Geezer Butler was interested in themes like horror and black magic, which later became a massive part of the band’s image and music. Butler recalled the making of the ‘Black Sabbath’ track to Houston Press:
“It was one of those passing fads you go through as a teenager. But as a strict Catholic, I was hearing about hell and Satan all of the time already. [My interest] was like a going against your parents sort of thing.
Then horrible things started happening to me, and I blamed it on me getting into black magic. So, I quit it. That’s where the song ‘Black Sabbath’ came from. Don’t get involved in what you don’t have control over! But it wasn’t a glamorous place where we grew up. And the music reflected that.”
Butler recently shared with Classic Rock the incident that was the inspiration behind the track and retold the story of what happened:
“Ozzy gave me this 16th-century book about magic that he’d stolen from somewhere. I’d put it in an airing cupboard because I wasn’t sure about it. Later that night, I woke up and saw this black shadow at the end of my bed. It was a horrible presence that frightened the life out of me! I ran to the airing cupboard to throw the book out, but the book had disappeared!”
Butler has also written an autobiography titled ‘Into the Void: From Birth to Black Sabbath – and Beyond’, which will be released June 6th.
You can read the Houston Press interview here. You can listen to ‘Black Sabbath’ below.
