One Of Those Days

Album: Patient Number 9 (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Even the Prince of Darkness sometimes comes down with a case of the blues.

    We jest, of course, as Osbourne had long ago shed his identity as a Satanic eater of bat heads by the time he released his 13th studio album in 2022. He'd been humanized for decades, particularly after The Osbournes reality TV show (running 2002-2005) revealed his foibles and family hijinks to the world. In early incarnations he'd been the face of the "evil occult" and debauchery of legendary proportions.

    That honest humanity comes through in "One Of Those Days" as he sings about the struggle to hold onto his faith in Jesus in the midst of a world in flames. In 2022, Russia and Ukraine were at war and China was threatening Taiwan (both events threatening global conflict). A non-kinetic yet omnipresent tension persisted within nations across the Western world as political problems went beyond the usual tit-for-tat. All this came on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conflict was everywhere and in all things. It wore on everyone, including rock legends.

    The song's lyrics aren't ambiguous, and Osbourne spoke candidly about them. "Losing faith in Jesus makes much more sense when the world is turning to s--t," he told Classic Rock in their September 2022 Black Sabbath issue.
  • In addition to the "disarray and burning nations" Osbourne mentions in the song's opening lyric, there are allusions to his struggle with alcoholism. Lyrics including "lay me down on broken bottles" and "drinking my sins" don't directly confess to relapse, but they're suggestive.

    Osbourne's battles with the devil's juice were well-known. He was always real about his battle for sobriety, admitting to slipping back into old habits now and then. The official video for the song deals with the booze directly.
  • Yardbird, Cream-founder, three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and guitar idol Eric Clapton played on this song. A Christian, he was bothered by Osbourne's lyrics.

    To accommodate him, Osbourne tried altering the line "one of those days where I don't believe in Jesus." None of the options worked, so they stuck with the original.

    Osbourne made clear that "One Of Those Days" is not an anti-Christian song. Really, it's lyrics are obviously pro-Christian in the sense that for one's faith to be tested, there had to be faith there to begin with. It likely wouldn't have been an issue at all if it weren't for Osbourne's past reputation.
  • Comic-book artist Todd McFarlane designed and filmed the video for "One Of Those Days" with his studio, Todd McFarlane Entertainment. The business previously worked on the video for "Do The Evolution" by Pearl Jam (1998), "Freak On A Leash" by Korn (1999), and "Breathe" by Swollen Members (2002).

    The video opens with three crucifixes on a hill and then animated televisions displaying nothing but flames. It has Osbourne driving wildly through the woods and wickedly pouring beer for a skeleton with the word "sin" appearing all around.

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