Black Sabbath’s pioneering lyrical rhetoric: Tragic structure and cathartic potential in song narratives
2017; Intellect; Volume: 3; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1386/mms.3.1.81_1
ISSN2052-4005
Autores Tópico(s)Diverse Musicological Studies
ResumoAbstract Widely credited with establishing heavy metal, Black Sabbath released their first two albums in 1970, Black Sabbath and Paranoid , and those albums’ success signalled a paradigm shift in rock, garnering the band international fame. Although having a self-perception of being a ‘heavy underground’ band, Black Sabbath would go on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide. With Black Sabbath having their final tour in 2017, this article examines lyrics contained in a sample of hit songs appearing on Black Sabbath and Paranoid to better understand why the band’s songs struck such a responsive chord with listeners. In examining lyrics from Black Sabbath’s earliest hits, this article provides a perspective from which the band’s songs can be shown as frequently containing the basic elements of Greek tragedy – tragic situation, tragic result, tragic hero and nemesis – a recurring pattern that may have served a cathartic function for listeners. Like Greek tragedies, Black Sabbath’s songs involve stories of extreme human suffering, often under extraordinary circumstances, having the ability to elicit emotional responses from audiences. By hearing narratives about the extreme suffering experienced by persons not unlike themselves, listeners are able to participate vicariously in the heroes’ fear, pain and grief. Thus, just as Aristotle believed Greek tragedies induced a catharsis – a purging of negative emotions – in viewers, the author argues that Black Sabbath’s lyrical narratives could serve a therapeutic function for listeners.
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