1970 Rock Song 'War Pigs' by Black Sabbath Ranked Among the 'Greatest Protest Songs' of All Time
1970 Rock Song 'War Pigs' by Black Sabbath Ranked Among the 'Greatest Protest Songs' of All Time
Geca FloresSun, August 2, 2026 at 3:40 AM UTC
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Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy OsbourneChris Walter&solWireImage
In 1970, the iconic band Black Sabbath released "War Pigs," an influential song that has remained one of rock music's most enduring political anthems.
Through the power of music, artists and musicians have long used songs to deliver social commentary, voice protest and inspire change among audiences.
As a tribute to this, Collider ranked the top 10 greatest protest songs in classic rock, honoring tracks that have left a lasting legacy in music.
With the 1969 song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Ohio" landing the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, and "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan taking No. 3, the Black Sabbath song secured No. 4.
Described as having the "perfect sound for that argument," the song stood out not only by criticizing leaders with words but also through its heavy guitar riffs, dark melodies and ominous atmosphere.
Moreover, the track was also included on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Protest Songs of All Time list, landing at No. 48.
Released as part of the band's sophomore album, Paranoid, the iconic protest song’s lyrics were largely written by bassist Geezer Butler.
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In the liner notes for the band's 1998 live album, Reunion, he mentioned creating the lyrics in a short period of time.
“Then I sat down and wrote the lyrics as quickly as I could, (and) it was all done in about two hours,” as mentioned by Rhino.
Moreover, he once mentioned that the original title of the track was “Walpurgis,” a traditional spring festival in parts of Europe. The name was later adopted as one of the major holidays observed in modern Satanism.
“It’s sort of like Christmas for Satanists,” the musician told Noisecreep in an interview, adding, “And to me, war was the big Satan. It wasn’t about politics or government or anything. It was (about) evil. So I was saying ‘generals gathered in the masses/just like witches at black masses' to make an analogy. But when we brought it to the record company, they thought 'Walpurgis' sounded too Satanic. And that’s when we turned it into ‘War Pigs.’ But we didn’t change the lyrics, because they were already finished.”
While it was celebrated as an iconic protest song, “War Pigs” was never released as a commercial single from the album. However, it reached new heights decades later after making its debut on the Billboard charts.
The 1970 track reached its all-time high after landing at No. 5 on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, making it Black Sabbath's second-highest-charting tune.
Related: 1970 Rock Classic, Written by Beloved Supergroup, Ranked Among Best Rock Songs of All Time
This story was originally published by Parade on Aug 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
