It's A Raid
by Ozzy Osbourne (featuring Post Malone)

Album: Ordinary Man (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "It's A Raid" is a thundering track where Ozzy Osbourne teams up with Post Malone to reflect on being stalked by a home intruder. Ozzy feels like he's under constant surveillance.

    I hear them breathing on my telephone
    I know I'm never alone


    The Prince of Darkness is staying inside because of his fears of the raider.

    Hideaway, I've been locked up for seven days
    I'm never coming out


    Post Malone also worries about the prowler. He laments:

    Outside my window, there's a silhouette
    My rifle's right beside my bed
    Hold on, I'm runnin' out of cigarettes
  • The chaotic rocker was likely recorded during the same session that produced Ozzy's other collaboration with Malone, "Take What You Want," which is on the rock-indebted rapper's 2019 album, Hollywood's Bleeding. Both songs were helmed by Malone's frequent producer, Andrew Watt, who brought the two artists together.
  • Ozzy revealed during the Ordinary Man album playback that this came from the story he told Andrew Watt about Black Sabbath's drug-fueled sessions for their 1972 Vol. 4 record at a Bel Air, California, residence. The singer was getting hot, so he pushed a button he thought was for air conditioning, only to discover it was to alert the police. As there was plenty of coke and weed around, Ozzy started panicking. The flustered frontman yelled, "It's a raid," and hid in a bathroom until the cops left. While there, Ozzy snorted a large bowl of cocaine to avoid flushing it away. "I couldn't sleep for four days," he recalled.
  • Tomas Lenert directed the animated video, which features cartoon versions of Ozzy and Post Malone. We see the pair get chased by police through the Los Angeles streets, passing some of the city's iconic landmarks on their journey. "Understandably COVID-19 made it difficult to get together to shoot a music video for 'It's A Raid' so we opted for this wildly imagined animated video," said Osbourne.

Comments: 1

  • Dan Gillespy from Courtenay BcA very very far out duet with Post Malone.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Crystal Waters

Crystal WatersSongwriter Interviews

Waters tells the "Gypsy Woman" story, shares some of her songwriting insights, and explains how Dennis Rodman ended up on one of her songs.

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Vince Clarke

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.