Released: September 28, 1978

Songwriter: Bill Ward Ozzy Osbourne Tony Iommi Geezer Butler

Producer: Black Sabbath

[Verse 1]
Tortured and twisted, he walks the streets alone
People avoid him, they know the street's his home
Cold blade of silver, his eyes, they burn so wild
Mean as a tiger, society's own child

[Pre-Chorus]
Those that tried to burn him paid
You don't do that to Johnny Blade

[Chorus]
He's the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade

[Verse 2]
Life has no meaning and Death's his only friend
Will fate surprise him, where will he meet his end?
He feels so bitter, yes, he's so full of hate
To die in the gutter, I guess that's Johnny's fate

[Pre-Chorus]
Rivals all across the land
He kills them with his knife in hand

[Chorus]
He's the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade

[Bridge]
Well you know that Johnny's a spider
And his web is the city at night
He's a victim of modern frustration
That's the reason he's so ready to fight
He's the one who should be afraid
What will happen to you, Johnny Blade?

[Verse 3]
Oh, he knows his future's decided
And he ain't gonna change it, no way
He was born to die in the gutter
He'll keep fighting till the end of his days

[Bridge]
Been alone all through his life
His only friend is a switchblade knife
He's the one who should be afraid
What will happen to you, Johnny Blade?

[Outro]
You fool the people, who's fooling who?
It's time to listen, who's fool are you?

Black Sabbath

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.