| Song |
Computer God is a song by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was first released in 1992 as the opening track on the band's sixteenth album Dehumanizer.
It was the band's first new song to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio since 1981, and the first time he performed with the band at all since 1982's Live Evil.
About[]
This song is about technology becoming more powerful than man and destroying him. In the liner notes to the 2003 compilation Stand Up And And Shout: The Anthology, Ronnie James Dio had this to say: “The song, and the entire Dehumanizer (1992) project, represents the influence science fiction has had on me as an artist. Technology has removed humanity from the human being. And when the day comes when we’re completely tapped as a race, God will be a computer. Great writers like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke inspired his song.”[1]
Live[]
Trivia[]
Rob Halford, lead vocalist of Judas Priest (besides on Jugulator and Demolition) needed to fill in for Ronnie James Dio on vocals at two shows in Costa Mesa, California, taking place on November 14th and 15th. During this time, Ozzy Osbourne had announced he'd be retiring after his No More Tears tour, and asked for Black Sabbath to open for him. Tony Iommi accepted, but Dio declined, and chose to depart from the band, stating, "I'm not doing that. I'm not supporting a clown."[2] This lead to Rob Halford providing vocals on several Black Sabbath tracks, including "Computer God", as can be heard on several bootlegs, such as the Japanese release, Live & God.[3]
Lyrics[]
Waiting for the revolution
New clear vision, genocide
Computerize God, it's the new religion
Program the brain, not the heartbeat
Onward all you crystal soldiers
Touch tomorrow, energize
Digital dreams And you're the next correction
Man's a mistake so we'll fix it, yeah
Take a look at your own reflection
Right before your eyes
It turns to steel
There's another side of heaven
This way, to technical paradise
Find it on the other side
When the walls fall down
Love is automatic pleasure
Virtual reality
Terminal hate, it's a calculation
Send in the child for connection
Take a look at the toys around you
Right before your eyes
The toys are real
There's another side of heaven
This way, to technical paradise
Find it on the other side
When the walls fall down
Midnight confessions
Never heal the soul
What you believe is fantasy
Your past is your future
Left behind, lost in time
Will you surrender?
Waiting for the revolution
Program the brain not the heartbeat
Deliver us to evil, deny us of our faith
Robotic hearts bleed poison On the world we populate
Virtual existence with a superhuman mind
The ultimate creation, destroyer of mankind
Termination of our youth For we do not compute
No