Who is this Iron Man?
Iron Man, the Black Sabbath Song that was first released in October 1971, is a popular song even today, due in part to the broad exposure through the recent Marvel comic book movie of the same name. The guitar riffs are classic Heavy Metal. When I was a kid, I owned the Black Sabbath Paranoid album and listened to it pretty frequently. There was something about it that was really dark, which suited me fine, at the time. I was pretty surprised to recently discover what you will hear in the video. Some of you will find this rather overwhelming, especially if you are just being introduced to the speech inversion phenomenon. Even if you have been introduced to it, you probably have never seen it exhibited on this scale. It makes you wonder, just who is this Iron Man, really? There are more than enough clues to give us the answer!
Iron Man - line by line
In the video I made, which unfortunately I can no longer find, each line of the vocals is played. Then the line is played backwards. Then it is played backwards again, slowed down. I did find a version of 
Iron Man played in reverse, which you can slow down using the standard player features. I cued this one up to where lyrics can be heard.
| forward | reverse |
|---|---|
| I am Iron Man | Man, they are. Mad, they are. |
| Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind? | Can't be seen or is he dead? Get out, this, or leave sad. |
| Can he walk at all, or if he moves will he fall? | All the 'earns' will all figure up; wants back all we had. |
| Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? | 'Satan in' means all he's got, can't go beyond these, he. |
| We'll just pass him there. Why should we even care? | I can now be ev'n washed out, and mishaps, aren't we. |
| He was turned to steel in the great magnetic field | With his name now, feel closed in. We choose not, so, we. |
| when he traveled time for the future of mankind | Me, as the borrowers 'quid pro quo,' Me as, quote, 'as he lived.' |
| Nobody wants him. He just stares at the world. | What would my sad choice be? 'With this now we have won!' |
| Planning his vengeance that he will soon unfurl. | Woe, wanna say wisdom. Love is near, bring it out. |
| Now the time is here for Iron Man to spread fear. | I hate their truths, they have no oath; hazy mastered lie. |
| Vengeance from the grave. Kills the people he once saved | 'There's no evil peoples list' Give them one sad name. |
| Nobody wants him, they just turn their heads | Hey, hey Lord Satan - why yes, now we have won! |
| Nobody helps him. Now he has his revenge. | 'Every desire he wants': This way, we are one. |
| Heavy boots of lead fills his victims full of dread. | Devil rules with 'fear for his life,' devils who'll be there. |
| Running as fast as they can, Iron man lives again. | Hate goes with the angle, y'all. Hate is necessity, now. |
Iron Man - reversed message
To make this soundtrack I clipped all the vocal portions and strung them together. Then I reversed it. I also slowed the tempo slightly so you can make out the words more easily.
Hate goes with the angle, y'all. Hate is necessity, now.
Devil rules with 'fear for his life,' devils who'll be there.
'Every desire he wants': This way, we are one.
Hey, hey Lord Satan - why yes, now we have won!
'There's no evil peoples list' Give them one sad name.
I hate their truths, they have no oath; hazy mastered lie.
Woe, wanna say wisdom. Love is near, bring it out.
What would my sad choice be? 'With this now we have won!'
Me, as the borrowers 'quid pro quo,' Me as, quote, 'as he lived.'
With his name now, feel closed in. We choose now Samhain. (Thanks to firstpeter31822 on YouTube for help hearing this one)
I can now be ev'n washed out, and mishaps, aren't we.
'Satan in' means all he's got, can't go beyond these, he.
All the 'earns' will all figure up; wants back all we had.
Can't be seen or is he dead? Get out, this, or leave sad.
Man, they are.
Mad, they are.
Creepy. Freaky. This is no joke. Have you noticed how this complete message from the backwards playing makes sense? It is also well structured as a poem. Four verses have lines that end with rhyming, including the last three, as written. The vocabulary used, including even the Latin expression is all very appropriate to its meaning. The line that is: "can't go beyond these, he" has the subject shifted to the end of the line, which cause it to rhyme with its companion. Any argument that this message might have been accidental or random hasn't got a leg to stand on. 
Pop Quiz
You have been listening to:
a) the voice of Ozzy Osbourne and the lyrics of Geezer Butler
b) the manifestation of devils
c) both a and b, a collaborative effort
d) your ears playing tricks on you
e) a stupid Jedi mind trick
f) Shut up. Can't you see I'm in denial here?
If you answered c) you'll probably find the rest of this page interesting.
Some questions arise when pondering what's really going on here. How is this possible? Who is responsible? What does it mean? Is this song unique? To what extent might this phenomenon be evident in other songs? How did Bob discover it? Why is this only just now being revealed? Before I address any of these I'd like to offer interpretations of the forward and backward versions, which relate one to the other and give us more insight.
An interpretation of the Iron Man speech inversion
| Hate goes with the angle, y'all. Hate is necessity, now. | With the devil, it's all about hate. This message is a sales pitch. "Hate. You need it. Act now." Hate is also being used metaphorically, referring to the devil. |
| Devil rules with 'fear for his life,' devils who'll be there. | The devil rules with fear. He isn't nice to anyone, not even those who serve him. The rule with fear is done by the devils who attend the music and have tricked a host into partnering. |
| 'Every desire he wants': This way, we are one. | Whatever the devil wants is what he will demand of those ruled over. He wants complete submission. When the servant complies they are one with their master. |
| Hey, hey Lord Satan - why yes, now we have won! | When they become one with their lord through obedience they perceive it as a shared victory. |
| 'There's no evil peoples list' Give them one sad name. | The "one sad name" reference points to the mark of the beast. Really, there does not have to be an "evil peoples list." It is enough that the names of people who take the mark are not in the book of life. |
| I hate their truths, they have no oath; hazy mastered lie. | There is hatred for the word of the true God, spoken by those who do not share their allegiance and refuse the 'oath,' mark of the beast. |
| Woe, wanna say wisdom. Love is near, bring it out. | It would be wisdom to bring out Love. But wanna say is not the same as to say and do. |
| What would my sad choice be? 'With this now we have won!' | The answer to the "sad choice" question is revealed by referencing his partnership. He chose to serve Hate instead of Love. |
| Me, as the borrowers 'quid pro quo,' Me as, quote, 'as he lived.' | About the Latin expression: "In legal usage, quid pro quo indicates that an item or a service has been traded in return for something of value, usually when the propriety or equity of the transaction is in question." With regard to the transaction made with his choosing Hate, he declares the "item" is "Me" and the service is, of course, his life. Remember, "'Every desire he wants': This way, we are one." He describes the nature of the transaction as himself being as the borrower. What is received must be repaid. The second expression, "Me as, quote, 'as he lived.'" refers to his expectation that what will be repaid will match what was received in the transaction. |
| With his name now, feel closed in. We choose now, Samhain. | Samhain (pronounced "Saw-ween") is a name for the devil, as presumed god of the dead. (Thanks to firstpeter31822 on YouTube for help hearing this one.) With the mark of the beast, he should feel closed in because he is now trapped. This condition wasn't in mind when the decision was made to take the mark, but it comes by default as part of the package deal. |
| I can now be ev'n washed out, and mishaps, aren't we. | To be "washed out" is to be dropped from a project or enterprise. He has come to recognize by the treatment he is receiving at the hand of his lord that he is not highly valued. He acknowledges those who chose like he did are mishaps, found in unfortunate circumstance. |
| 'Satan in' means all he's got, can't go beyond these, he. | When Hate was chosen it meant "Satan in," This contrasts with "Christ in" when someone chooses Love. (Colossians 1:27) |
| All the 'earns' will all figure up; wants back all we had. | This is another way to say, 'quid pro quo.' "Wants back all we had" shows the devil isn't wanting back just what was given as a lender gives a borrower. He wants back everything they came to the deal with, everything they were, the entirety of their life and soul. |
| Can't be seen or is he dead? Get out, this, or leave sad. | He considers in his awakening to his sad state that what had been his own soul is no longer evident, and may even be dead. In terrifying realization he reaches out to anyone who will listen with a warning. Get out of this, what flirtation with the occult has brought to this point of consideration of making the choice he made. Get out, or leave sad. He regrets his choice. |
| Man, they are. Mad, they are. | The voice of his lord, declaring the state of those considering the Iron Man. |
An Interpretation of the Iron Man lyrics
| I am Iron Man | Who is this Iron Man? The Iron Man represents the antichrist beast. Biblically, iron is a metal that is used to represent the earth and most particularly mortal men of earthly flesh. He is also pictured in type as Goliath, seen in connection with iron in Samuel 17:7-8. He is the dragon's beast, the dragon being associated with iron as the behemoth in Job 40:15-18. See also Psalm 2:8-9 and Revelation 2:27, 12:5, 19:15 for iron-earthly flesh associations. |
| Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind? | His ways seem irrational. |
| Can he walk at all, or if he moves will he fall? | We can't figure him out. |
| Is he alive or dead? Has he thoughts within his head? | We can't even identify his nature. |
| We'll just pass him there. Why should we even care? | Let's try to ignore him. |
| He was turned to steel in the great magnetic field | His character changed due to some invisible force, which tempered him, as the transformation from iron to steel. This transformation imparted to him as by a magnetic field gave him similar great powers of attractive force. Like Father, like son. Like dragon, like beast. "And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority." Revelation 13:2b |
| when he traveled time for the future of mankind | "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah." (Matthew 24:37) The reference is to the return of the nephilim and later of Nimrod, appointed to "travel time" from the past for the present season of man's judgment. This will shape the future of man, according to the sovereign God's purposes. |
| Nobody wants him. He just stares at the world. | According to his true nature, nobody wants him. |
| Planning his vengeance that he will soon unfurl. | The vengeance is planned according to what happened at the time of the flood, when the angels who sinned were imprisoned as the dragon's offspring were purged from the earth. |
| Now the time is here for Iron Man to spread fear. | The day is nearly upon us. This projects into our very near future. |
| Vengeance from the grave. Kills the people he once saved | No joke. |
| Nobody wants him, they just turn their heads | Nobody wants him when his true nature is revealed. |
| Nobody helps him. Now he has his revenge. | His power and ability are sufficient to his appointed purpose. |
| Heavy boots of lead fills his victims full of dread. | With heavy boots of lead he won't ascend. He is not heaven bound to the throne of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but is bound rather to descend into the pit, the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20) This is a terrifying revelation that comes to victims who will come to see the reality behind his lies. |
| Running as fast as they can, Iron Man lives again. | There will be no fleeing from the destiny, no one will escape, who "he once saved," who took the mark of the beast, the promise of salvation. (Revelation 13:15-18) Iron Man lives again: "his fatal wound was healed" (Revelation 13:3) |
Black Sabbath is often compared with Led Zeppelin. Here's one example from the Wikipedia entry for the lead guitarist, Tony Iommi: Iommi is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential guitarists in rock music: according to critic Greg Prato, "Iommi is one of only two guitarists (the other being Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page) that can take full credit for pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy metal."
Some other videos with Black Sabbath reversals.
Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath) Matchstick Men * video offline
(Backmasked) "You in the sky you whip this guy you make men cry you lie"
Black Sabbath
Megalomania pt 1 "Feel it slipping away" = "yeah wickedness is in me"
Megalomania pt 2 - "fantasies take complete control, yeah" = "I hate your looking for His Jesus"
Lord of this World: "worldly greed and pride" = "Yeah I'm bloody evil"