Black Sabbath

Released: April 25, 1980

Songwriter: Dio Bill Ward Geezer Butler Tony Iommi

Producer: Martin Birch

[Verse 1]
It's a long way to nowhere
And I'm leaving very soon
On the way we pass so close
To the back side of the moon

[Refrain]
Hey, join the traveler if you got nowhere to go
Hang your head and take my hand
It's the only road I know

[Chorus]
Oh, lonely is the word, yeah yeah yeah!

[Verse 2]
I've been higher than stardust
I've been seen upon the sun
I used to count in millions then
But now I only count in one

[Refrain]
C'mon, join the traveler if you got nowhere to go
Hang your head and take my hand
It's the only road I know

[Chorus]
Yeah, lonely is the word
Got to be the saddest song I've ever heard

[Guitar Solo]

[Outro]
Yeah, lonely is the name
Maybe life's a losing game

[Instrumental Outro]

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

The Dio Years

From the albums

Black Sabbath popular songs

Lonely is the WordBlack Sabbath

Black Sabbath

The Dio Years