Children of the Grave

"Children of the Grave"
Single by Black Sabbath
from the album Master of Reality
Released	21 July 1971 (1971-07-21)
Recorded	Island Studios, London, England
Genre	Heavy metal, doom metal
Length	05:17
Label	Vertigo (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US)
Writer(s)	Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward
Producer(s)	Rodger Bain
Black Sabbath singles chronology
Embryo "Children of the Grave" Orchid

"Children of the Grave"
File:White Zombie Children of the Grave.jpg
Single by White Zombie
from the album Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath
Released	1994
Format	CD single
Recorded	1994
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	5:50
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Geezer Butler Tony Iommi Ozzy Osbourne Bill Ward
Producer(s)	Bryan Carlstrom White Zombie
White Zombie singles chronology
"I Am Hell" (1993) "Children of the Grave" (1994) "Feed the Gods" (1994)
Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath track listing "After Forever" (1) "Children of the Grave" (2) "Paranoid" (3)

"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.

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.

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. 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 heavy 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 band White Zombie covered "Children of the Grave" (with slightly altered lyrics) for the Black Sabbath tribute album Nativity in Black. It was later released as a promo single in 1994. 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. In 2014, Mac Sabbath, a fast food-themed Black Sabbath tribute band, recorded a parody version entitled "Chicken for the Slaves". Stone Sour, an American hard rock band covered it on their 2015 EP Meanwhile in Burbank....

Single track listing

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

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics