With his health in decline and likely his career ending soon, Ozzy Osbourne ‘the prince of darkness’ has released his twelfth studio album, “Ordinary Man.”
Osbourne recorded the album with Post Malone and his producer Andrew Watt. It features various artists such as Elton John, Guns N’ Roses duo guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan along with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
The first song on the album is “Straight To Hell” which is Osbourne’s second single off the album and it has a deep meaning to it about drug use.
The song starts out with triumphant sounds of a choir before being introduced to Slash’s loud, heavily-distorted guitar riffs that pumps up the intensity of the song.
In the song, Osbourne speaks as if he is the drug and talks about the effect it has on people.
“I’ll make you lie / I’ll make you steal and kill / I’ll make you crawl until your final thrill,” Osbourne sings.
The meaning then gets deeper, eventually talking about how drugs will kill you.
At the end of the song it talks about why someone would turn to drugs.
“Something is missing and you don’t know why / Deeper in the darkness you will hide,” Osbourne sings.
The next song on the album is “All My Life”.
According to Writer for Kerrang Paul Travers, it takes a more poetic approach about Osbourne viewing his life from the “eyes of his childhood self.”
And he does not like what he sees, the line that shows this is “He said I know all the lies that you hide behind every fake smile / Am I gonna be lonely like you?” Osbourne sings.
That song is followed by “Goodbye” which features a lot of high and low points throughout.
It features a bass drum and a couple of bass drops which gives a darker theme to it.
It’s about how Osbourne is haunted by dark memories of the past and how he doesn’t want to live with them anymore.
“Dark memories, dark memories / They keep me up all night / you left me half-empty
why are you always right?” Osbourne sings.
And these memories haunt him to the point where he wants to change but he can’t as it’s seen in these lines.
“Can’t change me, can’t change me / No matter how you try / You break me Forsake me / Right now I wanna die.” Osbourne sings.
The next song on the album is the title track “Ordinary Man” which features Elton John.
It is the third single off the album and the most meaningful song that defines where Osbourne is in his music career and his career is what he wants to be remembered for.
“I have traveled many miles / I’ve seen tears and I’ve seen smiles / Just remember that it’s all for you,” Osbourne sings.
But in the song Osbourne also admits that he’s done some bad things in his life.
“Yes, I’ve been a bad guy, Been higher than the blue sky” “I’ve made momma cry / Don’t know why I’m still alive,” Osbourne sings.
But he wants people to look past that and remember all the good things he’s done in his life and he doesn’t want people to forget him or who he was.
“Don’t forget me as the colors fade / When the lights go down, it’s just an empty stage,” Osbourne sings.
He wants his legacy to live on because, as said in the song, he’s continued this career for his fans, people who love him.
“Yes, the truth is I don’t wanna die an ordinary man,” Osbourne sings.
The next song on the album is “Under the Graveyard” which was the first single Osbourne has released in over nine years.
“Under the Graveyard” talks about a time in Osbournes life where he was feeling depressed, predominantly when he got fired from Black Sabbath and he was tired of messing up his life.
The first line of the song sets the tone for the rest of the song
“Today I woke up and I hate myself / Death doesn’t answer when I cry for help,” Osbourne sings over an acoustic sounding guitar.
This dark and gloomy song is what makes it a great Ozzy Osbourne song, the song is comparable to Osbourne’s song “Diary of a Madman.”
Both songs have lows in the beginning and their highs towards the end where the music picks back up.
Another song featured on the album is “Holy for Tonight.”
According to Osbourne, it was written about a guy on death row who is about to be executed so he’s trying to be as “holy” as he can before that time comes.
This song can also be interpreted as someone trying to live a perfect and humble lifestyle and it looks at life’s final moments when someone gets towards the end of their life.
“It’s gonna be a long and lonely night / Tomorrow is my last goodbye / So I’ll be holy for tonight”
Then he starts to wonder about death “What will I think of when I speak my final words? / What will it feel like? / And I wonder if it hurts.”
These are just six of the eleven songs featured on the album that define the tone throughout the whole album.