Children of the Grave

"Children of the Grave" is a song by Black Sabbath from their 1971 album Master of Reality. The song lyrically continues with the same anti-war themes brought on by "War Pigs" and "Electric Funeral" from Paranoid, adding in Geezer Butler's pacifist ideals of non-violent civil disobedience. Two previously unreleased versions of this song are released on the deluxe edition of Master of Reality. The first is a version with alternate lyrics, the second an instrumental version.^[1]

The song has been featured on several greatest hits and live albums. As well as being performed by Black Sabbath in concert, in its various incarnations, Ozzy Osbourne performed it in concert many times as a solo artist. It appears in the game, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as a playable song. It is also referenced in the online game League of Legends as the name of the ultimate attack of the character Mordekaiser. It also is the background music for the opening level of the video game Brütal Legend.

It is worth noting that in this song Iommi's guitar rarely ventures above "middle" C sharp (or the equivalent of "middle" C sharp on a piano), and spends almost the entirety of the song below that note, with the exception of the solo.

One feature lost on CD, is that on vinyl the track was the last on the side, and continually looped a whispered "Children of the Grave". This looped part has an individual, yet rarely used name of 'The Haunting'.

Cover versions

Canadian rockers Jet Set Satellite covered the song on their 2008 album End of an Era. The song is the first ever cover recorded by the band and is presented on their third album, released summer 2008. "We had never really planned to include a cover on any of our albums but with 'Children of the Grave', something just clicked," said lead singer Trevor Tuminski. "Ozzy Osbourne really isn't credited for the brilliant lyricist he is. In our troubled times, the words to that song just seemed the perfect fit for the themes at work on the record, not to mention the doomsday feel of the music".

American band Racer X released a cover of the song that can be heard on the Japanese version of Technical Difficulties. The song has been covered by German power metal band Grave Digger. Also, hardcore punk band The Fartz covered it for their Because This Fuckin' World Still Stinks album. It has also been covered by the Finnish band Tarot on To Live Forever. The American straight edge hardcore band Earth Crisis covered the song for their covers album "Last Of The Sane." The Swedish stoner metal band Hellfueled covered this song on their 2002 demo album "The Red One."

The band White Zombie covered "Children of the Grave" for the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black. It was later released as a promo single in 1994. It is the first White Zombie release featuring Terry Date who would later produce the band's bestselling album Astro-Creep: 2000. It was also the last release to have Phil Buerstatte playing the drums as he would be kicked out of the band later that year. The song contains the following vocal sample: "In Los Angeles, 1969, they shot, stabbed, and bludgeoned nine people to death committing one of the most heinous crimes in history.", a reference to the Tate/LaBianca killings by Charles Manson and the Family in 1969.

Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth covered the song in 2010 for Metal Hammer's Black Sabbath tribute CD.

Argentinean thrash metal band Nepal covered the song on their 1997 album Manifiesto.

Single track listing

1. Children of the Grave - 5:49
2. Children of the Grave (Edit) -3:50

References