"Suicide Solution" is a song by the English heavy metal singer

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, from his 1980 debut album '' Blizzard of Ozz''.

Overview

Osbourne said in 1991 that the song was about the alcohol-related death of

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer who was the second lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. In the July 2004 issue of ''Classic Rock (m ...

in 1980, but Bob Daisley revealed in 2002 that he had Osbourne himself in mind when he wrote the lyrics. The riff was based on another riff that guitarist Randy Rhoads had used on a song with his previous group Quiet Riot, "Force of Habit".

Controversy and death of John Daniel McCollum

On 1 November 1985, a lawsuit against Osbourne and CBS Records was filed by the parents of John Daniel McCollum, a 19-year-old who took his own life in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

on 27 October 1984 allegedly after listening to the song. The plaintiffs, however, failed to prove that Osbourne had any responsibility for the teenager's death. The plaintiffs' attorneys alleged that a line in the song stated, "Why try? Get the gun and shoot!" Lyricist Daisley and Osbourne himself both claimed that the line actually says, "Get the flaps out". "Flaps", they insisted, was an English vulgar

slang A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...

term for "vagina". Don Arden,

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

's former manager and the father of Sharon Osbourne, is on record as having said of the song's controversial lyrics: "To be perfectly honest, I would be doubtful as to whether Mr. Osbourne knew the meaning of the lyrics, if there was any meaning, because his command of the English language is minimal." The 1990 horror film '' Dead Girls'' was loosely inspired by McCollum's suicide and the subsequent lawsuit over his death.

Personnel

– vocals * Randy Rhoads – guitars *

Bob Daisley Robert John Daisley (born 13 February 1950) is an Australian musician and songwriter. A bassist, he is perhaps best known for his intermittent relationship with vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, for whom he contributed bass, co-production and songwriti ...

– bass guitar * Lee Kerslake – drums * Don Airey – keyboards

References

{{Authority control 1980 songs 1985 controversies in the United States Ozzy Osbourne songs Songs about alcohol Songs about suicide Songs written by Randy Rhoads Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne Songs written by Bob Daisley Obscenity controversies in music

Overview

Controversy and death of John Daniel McCollum

Personnel

See also

References