10 Worst Hard Rock Lyrics Of The 1970s

Pretty much every type of phenomenal hard rock music can be traced back to the '70s. From the germs of heavy metal to the start of prog rock to even power pop, this decade will forever be known as the years where rock got its muscle. Sometimes the riffs ended up being so good that you didn't even realize the horrible words that you were being told.

For as many great things were happening on a musical front, there are a ton of lyrics from this era of rock and roll that needed to go back to the drawing board. While some of them just slip up for a line or two, some of these songs have enough cheese to fill up multiple plates of nachos. Then again, are lyrics that important when the riffs are good?

Well...not necessarily. For as much as a great line can enhance the meaning of a song, not every person stepping up to the plate has to be Shakespeare in order to get their point across.

However, these are the kinds of lines that are so brainless that they can actively hurt the music that it's trying to accompany. Some of these bands may have had some great tunes, but when it comes to these songs, it's best to just ignore the lyric sheet.

Worst Offender: "Yeah I looked through a window and surprise what I saw, fairy boots are dancin with a dwarf."

There's a good reason why Black Sabbath get brought up as the founders of heavy metal. From the dark left turns of their chord progressions to the pure agony in Ozzy Osbourne's voice, the band provided a welcome alternative to all of the mild-mannered rock and roll of the time. The lyrics typically reflected the same kind of dark sentiment, but "Fairies Wear Boots" is the moment where it starts to get a little much.

As opposed to being a dark tale about mischievous spirits, the real origin behind the title came from Ozzy's experience when running into a gang of skinheads while out on the town. In a bit of payback, Osbourne wrote the line about these skinheads by calling them fairies. That subtle joke may have been forgivable, but logic goes out the window again when you realize the rest of the lyrics barely make sense.

Handing the rest of the writing off to Geezer Butler, the bassist has admitted that he couldn't think of anything that would connect with the theme of fairies. Instead of trying to forge ahead, Butler ended up going off on a different tangent about being whacked out on LSD. The mystical element of the title actually seems pretty captivating at first, but the band's inability to capitalize on it makes this song a great example of lost potential.