"Paranoid" is a song by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970 on the band's second studio album, Paranoid (1970). It is the first single from the album, while the B-side is the song "The Wizard". The song is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It reached number 4 on the UK singles chart and number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Black Sabbath's first song to place on both of those charts.
Song information
"Paranoid" was the first Black Sabbath single release, coming six months after their self-titled debut was released. Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (from Guitar World magazine, March 2004):
The song is an E minor pentatonic and only uses power chords. The guitar solo is a dry signal on the left channel, which is patched through a ring modulator and routed to the right channel; this effect was used again on the 1978 song, "Johnny Blade".
According to extant lyric sheets, "Paranoid" was at one time titled "The Paranoid".
"Paranoid" eventually became the name of the album. Originally, the band had wanted to call the album War Pigs after the song of the same name, but the record company persuaded them to use "Paranoid" instead because it was less offensive.
"Paranoid" drew controversy for apparently encouraging suicide, much like Osbourne's later solo song "Suicide Solution". Particularly, the lyric "I tell you to enjoy life" was misheard as a mondegreen: "I tell you to end your life".
Reception
Cash Box described the song as being "as dense, musically as 'Whole Lotta Love'", stating that "crashing, non-stop beat with gobs of bass and drums laced liberally with stinging, echoey vocals and hot guitar licks move the song along at a blistering pace."
"Paranoid" was ranked No. 34 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it number 250 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on their 2023 list "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time". "Paranoid" was ranked the fifth best Black Sabbath song by Rock – Das Gesamtwerk der größten Rock-Acts im Check. In 2020, Kerrang! ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest Black Sabbath songs, and in 2021, Louder Sound ranked the song number six on their list of the 40 greatest Black Sabbath songs.
Personnel
- Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
- Tony Iommi – guitars
- Geezer Butler – bass
- Bill Ward – drums
Accolades
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Publication
! Country
! Accolade
! Year
! style="text-align:center;"|Rank
|-
| NME
| United Kingdom
| "All Time Top 100 Singles"
| 1976
| 41
|-
| Spin
| United States
| "100 Greatest Singles of All Time"
| 1989
| 81
|-
| Radio Veronica
| Netherlands
| "Super All-Time List"
| 1989
| 16
|-
| Rock and Roll<br> Hall of Fame<br>
| United States
| "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs<br> that Shaped Rock and Roll"<br>
| 1994
| *
|-
| Guitarist
| United Kingdom
| "Top 100 Guitar Solos of All-Time"
| 1998
| 84
|-
| Rolling Stone
| United States
| "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
| 2004
| 253
|-
| Q
| United Kingdom
| "1010 Songs You Must Own!"
| 2004
| *
|-
| Q
| United Kingdom
| "100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever!"
| 2005
| 11
|-
| Q
| United Kingdom
| "100 Greatest Songs of All Time"
| 2006
| 100
|-
| VH1
| United States
| "40 Greatest Metal Songs"
| 2006
| 1
|-
| VH1
| United States
| "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs"
| 2008
| 4
|
|-
| Planet Rock (radio station)
| United Kingdom
| "Top 500 Greatest Rock Songs of All Time"
| 2026
| 12
|}
<small>(*) designates unordered lists.</small>
Track listing
- 7" single <small>(Vertigo 6059 010)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:45
- "The Wizard" – 4:20
- 7" single <small>(Vertigo 6059 014)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Rat Salad" – 2:30
- 7" singles <small>(Vertigo AS 109)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Happy Being Me" – 15:54
- 7" 1977 re-release <small>(Immediate 103 466)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Evil Woman" – 3:25
- 7" 1977 re-release <small>(Nems SRS 510.044)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Tomorrow's Dream" – 3:11
- 7" 1980 re-release <small>(Spiegelei INT 110.604)</small>
- "Paranoid" – 2:45
- "Snowblind" – 5:25
- Digital Single <small>(Reunion Live Promo Single)</small>
- "Paranoid" (Live at the NEC, Birmingham, UK - December 1997) - 3:49
- "Psycho Man" (Radio Edit) - 4:03
- "Psycho Man" (Danny Saber Remix Edit) - 4:14
Note
- I "Happy Being Me" is performed by Manfred Mann Chapter Three and appears on their second album Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two.
Charts
Weekly charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+Weekly chart performance for "Paranoid"
!Chart (1970–1971)
! style="text-align:center;"|Peak<br>position
|-
| Australian Go-Set National Top 60
| style="text-align:center;"|18
|-
| Austrian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
| Canadian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|54
|-
| Danish Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
| French Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|7
|-
| German Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|-
| Irish Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|12
|-
| Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|
|-
| Norwegian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3
|-
| Swiss Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|4
|-
| US Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|61
|-
|align="left"|US Cashbox Top 100
| style="text-align:center;"|79
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+1980 chart performance for "Paranoid"
!Chart (1980)
! style="text-align:center;"|Peak<br>position
|-
| UK Singles Chart
| 61
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan)
| 10
|-
! scope="row"| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)
| 34
|-
! scope="row"| Norway (IFPI Norge)
| 48
|-
! scope="row"| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)
| 46
|-
! scope="row"| Portugal (AFP)<!--</ref> NOTE: Replace citation with the template if portuguesecharts.com is updated.-->
| 175
|-
! scope="row"| Russia Streaming (TopHit)
| 97
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)
| 21
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
Yearly charts
{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+1970 year-end chart performance for "Paranoid"
!Chart (1970)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
|9
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 2025 year-end chart performance for "Paranoid"
! scope="col"| Chart (2025)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)
| 78
|}
Certifications
Cover versions
Cindy & Bert version
In 1971, German schlager vocal duo Cindy & Bert covered the song with lyrics based on Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles as "Der Hund von Baskerville". The unlikely cover version with a heavy Hammond organ, featured in a TV show with a tiny Pekingese dog standing in as "hound" and dancers getting ushered back to their seats, has become a collector's curiosity and a document of 1971 zeitgeist.
The Dickies version
American punk rock group the Dickies covered the song for their debut album The Incredible Shrinking Dickies (1979). Released as single, it charted at No. 45 in the UK.
Megadeth version
Megadeth's cover of "Paranoid" for the tribute album Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath received a Grammy nomination in 1995 for 'Best Metal Performance'. This track also famously ends with drummer Nick Menza forgetting to end the song and continuing to play as Dave Mustaine repeatedly yells his name.
Legacy
- The original Black Sabbath recording has been used numerous times in various films and television shows including Sid & Nancy, Dazed and Confused, The Stoned Age, Any Given Sunday, Almost Famous, We Are Marshall, The Angry Birds Movie, Suicide Squad, Kong: Skull Island, CHiPs, and Tron: Ares.<!-- and Bad Cat --> The song was used in the video games Rock n' Roll Racing, Guitar Hero 3, Madden NFL 10, WWE 2K17, and Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2.
- On 5 July 2025, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath held their final live performance titled Back to the Beginning. "Paranoid" was the final song that they performed. Osbourne died 17 days after the concert at the age of 76.
- The Band of the Coldstream Guards performed the song in tribute to Osbourne during the Changing of the Guards ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London on the day of Osbourne's funeral procession at Aston, Birmingham on 30 July.
Popular culture
- In Finland, "Paranoid" has the same status as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in the United States as a song the audience finds humorous to request during a concert. So regardless of a band or the style of music in question, somebody may shout "Soittakaa 'Paranoid'!" ("Play 'Paranoid'!") during a gig.