Suicide Solution (4:15)

“Suicide Solution” is a song by Ozzy Osbourne. It is track #5 on the album Blizzard of Ozz released in 1980. Guitarist Randy Rhoads wrote the riff to the song (he had previously used the riff on the Quiet Riot track “Force of Habit”), and Bob Daisley helped co-write the lyrics. Ozzy Osbourne supposedly released this track as a tribute to Bon Scott of AC/DC who died of alcohol abuse.

The song was very controversial following its release. On January 13, 1986, Osbourne was taken to court by the parents of John McCollum, a teenager who shot himself in the head while listening to this song. What is mostly overlooked is that John was reported to have a depression illness. Although the court cleared Osbourne in the case, many listeners continue to wonder what Osbourne was saying part way through the song. Osbourne had a habit of talking or yelling things while recording the song, for example, singing “Cocaine” during the Black Sabbath song “Snowblind.” He would often repeat these live, but sound engineers usually edited such interjections out of the records. IBAR, The Institute for Bio-Acoustics Research, analyzed the song and found that subliminal message-like noises were recorded in the song; Osbourne, however, denied anything of the sort.