90. Changes by Black Sabbath

"Changes" by Black Sabbath

Music by Black Sabbath (Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward)
Lyrics by Geezer Butler
Produced by Black Sabbath and Patrick Meehan
Released on Vol. 4 (September 25, 1972)
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I first got turned onto "Changes" through this YouTube video of Charles Bradley covering it live in studio. It's a cool video of a soul singer doing a song by a prototypically metal band. While Black Sabbath are the Godfathers of Heavy Metal, "Changes" is not heavy metal. As a ballad, it's actually closer to soul. The first time I listened to Black Sabbath's version, I'm not sure I knew what to think. Why did the band who invented heavy metal, put down their guitars and produce a piano ballad?

Before I go any further into why this song is on my top 100 list, I feel the need to say something. I don't like Ozzy Osbourne. His solo work is terrible (with the exception of "Crazy Train"). I can't listen to his voice for too long before it starts to grate on me, but he is a founding member of one of the greatest bands of all time. I don't know much about how he contributed to their songwriting process (their bassist Geezer Butler wrote almost all their lyrics), but Black Sabbath wrote and recorded some amazing, timeless music. The power of the music they produced is so massive and compelling, that I ended up with two of their songs my top 100, despite what I just said about Ozzy. (The other song of theirs on my list is much more emblematic of their general oeuvre.)

As important as Black Sabbath is as a band in the greater history of rock music, and as much as Ozzy Osbourne annoys me, I'm not sure that either of those things has much to do with why this song is currently one of the 100 favorite songs.  "Changes" just speaks to me. It is a break up song. It's lyrics are simple, sad, and true. Sometimes simple, sad, and true is all a song or poem needs.

I also think that "Changes" is a great example of a fantastic song that was made into an imperfect record. While the song is fantastic (as Charles Bradley displayed), Black Sabbath's record is flawed. The piano part could swing just a bit more. The strings might be a little over the top. Someone other than Ozzy could be singing. Even with all of those apparent flaws, when this song comes on my playlist, I still find myself happy to listen. The song itself is good enough, that it can overcome a lack of vision and execution in the recording studio.

I love this song. I may not love if forever, but right now I do. If I remade this list tomorrow, I'm not sure that this song would still be on it. Right now, though, when I listen to it, it still feels great. I still love it.

Right now "Changes" by Black Sabbbath is (probably) my 90th favorite song of all time.