War Pigs genre-shifts from a rock anthem, to a chunky, drum-heavy, historicized rap song that honors the thesis of Ozzy’s lyrics, and centers the would-be made-for-rap verses metronomically pulsing in the drums, just begging to be flamed. I hope there becomes a way for Sharon and the legal elements of Black Sabbath to hear this plea, permit us to honor their work, and consider allowing us to present this effort to those whose shoulders we hope to stand upon.
My fellow creators in the Rebirth of Sound program believe we have devised a simple, yet worthy artistic formula for reimagining War Pigs for the more than 1M people living in confinement with on-demand access to the Edovo app via their DOC-issued tablet devices, enabling them—particularly young men of color—to rediscover Black Sabbath, while keeping the song’s original ingredients. We will humbly work to seek that audience on the merits.
RIP to Ozzy Osbourne—thank you for inspiring us to be creative in spite of being confined.
Peace and blessings to Common, Scott, Calvin, Marcel, Syrup, Antony, Tamara, Team: Think Common, Team: I Am Free To Dream, CDCR/OCE, VSP Warden Bailey, VSP Principal Spencer, and VSP CRM Ford.
This is part 1 of 3
Listen to Ghostwrite Mike’s BLM protest anthem Dirty Cop, published by Columbia University’s MFA society literary magazine Exchange, here. [ link ]
ead Ghostwrite Mike’s Barz Behind Bars: Healing Through Verse curriculum and his Journal of Prison Education Research practitioner paper, here. [ link ]
Watch the Barz Behind Bars Freedom Salute PSA, here. [ link ]
For the record, Geezer Butler (bass) wrote most of the lyrics for early Sabbath, including War Pigs.
Here is War Pigs live in Paris in 1970, that many believe is one of the most raw and powerful live versions on record. It’s so early some of the lyrics are different than the studio version yet to come out. This is from 55 (!!!) years ago. Bill’s drum fills are pure power mastery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3b6SGoN6dA&t=11s
Also of note is this version of War Pigs by the brilliant all-female Black Sabbath cover band Black Sabbitch. This live version is only two years old, showing the timelessness of the music and message that GM alludes to. Angie masterfully captures the feel and power of Bill’s drum fills. Fun fact: Angie knows Bill personally and hangs out with him on occasion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyuSqyKwJsE
I was never a fan of Black Sabbath until recently. But the video below (a cover of War Pigs) caused me to go back and reconsider the original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT8t3i8CkMQ
Also, I suspect that most people don’t know that John Denver also apparently covered that song. :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5m5ycA_QHk&pp=0gcJCfwAo7VqN5tD
But on a serious note, I also recently realized that Ozzy Osbourne was the “real deal”, and seemed like a pretty decent human being.