‘Changes’ is a ballad by Black Sabbath. It first appeared on Vol. 4, which was released in 1972. According to band members, Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi stayed up all night snorting cocaine and learning piano while the band was in LA recording Vol. 4. The piano melody was composed by Iommi, who was experimenting with the instrument in the studio. The lyrics were by bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne has referred to the song as "heartbreaking". Quite different from Sabbath's previous work, the song was described as a "forlornly pretty" ballad by critic Barney Hoskyns. It was inspired mainly by drummer Bill Ward's breakup with his first wife.
Notably, ‘Changes’ was not recorded with a real string ensemble. Instead, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi used a Mellotron to create the sound of an orchestra. The ballad is generally an outlier in the band’s discography as it does not feature guitar or drums. To alleviate concerns about the band departing their well-known heavy sound, Osbourne promised in a 1972 interview "We're certainly not going to get any less heavy, we will probably do 'Changes' on stage with a Mellotron, but we'll never take strings on stage with us or anything like that." The band first performed the song live in 1973.
Speaking to ABC Audio, guitarist Tony Iommi recalled playing 'Changes' on the piano as Ozzy sung over the melody. They liked how it sounded and weren't concerned that fans might react against its soft rock sound. "The first thing that it had to please was us," Iommi said. "We'd always done that with Sabbath music." "It wasn't, 'Is anybody gonna like it?' We have to... start off with us first, because we're presenting ourselves," he added. "So if we like it, then we just hope that everybody else liked it."
Three decades later, Ozzy recorded another version of the song, this time with his daughter, Kelly Osbourne as a duet. The revised lyrics for this version, released on 8 December 2003, reflect the moments of their life together. The single reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the second father-daughter duet to top the chart after Frank and Nancy Sinatra did so with ‘Somethin' Stupid’ in 1967. ‘Changes’ also reached the top 20 in Germany, Ireland, and Norway.
Label – Warner Bros.
Songwriters – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward
Producers – Patrick Meehan, Black Sabbath
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I feel unhappy, I feel so sad
I've lost the best friend that I ever had
She was my woman, I loved her so
But it's too late now, I've let her go
[Chorus]
I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes
[Verse 2]
We shared the years, we shared each day
In love, together, we found the way
But soon, the world had its evil way
My heart was blinded, love went astray
[Chorus]
I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes
[Verse 3]
It took so long to realise
And I can still hear her last goodbyes
Now, all my days are filled with tears
Wish I could go back and change these years
[Chorus]
I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes