Black Sabbath - Never Say Die

Many moons ago my best friend and I were discussing our favorite bands of all time, and he corrected me on the number of Ozzy Sabbath albums there were. Embarrassingly I had never heard two of them, “Technical Ecstasy” and “Never Say Die!” My friend’s advice was this, “go deeper.” So, I went and listened to “Never Say Die!” Honestly, it is a fairly mediocre album, the title track although is really great.

I may have already told this story before. I have been writing this blog for years, these things happen. What I have never talked about before however is the title track from “Never Say Die!” Also, a cold sweat just passed over me as I write this, because it dawns of me, I never got around to listening to “Technical Ecstasy;” and I call myself a Sabbath and Ozzy fan.

Obviously, there is something raw and fantastic about Ozzy Osbourne instructing his follows to never submit to death. Granted it is easy to say something like this in hindsight. In 1978 Tony Iommi and the boys had their hands full with problems. Those problems mostly being drugs and alcohol. Their hands were full of drugs and alcohol. Amazingly those drugs never killed any of them. This is the first incident of Ozzy and friends refusing to die that most of us are aware of.. When you stop to recall the tales of just how much drugs and alcohol was consumed, it is actually a very impressive feat.

As established previously on this blog, the spirit of rock and roll is revolution and rebellion. We have not yet established the best base motivator for metal, but it would be similar, but more aggressive. Maybe the spirit of metal is power and defiance. I never really think of Black Sabbath as metal, but they are not exactly classic rock, I tend to lean towards calling them hard rock. Whatever genres, who cares. The only value in this preamble is for me to point out that Black Sabbath are something of a bridge between rock and roll and metal, and as such, revolution and defiance are both present attitudes in many of their songs. When applied to “Never Say Die!” it is almost perfect.

We all know what happens after 1978. Ozzy leaves Black Sabbath and has an amazing solo career, and it would be many years later in 2013 when Ozzy would return for the album 13. However, for a long, time, thirty-five years approximately, “Never Say Die!” was the last the world would hear of Sabbath and Ozzy together. It all sorted of worked metaphorically really well; Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne continued to make music and be successful. The proclamation to never die was strong in the rock metal world which these musicians occupied. Whether together or not, they were never going to succumb to death. You know until everyone involved eventually dies, because none of us have figured out how to get past that yet.

Rock and roll will never die. Neil Young said it, and he is trustworthy in these matters. Metal and hard rock, really music in general, will never die. But perfect delivery of this message is achieved when set in a metal setting and delivered by metal gods Black Sabbath, especially, and this would never work the same or as well without him, Ozzy Osbourne. Seriously, now many times should Ozzy Osbourne have died by now, and he is still going. So maybe the answer is never. Maybe Ozzy Osbourne will never die. He said as much, and he keeps proving himself right even when it seemed like maybe he would not. It would be great if someone figured out the whole never dying thing and if it turned out to be Ozzy, I would be very happy about that.

Now the least interesting part of my rambles, how I think and or feel about the song. We all must survive some unpleasant, and frequently unexpected tribulations. This is just the human condition and none of us can escape it. However, for me, I know it is at least a little different; it is not worth talking about, just an endless series of cuts for others to misunderstand, but understand this, when Ozzy commands us to “never say die” I cannot help but take it as a personal instruction. So, you can understand why I can so easily connect to Black Sabbath’s “Never Say Die,” for I have the will to never die; like for real. Naturally I do not like my chances of managing the whole immortality thing, but even in my most private thoughts that confidence is never shaken. Like Ozzy I will not go easily, I too say to death “never.”

Black Sabbath being one of the greatest musical groups of all time, notably with Ozzy, there is nearly infinite reasons to enjoy them. “Never Say Die!” gives me a little something extra, and I suspect I am not alone in that.

- King of Braves.