Listen: Ozzy Osbourne faces his own mortality on powerful new song 'Under The Graveyard'

It's lifted from his new album 'Ordinary Man'

Ozzy Osbourne
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 8th Nov 2019
Last updated 8th Nov 2019

The Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne, has unleashed his searing new single ‘Under The Graveyard’.

The first taster of Ozzy’s upcoming 12th studio album ‘Ordinary Man’, as the title suggests ‘Under The Graveyard’ sees the Black Sabbath legend face his own mortality head on.

Beginning as a rock ballad, Ozzy sings intensely personal lines that nod to his serious fall and subsequent recovery period: “Today I woke up and I hate myself / Death doesn't answer when I cry for help / No high could save me from the depths of Hell / I'll drown my mind until I'm someone else.”

The song soon grows in intensity as Ozzy sings macabre, hard-hitting lyrics like “Under the graveyard / We're all rotting bones” and "It's cold in the graveyard / We all die alone."

‘Under The Graveyard’ is lifted from Ozzy Osbourne’s forthcoming new studio album ‘Ordinary Man’, which is released via Epic Records in early 2020.

“This album was a gift from my higher power--it is proof to me that you should never give up,” Ozzy says.

The album was recorded in Los Angeles this year with producer Andrew Watt on guitars, Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan on bass and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith on drums.

Commenting on how the album came about, Ozzy said: “It all started when (my daughter) Kelly comes in and says ‘do you want to work on a Post Malone song?’.

“My first thing was ‘who the f*** is Post Malone?!’ I went to Andrew’s (Watt) house and he said we will work really quick. After we finished that song, he said ‘would you be interested in starting an album.’

“I said ‘that would be f***ing great, but now I am thinking I don’t want to be working in a basement studio for six months! And in just a short time, we had the album done.

“Duff (McKagan) and Chad (Smith) came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings.

“I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going ‘I haven’t got the f***ing strength…’ but Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album.”

'Ordinary Man' is Ozzy Osbourne's 12th studio album and the follow-up to June 2010's 'Scream'.

Ozzy Osbourne 'Under The Graveyard' single cover

Ozzy explained to Rolling Stone back in August that working on the new album helped him keep occupied during his dire year.

Last month, Ozzy postponed his UK and European tour in early 2020 for a second time as his recovery from his fall in April and subsequent surgery on his neck is “taking a little bit longer than everyone thought it would.”

It's not yet known when the tour with special guests Judas Priest will be rearranged for.