What is “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath about?
The lyrics concern a champion of humanity who travels Time, presumably to ensure “the future of Mankind” — his original mission was to save our species. We learn that this champion unfortunately encountered a “Great Magnetic Field,” turning him into steel and rendering him immobile. He has been in this state for so long that humanity has forgotten his original identity and his original mission. Rather than hailing him as a hero, the human race now regards him as an oddity, little more than an enigmatic statue from another age. The first few lines of the song are the musings of curious passersby, wondering if he’s alive or dead, if he can see, if he can move, et cetera. Although the exact nature of his transformation is not elucidated, we know that Iron Man is not solid steel, but is in perhaps an organic/inorganic state, in which he can still perceive the physical world and can still think, but cannot take action. Because humanity has forgotten everything he’s done for them in the past
