Iron Man (song) - Writing and Recording

Writing and Recording

The title of the song was conceived by Ozzy Osbourne. Geezer Butler took to writing the lyrics around the title. The song was originally entitled "Iron Bloke". Upon hearing the main guitar riff for the first time, Osbourne remarked that it sounded "like a big iron bloke walking about". The title was later changed to "Iron Man".

Despite the song's title, it bears no connection to the Marvel superhero character Iron Man, which was created and first appeared in March 1963 (though it has become associated with the character due to this misconception, and was used in the 2008 film Iron Man based on the Marvel character). Butler wrote the lyrics as the story of a man who time travels into the future, and sees the apocalypse. In the process of returning to the present, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field. He is rendered mute, unable verbally to warn people of his time of the impending destruction. His attempts to communicate are ignored and mocked. This causes Iron Man to become angry, and have his revenge on mankind, causing the destruction seen in his vision. The distorted vocals at the beginning that say "I am Iron Man" were made with a talk box, an electronic device sound effects unit that allows a musician to modify sounds.