This is a deep dive into one of the greatest songs of all-time, Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Time". This isn't a technical breakdown, because I don't have that kind of knowledge. It's a fan's appreciation of that amazing song. Thanks to wikipedia for most of the biographical details in this blog.
"Crazy Train" is the first song off of Ozzy Osbourne's debut CD "Blizzard of Ozz". It's also included as a live track on 1987's "Tribute". What is "Crazy Train" about? According to Wikipedia.org "the subject matter of the lyrics is the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during this period. That was a theme he revisited on "The Ultimate Sin" with "Thank God For The Bomb" and "Killer of Giants".
Who wrote "Crazy Train"? It was written by John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne, Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley.
Some notable milestones for "Crazy Train":
- It surprisingly only reached # 49 on UK singles chart.
- It reached US # 9 Billboard Top Tracks
- Rhoads solo was rated 9th best solo by Guitar World.
- "Crazy Train" was ranked the 23rd greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1.
- It's the 10th most played song on themusicaddict's iTunes.
"Tribute" was a tribute to Ozzy's guitarist Randy Rhoads, who sadly died in a reckless plane crash while on tour with Ozzy in 1982. Although Ozzy named the CD "Tribute", the relationship between Rhoads and Ozzy was strained when Rhoads died. He had been thinking of leaving of Ozzy's band for a long time. In fact Rhoads had already made the decision to leave Ozzy's band, his main concern with Ozzy was his abuse of drugs. In fact it's said the last thing Rhoads said to Ozzy was "You'll kill yourself, you know? One of these days". It's amazing that Rhoads prediction hasn't come true. Not only is Ozzy still alive, he's due to celebrate his 70th birthday on December 3rd.
While "Blizzard" is a pretty solid debut CD, "Tribute" is a pretty mediocre CD. Of course it has live versions of "Crazy Train", "I Don't Know", "Mr. Crowley", "Flying High Again" and "Iron Man".
Ozzy's band at the time of "Blizzard of Ozz":
- Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals, harmony vocals
- Randy Rhoads – electric and classical guitars
- Bob Daisley – bass, backing vocals, gongs
- Lee Kerslake – drums, percussion, tubular bells, timpani
- Don Airey – keyboards
The lyrics to "Crazy Train":
Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as fools
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love
And forget how to hate
Mental wounds not healing
Life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I've listened to preachers
I've listened to fools
I've watched all the dropouts
Who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you live the role
Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I know that things are going wrong for me
You gotta listen to my words
Yeah
Heirs of a cold war
That's what we've become
Inheriting troubles I'm mentally numb
Crazy, I just cannot bear
I'm living with something that just isn't fair
Mental wounds not healing
Who and what's to blame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
themusicaddict
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