The Black Sabbath song written as an ode to marijuana
Black Sabbath were never scared to insert drug references within their work. Substances played a considerable role in the lives of each band member and subconsciously influenced their music. While cocaine is the drug most commonly associated with the group, Black Sabbath were also partial to smoking marijuana and wrote ‘Sweet Leaf’ as a tribute to cannabis.
Sabbath notoriously spent more money on cocaine while making their fourth album, Vol. 4, than on the album itself. By the end of the recording process, the bill for the white substance had racked up to an estimated $75,000, a sum equivalent to over $500,000 in modern money. Sabbath even tried to name the album after the track ‘Snowblind’, but their label intervened, and Black Sabbath were forced to compromise on Vol. 4.
On their third album, weed was their drug of choice, and it’s audible on Master of Reality, a stoner rock masterpiece. ‘Sweet Leaf’ is the opening track to the record and sets a precedent for the rest of the record. Fittingly, the first block of sound which fans hear on the album is guitarist Tony Iommi coughing after taking a hit of marijuana from the bong.
In a later conversation with the weed publication, High Times, Ozzy was asked about the track and explained why the title is self-explanatory. He said: “Well, what do you think? We used to smoke pounds of the shit man. We used to buy it by the fuckin’ sackful. We used to be so fucked up all the time. Wake up in the morning, start the day with a spliff and go to bed with it. Yeah, it started to get…I started to get the heebee-jeebees. I was mixing all kinds of other chemicals. Booze, coke, pills…”
When asked about the difference between marijuana and other drugs, Osbourne defended the green substance and said it should be decriminalised. “Absolutely. This, for instance, (waving his cigarette), tobacco. I couldn’t smoke as many joints a day as I can this stuff. Gotta legalise pot. I’m all for the legalisation of pot, decriminalise it. I don’t smoke it myself, but if anybody wants to smoke it, fine. I got busted for it. We all did,” Ozzy commented.
In the track, Osbourne declares his love for the drug like it’s a love interest that has transformed his life for the better. “When I first met you, didn’t realise, I can’t forget you or your surprise, You introduced me to my mind, And left me wanting you and your kind,” he sings in the first verse.
Later in the song, Osbourne proudly declares: “My life is free now, my life is clear, I love you sweet leaf, though you can’t hear.” He also thanks marijuana and adds, “You gave to me a new belief”.
Watch the footage below of Black Sabbath performing their ode to marijuana, ‘Sweet Leaf’.
