Sweet Leaf

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For other uses see sweetleaf.

"Sweet Leaf"
Song by Black Sabbath
from the album Master of Reality
Released	July 21, 1971
Recorded	Record Plant, Los Angeles, California
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	5:05
Label	Vertigo (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US)
Writer(s)	Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward
Producer(s)	Rodger Bain
Master of Reality track listing
None (None)	"Sweet Leaf" (1)	"After Forever" (2)

"Sweet Leaf" is a song by Black Sabbath from their album Master of Reality (1971). The song, an obvious hymn to recreational marijuana use, got its title for the song from a packet of cigarettes singer Ozzy Osbourne bought in Dublin that claimed the tobacco was "the sweet leaf"

The song begins with a tape loop of guitarist Tony Iommi coughing, a fact revealed in the Symptom of the Universe booklet. The lyrics of the song revolve around marijuana and are unsurprising as all four members were recreational marijuana smokers.

Other drug anthems by Black Sabbath include "Hand of Doom", "Fairies Wear Boots", "Supernaut" and "Snowblind".

The song was covered by Six Feet Under in their Graveyard Classics album. The song was also covered by Canadian Post-Hardcore band Alexisonfire for the soundtrack to the Trailer Park Boys Movie and Scottish Post-Rock band Mogwai on a 1998 split-single.

[edit] Cultural impact

Due to its popularity, "Sweet Leaf" played a big part in making Black Sabbath one of the progenitors of modern stoner rock. The song also created some controversy^{[citation needed]}, yet has been covered or re-used by many bands.

• Ugly Kid Joe's debut EP As Ugly as They Wanna Be features their version of the song.
• Norwegian black metal band Ancient covered the song as well.
• Anthrax ended their cover of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" with both the coughing intro and the main riff of "Sweet Leaf"
• The song's main riff is played by the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the end of their own number "Give It Away".
• The song's main riff is looped up by the Beastie Boys on the their track "Rhymin' & Stealin"
• The band Godsmack also covered this song as part of the tribute album Nativity in Black 2.
• On country music artist Shooter Jennings' 2005 debut album Put the O Back in Country the song "Busted in Baylor County (Sweet Leaf version)" contains an exact replaying by the band of the main riff of "Sweet Leaf";
• The Butthole Surfers album Locust Abortion Technician contains a song called "Sweat Loaf" which also uses the main riff.
• The Australian band Silverchair use almost an identical riff to the main riff of "Sweet Leaf" in their song "Leave Me Out" off their debut Post-Grunge album Frogstomp
• The Canadian band Alexisonfire have covered this song and it has since appearred on the Trailer Park Boys Movie Soundtrack.
• Guitarist Paul Gilbert has been known to play a medley of the Spice girls song "2 Become 1" with the solo from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and ending the song with "Sweet Leaf
• The cover of the Public Enemy's "Bring The Noise" played by Staind and Limp Bizkit contains the riff of Sweet Leaf, played along the verses.
• Next Step Up, a hardcore band from NYC also covered the song.
• The Bruisers, a well-known Boston-based Oi! band, used the opening riff and vocal flourishes in the opening of their single "Molotov."