It was also an era when the whole issue of pollution was starting to get attention, and this affected my thinking quite a bit.' Butler added, 'What I always attempted to do with my science-fiction plots was to make these relevant to the modern world at the time, so I brought war and politics in. Butler recalled, 'I liked the Hammer horror films in the 1960s and magazines such as Man, Myth and Magic, but I had a few supernatural experiences as a child and dreams that came true and that, more than anything, shaped my interest in the occult'. Feeling shunned and alone, Iron Man plans his revenge on mankind, causing the apocalypse seen in his vision. In the process of returning to the present to warn the human race, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field and his attempts to warn the public are ignored and mocked. The lyrics, composed by bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler, tell the story of a man who travels into the future and sees the apocalypse. As the song developed and Butler composed the lyrics, the title evolved to 'Iron Man'.

Upon hearing Tony Iommi's main guitar riff at rehearsal for the first time, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne remarked that it sounded 'like a big iron bloke walking about', with 'Iron Bloke' becoming the placeholder title for a short time as the band worked out the song.

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