Social Action 1

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor [

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgement day comes
Yeah!

A band not usually well known for their social agenda is Black Sabbath. On their second album “Paranoid”, released in 1970, the song War Pigs is one of the most powerful anti-war songs of its time. Black Sabbath is often seen as a Satan worshiping, drug fueled band when really they were pioneers of Heavy Metal and highly politically influenced. The song “War Pigs” is about the people who sit back and gain from war while the others give their lives. It is a song released during the brutal Vietnam War and it calls attention to the ultimate penalty for the politicians who “treat people like pawns in chess”. Black Sabbath calls these decision makers “war pigs”.  In the lyrics it is clear that the “war machine” is profitable to someone, but not the poor who are often the people on the front lines of war. Although this song was written in 1970, it is still relevant today in our current war situation, big defense companies and their friends making tons of money while less educated, ordinary Americans losing their lives and their health in a violent war. According to the song, on their “judgment day” they will be “begging mercy for their sins, Satan laughing spreads his wings”.