"Disturbing the Priest" is the third song of the album Born Again, by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. The song was one of the last songs that was recorded for the album, and it is, in fact, a homage to a priest that lived near the studio where Born Again was recorded. The priest went in the studio to ask them to play it low.
Gillan also explained the genesis of "Disturbing the Priest":
We were in loud playback mode, with the door open...When the track ended I was surprised to see a nervous vicar standing in the doorway. He explained how wonderful he thought the music was, but they were having choir practise in the adjacent village church and so would we mind closing the door…? I apologised immediately, we got hold of his schedule and never worked again during those times. The following evening I had a few beers with the vicar and signed some autographs for the choir. It was Geezer who came up with the title as we were laughing about the story some days later.
The song has been covered live by Swedish group Opeth.
Progressive metal band Psychotic Waltz has covered it as well. Their cover is available as a bonustrack on reissues of their 1992 album Into the Everflow.
Like a majority of songs on the album, it was only performed live during Ian Gillan's time with the band.
Famous quotes containing the words disturbing and/or priest:
“There are few things more disturbing than to find, in somebody we detest, a moral quality which seems to us demonstrably superior to anything we ourselves possess. It augurs not merely an unfairness on the part of creation, but a lack of artistic judgement.... Sainthood is acceptable only in saints.”
—Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912–1981)
“Because the priest must have like every dog his day
Or keep us all awake with baying at the moon,
We and our dolls being but the world were best away.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)