It’s easy to forget “War Pigs” is a protest song because it’s just so incredibly rad. Millions of people have head-banged to the Black Sabbath song throughout its 50+ year history, or perhaps even table-drummed so hard they bruised their fingers during a surf rock cover at a small, crowded bar. It’s easy to get lots its iconic opening riff, its iconic drum patter, or in the general Sabbath mystique. Lyricist/bassist Geezer Butler has written plenty of lyrics nobody pays attention to – does anyone really know what “Faeries Wear Boots” is about? – so it’s easy to understand that, for most of us, “War Pigs” is just this head-banging metal classic.
But, you know, it’s actually an anti-war protest song. And it’s as explicit as such songs get. There’s no interpreting their meaning any other way. Big Richard, an all-woman bluegrass group, with a rather unconventional lineup that is partway towards string quartet, were booked to play the Kennedy Center, a venue that has had a lot of controversy around it during Trump’s second term. And there are a few rather prominent wars going on. Then, just days before they were due to perform, Ozzy died. The stars aligned.
Dressed as the founding fathers with outfits made up of various combinations of the American flag, Big Richard played for an hour. For their penultimate song, they chose “War Pigs.” They begin a capella, drawing out the lyrics longer than in the original. Gone are are the drums and the guitar riff until the “Oh lord yeah” and then it breaks out, albeit on mandolin, fiddle, cello and standup bass. At this point the mandolin takes the drums with the other instruments handling the riff. There’s a cello solo instead of the guitar solo and then the fiddle joins in and they have a bit of a duel to echo the overdubbed second guitar in the original. There’s a second fiddle solo later joined again by the cello for the coda.
It’s a little rough, sure. For example, mandolinist Bonnie Sims is so into her rhythm part she doesn’t get back to her mic fast enough to begin the verses. But this performance is in the finest tradition of protest songs, full of energy, passion and bravado. Ozzy was not a political singer, obviously, but Butler was, at times, a political lyricist. And it’s fitting tribute to Sabbath in honour of Ozzy’s death, just as it is a brave moment of musical protest. Big Richard’s cover of “War Pigs” starts around 55 minutes into the video:
