Black Sabbath: War Pigs TPCASTT Analysis

Title The title suggests that there is some non- literal meaning in the song It isn’t talking about pigs it is calling the people who send us to war and don’t fight in it pigs

Paraphrase The song is talking about the corruption in the government, how they can send people to war, but they don’t have to fight it themselves. It goes in to detail about the injustices of the government and the way they treat the people who go to war for them.

Connotation It uses a lot of literary terms such as similes, rhyme scheme, imagery, and symbolism. It also uses sarcasm, in the line “Politicians hide themselves away They only started the war Why should they go out to fight?”

Attitude The members of Black Sabbath are obviously fed up with the corruption in the government. The song is pretty dark, the lyrics reflect the bands views on the government and society in general.

Shifts There are no shifts during the song in the theme or lyrics, just in the instrumental parts. The bands views don’t change during the song, this is from start to finish an anti war song.

Title The title plays a big role in the song it sets the theme for the rest of the song. Like I said before, it doesn’t have a literal meaning and this sets the theme for the rest of the song

Theme The theme that Black Sabbath is trying to get across is: the government uses the poor to their advantage. Government members never fight in war, they get the poor to fight for them.