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October 06, 2006
"Vengeance From the Grave . . . AND Great Off-Road Handling!"
I love the new ads for the Nissan Titan truck. They play the opening chords of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." That slamming intro takes me right back to my 13-year old heavy-metal days, when Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and the greatest band of them all, Grand Funk Railroad, ruled the planet, at least around Mission Junior High School.
Other advertisers have used rock riffs, such as Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," and for years Chevrolet has promoted its trucks with Bob Seger's "Like A Rock." See this Seger fan site for an excruciatingly detailed discussion of the cosmic meaning of the song's use in the Chevy ads.
But the Nissan campaign is the only one that doesn't make me cringe. The song is so appealingly male-juvenile and instantly recognizable (if you're in your late 40s, anyway) that it exactly communicates a positive image for the product, with great humor. Instead of thinking, "I wonder how much they paid the band to use that music?" I think, "Iron Man! Hell yeah! Where can I buy that truck?"
Below, you can gaze in humble admiration on the 1970 album "Paranoid", which unleashed "Iron Man" on an unsuspecting world; note the "far out" sci-fi cover art. Gives you goose bumps, doesn't it?
And now, without further delay, Kesher Talk is pleased to present, right here on our stage for your musical enjoyment, the lyrics to "Iron Man":
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
Well just pass him there
Why should we even care?
He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
Where he traveled time
For the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfold
Now the time is here
For iron man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron man lives again!
Van | 10/06/06 at 03:17 PM | Categories: Sensual pleasures
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» Season of our joy from Kesher Talk
This is my response to Van's Black Sabbath Nissan Truck commercial. I guess we just come from different generations........ [Read More]
Tracked on October 9, 2006 08:48 AM
Comments
inagaddadavita baby.......set me free why don't you babe .....
epaminondas | October 6, 2006 07:10 PM
My teen brother had a rock band which used to practice Inna Gadda da Vita in our garage.
I actually saw them live, when i was 14 or whatever. I think they opened for Jefferson Airplane.....
Judith | October 6, 2006 09:09 PM
Not my brother's band, the Inna Gadda da Vida guys.
Judith | October 6, 2006 09:10 PM
Iron Butterfly did "Innagaddadavida." I still have the album if you ever want to spin some heavy vinyl, Judith.
Does anybody out there remember the Ft. Worth band Bloodrock, famous for the song "DOA"? Here's the scoop on these masters: http://starling.rinet.ru/music/blood.htm
Van | October 6, 2006 09:28 PM
Proof positive that Mexicans aren't all bad. That money spent on marijuana is recycled back. I was listening to Inaggadadavida awaiting the subway in Mexico D.F. in 1972.
michael | October 7, 2006 11:58 AM
Not wishing to spoil the party, but from the same album:
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!
Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!
Probably more Cindy Sheehan than GWB....(just sayin'...)
My principal Black Sabbath memory is of my first ever experience of things-one-smokes-which-are-not-wholly-tobacco, at a party when I was 17. I remember lying down with speakers each side of my head like headphones, listening (fittingly) to "Sweet Leaf".
Have you ever heard the Tuvan cover version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Yat-Kha? It demonstrates the barrier-breaking power of metal. Or yogurt. Or whatever. Actually I rather like it.
Rob | October 7, 2006 07:34 PM
Hi Rob, thanks for sharing your fond memories of Sweet Leaf and the tip on Yat-Kha. I have never heard of the group but I'll look for it. Did you ever try the speakers-by-the-head approach for "Space Truckin'" or "Smoke on the Water"? They seem ideal for that approach.
Van | October 7, 2006 08:44 PM
That Yat-Kha is very gimmicky. World fusion is okay in moderation but singing cheezy pop standards in a subsonic growl.... not so much.
Judith Weiss | October 8, 2006 02:02 AM
