Have you ever thought about your soul - can it be saved?
Or perhaps you think that when you're dead you just stay in your grave
Is God just a thought within your head or is he a part of you?
Is Christ just a name that you read in a book when you were in school?

When you think about death do you lose your breath or do you keep your cool?
Would you like to see the Pope on the end of a rope - do you think he's a fool?
Well I have seen the truth, yes I've seen the light and I've changed my ways
And I'll be prepared when you're lonely and scared at the end of our days

Could it be you're afraid of what your friends might say
If they knew you believe in God above?
They should realize before they criticize
that God is the only way to love

Is your mind so small that you have to fall
In with the pack wherever they run
Will you still sneer when death is near
And say they may as well worship the sun?

I think it was true it was people like you that crucified Christ
I think it is sad the opinion you had was the only one voiced
Will you be so sure when your day is near, say you don't believe?
You had the chance but you turned it down, now you can't retrieve

Perhaps you'll think before you say that God is dead and gone
Open your eyes, just realize that he's the one
The only one who can save you now from all this sin and hate
Or will you still jeer at all you hear? Yes! I think it's too late.



Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser

Track duration: 05:24

"After Forever" as written by Ward Iommi

Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


After Forever song meanings
Add your thoughts

29 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment:Black Sabbath never meant to stand for Satanism, and this song strongly represents the fact that their image was created against their will.

    RIGHT....system wants them bad! Only the system is good.....

    This song reminds me the ancient theatre of aristofanis. It called Ornithes (birds)!
    but it is history....5th century BC.

    That song has to do with the road to post-christianity era! Before that we have to get out of the dedaly loop of heaven and hell...

    Its a hard road(key)

    Connecto to...national acrobat to see the point of view more clear.

    ydrohoos.gr

    Flag madmarxon August 10, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:
    Actually Geezer Butler is the one who wrote these lyrics. I agree with most of the comments on here that say they aren't telling you to be pro christian or pro satan, they're telling you to be open minded, i don't believe it's pro christian because the same album has the song Lord Of This World, the whole concept of the album is to be open minded and to be independent
    Flag shawndixonon May 24, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Dio? Are you nuts! This song is from 1971's Master of Reality, DIO was in Elf at the time.
    Flag SamStrangeron May 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:No, it's Ozzy, Dio sung only in Heaven and Hell album.
    And this song doesn't deal with Christianity in particular, but with any thoughts that believe the Jesus story and he wasn't just a myth that represented the sun, as some said, like Jordan Maxwell, God existence and so on. Great song, it appeals to anyone who believes in God and Jesus (Christians & Muslims)
    Flag hexwindon March 03, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I'm a school teacher and I have to do some fucking devotion that is related to christianity and relevent ideas. Even though I'm athiest I still have to fucking do this. So I figured I'll just use some Sabbath lyrics. However, looking at some posts, I haven't heard this song in a long time but isn't it Dio that sings this song?
    Flag killwestlifeon January 29, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I'm a school teacher and I have to do some fucking devotion that is related to christianity and relevent ideas. Even though I'm athiest I still have to fucking do this. So I figured I'll just use some Sabbath lyrics. However, looking at some posts, I haven't heard this song in a long time but isn't it Dio that sings this song?
    Flag killwestlifeon January 29, 2009   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:i dont see the problem, why are people so confused?...its not confusing, Black Sabbath obviously wrote this song to inform people of their faith in Christianity, and even today, people still think Sabbath is a Satanic band...but according to this song and some of Ozzy's solo stuff, they are not Satanists..

    The only Sabbath songs that even mention Satan is N.I.B and Black Sabbath (the song)

    but they could easily be interpreted into anti-satan songs..

    personally, i think "The Wizard" is about Jesus too, although it doesnt use his name.
    Flagged pamorgan5on January 20, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Geezer Butler wrote these lyrics, as he did about 95% of the songs, and it does reflect his beliefs at the time. Several Sabbath songs take a pro-biblical stance against war, materialism and greed--which are linked to Satanism (in songs like War Pigs, Lord of this World and Into the Void).

    "Under the Sun" isn't an attack on God, but rather an attack on religious hypocrites (particularly in the US where they first encountered them) who kept saying the band were evil and telling them they were going to Hell. Butler found that to be an extremely un-Christian stance for so-called Christians to take. And he was also surprised to find that when he did speak to some of them, he knew the Bible better they did.

    Hence the lines: "I don't want no Jesus freak to tell me what it's all about" (which he adds, in case there's any confusion, "no black magician telling me to cut my soul out"). Then "I don't want no preacher telling me about the God in the sky; no, I don't want no one to tell me where I'm gonna go when I die."

    That's a stance born of frustration against people refusing to stop judging or to see what was obvious from the lyrics. The irony, after Sabbath printed the lyrics to After Forever on the back of the album, was that neither the Satanists, nor the religious community paid one of iota of attention, and continued to believe they were a force of evil. And many of the fans haven't helped either.
    Flagged thesithempireon January 12, 2009   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:This song talks about God the only one that we should trust in and we need to stop thinking about all the eternal questions that discuss the existance of life and of religion.
    Sabbath have many songs that tell the listeners that they're christians ( what about war pigs )
    Flag deep sabbathon October 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I like that they still apparently got in trouble over this song.
    Flag Saint Thomason March 16, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain