First of all, anyone who knows anything about Black Sabbath knows that at least a few of them have roots in the Church of England. I seriously doubt that Ozzy is a satan worshipper but he is, like the rest of us, a wounded soul.
As far as the song goes, it is obviously Lucifer speaking to someone. This song was blatantly written by someone who knows at least something about the Bible. I think that too often we equate anything involved with Ozzy Osbourne and any of his associates to drugs and alcohol. We see only what is on the surface. Perhaps we should stop judging and start hearing.
In the opening verse, ..."You're searching for your mind don't know where to start; Can't find the key to fit the lock on your heart; You think you know but you are never quite sure;
Your soul is ill but you will not find a cure"... it is easy here to make a reference to the Jewish leaders that condemned and crucified Christ. These men were searching for righteousness but were looking in all the wrong places. They could not "find the key to pick the locks on their hearts" because they were looking to themselves and the elders rather than God/Jesus. The same can easily be said about self-righteous, condemning Christians today. The one's who spend all their energy pointing fingers at the world while doing their best to secure their own place in heaven have locked hearts just like the Jewish leaders of old and don't even realize that they are serving the very one that they are claiming is their sworn enemy, Lucifer.
This can also be used to apply to atheists who put their faith in the world rather than God.
The second verse, ..."Your world was made for you by someone above [God]; But you chose evil ways [greed, hate, gossip, self-righteousness, etc.] instead of love [faith in God/Jesus]; You made me master of the world where you exist; The soul I took from you was not even missed" ...Through the acts greed, self-righteousness, and so on, most of us have unwittingly made Lucifer our master. So sly is he that when we do this we don't even see it ourselves. We turn over our soul to him and don't even realize it.
And finally, ..."You turn to me in all your worldly greed and pride; But will you turn to me when it's your turn to die?" ...We are quick to accept this dark master when it's all working out for us, but what about when we are on our death bed. Too often this is when we look back and see how we've really been living and who we've really been serving.
Of course, this is all opinion given that I have never met anyone from Black Sabbath and had the opportunity to sit down and talk to them about the song but if you look at the lyrics of another song by them, "After Forever", you will be able to see where I am coming from.
Too often we just take what the media, and even the Church, say as written in stone when it usually isn't.
First of all, anyone who knows anything about Black Sabbath knows that at least a few of them have roots in the Church of England. I seriously doubt that Ozzy is a satan worshipper but he is, like the rest of us, a wounded soul. As far as the song goes, it is obviously Lucifer speaking to someone. This song was blatantly written by someone who knows at least something about the Bible. I think that too often we equate anything involved with Ozzy Osbourne and any of his associates to drugs and alcohol. We see only what is on the surface. Perhaps we should stop judging and start hearing. In the opening verse, ..."You're searching for your mind don't know where to start; Can't find the key to fit the lock on your heart; You think you know but you are never quite sure; Your soul is ill but you will not find a cure"... it is easy here to make a reference to the Jewish leaders that condemned and crucified Christ. These men were searching for righteousness but were looking in all the wrong places. They could not "find the key to pick the locks on their hearts" because they were looking to themselves and the elders rather than God/Jesus. The same can easily be said about self-righteous, condemning Christians today. The one's who spend all their energy pointing fingers at the world while doing their best to secure their own place in heaven have locked hearts just like the Jewish leaders of old and don't even realize that they are serving the very one that they are claiming is their sworn enemy, Lucifer. This can also be used to apply to atheists who put their faith in the world rather than God. The second verse, ..."Your world was made for you by someone above [God]; But you chose evil ways [greed, hate, gossip, self-righteousness, etc.] instead of love [faith in God/Jesus]; You made me master of the world where you exist; The soul I took from you was not even missed" ...Through the acts greed, self-righteousness, and so on, most of us have unwittingly made Lucifer our master. So sly is he that when we do this we don't even see it ourselves. We turn over our soul to him and don't even realize it. And finally, ..."You turn to me in all your worldly greed and pride; But will you turn to me when it's your turn to die?" ...We are quick to accept this dark master when it's all working out for us, but what about when we are on our death bed. Too often this is when we look back and see how we've really been living and who we've really been serving.
Of course, this is all opinion given that I have never met anyone from Black Sabbath and had the opportunity to sit down and talk to them about the song but if you look at the lyrics of another song by them, "After Forever", you will be able to see where I am coming from. Too often we just take what the media, and even the Church, say as written in stone when it usually isn't.