Nobody has ever viewed Ozzy Osbourne as a peaceful person. He’s not violent by any means (mostly), but his persona and actions prove that the man isn’t necessarily one for things of a calm nature. Osbourne is known for his rambunctious, loud, and in-your-face disposition. Frankly, many people aren’t sure how the man is still alive.
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That being said, Ozzy Osbourne did not fit the mold of a hippie. Rather, he was a hardcore metal rock and roller who had no patience for anything that wasn’t fast. In particular, he was not a fan of the hippie movement of the ’60s. As a matter of fact, during the movement’s height, Osbourne more or less said that he despised it.
The Song That Made Ozzy Osbourne Detest the Hippie Movement
Again, Ozzy Osbourne and his music have never conveyed themes of peace, love, and harmony. Rather, he and his music are certainly products of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll movement. However, Osbourne didn’t dislike the movement for its aesthetic and musical facets. Instead, he disliked it because he seemingly believed it to be very unrealistic, idealistic, and just implausible.
For context, Osbourne grew up in a working class family in Birmingham, England. So, his life was not filled with flowers, rainbows, and free love. Rather, it was filled with coal, rain, and hardship. Thus, Osbourne thought the music of his youth was entirely unrelatable and dreamlike to a fault. And one song he couldn’t stand more than anything was John Phillips and Scott McKenzie’s “San Fransico (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)”.
“I was hungry,” said Osbourne per the book Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History Of Metal. “[And] I had my a** hanging out of my pants. I hated the f*cking world. When I heard the silly f*cking words, ‘If you go to San Francisco, be sure to wear a flower in your hair,’ I wanted to f*cking strangle John Phillips. […] I was in the industrial town of Birmingham. My father was dying from asbestos, and I was an angry young punk.”
Osbourne’s dislike of the genre is not out of spite but out of disconnection. After all, how could he listen to this song and not help but think it wasn’t authentic? None of the themes articulated in that song were present in Osbourne’s life at the time of its height.
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