Ozzy Explains It All

I used to work with a young woman who had no idea that Ozzy Osbourne was a celebrity before his family's reality show in the 90s/00s. When she casually mentioned that, I was stunned. "No no no," I wanted to say, "He wasn't always a bumbling, mush-mouthed sitcom dad. He was BIG, he was dangerous, he was scary!" I'm glad that Ozzy now has re-established himself as one of the founding fathers of metal, and that maybe these youngsters are getting a much-needed schooling in pop culture history.

Ozzy has gone through a number of transformations over the years. In the 80s, he started leaning more heavily on synths after the untimely death of his guitar muse, Randy Rhoads, which was in a way fortunate because that was the way the winds of change in metal were blowing anyway. He even participated (somewhat half-heartedly) in the mid-80s glam metal boom, when it seemed that the formula for success was spandex, sequins, and at least one power ballad that would get teenage girls to buy your album. He didn't start working his way back toward his heavier, crunchier roots until he found guiatarist Zakk Wylde.

It was during this time that he wrote the song that's prompting this essay, because I think it offers more emotional depth than any other metal song I can think of. In fact, it attempts no less than to encapsulate Ozzy's whole twenty-year rock-idol experience. It's a hidden track on his 1988 album "No Rest for the Wicked", so well-hidden that I didn't realize for many years that it actually had a title: "Hero".

You might not notice the psychological importance of the song on the first listen. It's full of Zakk's arena-filling power chords, and Ozzy's trademark wailing vocals soar over the top, as razor-sharp as on the album's other tracks, but it's the lyrics that really showcase an artist laying his soul bare. While it's not entirely out of character for Ozzy, an artist who has often used his music to let us in on his inner torment, I'll tell you why this song is really different...

It starts out with the lines "I don't wanna be a hero/I don't wanna ever let you down", and right there we realize we're in different territory. He's giving equal weight to the idea of shying away from being a celebrity, and realizing that he has a responsibility to his fans. This is the crux of the song, and he's put it right up front for us. The song is actually filled with imagery that signifies his reluctance to be seen as important: "I don't wanna wear your broken crown", "Don't want to sit upon your crippled throne".

Then comes the chorus, which for a long time I thought I must be mishearing, because in it, he actually tells us -- his fans -- that we've been wrong all along to believe in him. Underscored by the power chords that opened the song, he bellows, "I don't wanna disappoint the fools no more, the fools no more." Now, I've heard music artists talk in interviews about how they don't want to be perceived as role models, some have even written songs about it, but I've never before or since heard one that outright calls their fans fools.

But here's where the genius of the song comes in. We've just been called names, but Ozzy keeps us from being offended by then telling us exactly *why* we shouldn't admire him, and why if we want someone to look up to, we should look elsewhere... He also says, "Don't think you'll ever understand me/*I* don't even understand me", and "I couldn't answer all your questions/And if you're lost, I couldn't find your way". He's actually harder on himself than he is on us.

But it's the final verse that puts the exclamation point on the whole idea. After a typically blistering Zakk Wyde guitar solo, Ozzy finishes the song by executing an incredible lyrical sucker punch. "I am not your destination, or a road that's gonna lead you home/So, baby, please don't go." Then he keeps repeating those last three words over and over, going so far as to be joined by a choir that assists him the whole time the song is fading out.

It's that last part that really gets to me. You have to remember that it's coming from a man who, at that point, had been in the music business for almost 20 years, and finally had, admittedly not for the last time, overcome his inner demons. In fact, the track before this one is called "Demon Alcohol", and talks about how hard it is to stay sober, narrated in the voice of his addiction, a relentless hunter of souls. By the end of the album, Ozzy seems to understand the corner he's painted himself into, with a mind clearer than ever. He's idolized by millions, but is painfully aware of his own shortcomings, as an artist, a husband, a father, and a man.

But he chose to make the last refrain of the album a plea, begging for everyone to stick with him, despite all the reasons he doesn't think he's worthy. Even though he knows he doesn't deserve it, he knows that he's come too far to turn us away. He's shown us the frailty behind the mask, the quasi-symbiotic relationship he (and by proxy, all celebrities) have with their fans. He needs us, actually much much more than we need him. I can't think of another artist as prominent who has expressed a sentiment like that, or ever would.