Black Sabbath

Released: June 22, 1992

Songwriter: Dio Tony Iommi Geezer Butler

Producer: Reinhold Mack

Once upon a nightmare
Once upon a time
You're running from temptation
You got lost
And found that you don't

Belong to anybody
You're all the same
Just another number
Cross it out
Whenever you don't behave

Someone got the doctor
He knows what to do
Throw some bones and mumble
The devil's inside of you

It might be contagious
It might change the plan
Get back in your tiny boxes
Even if you can't
We say you can

Join the congregation
Everybody's got to get in line and
We never justify
The choir sings a never-ending lie

[Pre-Chorus:]
When you thought you were free
You didn't need a reason
No reason to survive

[Chorus]
As the big door closes
And you waiting for the nail
Somebody tell the world
You're buried alive

Once upon a nightmare
Once upon a time
You're running from tomorrow
You got lost
And found that another
Day has turned to ashes
Taken by the wind
Frozen seeds of sorrow
Never to begin

Join the celebration
And everybody's got to get in line and
We never justify
The choir sings a never-ending lie

[Bridge]
When you thought you were free
You did not need a reason
No reason to survive

[Chorus]
As the big door closes
And you waiting for the nail
Somebody tell the world
You're buried alive

One more nightmare
Just one more time
Join the congregation
Everybody get in line

Celebration
The choir sings a lie
As you call
The hammer falls
And no one hears you cry
I'm buried alive

From their start as a heavy blues-rock band called Earth in 1968, Black Sabbath survived over four decades with a total of 19 studio albums and numerous hits, but only “Paranoid” reached the top 10 UK Singles Chart, putting together one of the greatest rock bands of all time and setting the standards for music in their genre.

Virtually every single heavy metal band has cited the early Black Sabbath albums as a major musical influence and Black Sabbath have at least played some part in laying the foundations for most of heavy metal’s sub-genres, including thrash metal (“Symptom of the Universe” and “Into the Void”), doom metal (“Black Sabbath”) and stoner metal (“Sweet Leaf”). The band also explored many rock sub-genres, including hard rock (“Paranoid”), blues rock (“N.I.B.”), psychedelic rock (“Planet Caravan”) and, of course, the traditional heavy metal, being one of the precursors of this genre.

They were ranked by MTV as the “Greatest Metal Band” of all time and placed second in VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them number 85 in their “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.” They have sold over 70 million records worldwide. Black Sabbath were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. They have also won two Grammy Awards for Best Metal Performance.

more tracks from the album

Dehumanizer

From the album

Dehumanizer (1992)

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Buried AliveBlack Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Dehumanizer