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“Mr. Crowley” is a song in which Ozzy Osbourne sing about Edward “Aleister” Crowley’s life as an occultist. Ozzy was and still is criticized and called a Satanist by many Christian groups that didn’t understand what he was singing. The song questions his intentions and the true nature of his dark practices. The song was heavily inspired by the book The Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley, which Ozzy Osbourne read while preparing for his debut solo album Blizzard of Ozz. After finding a deck of tarot cards in the recording studio, the band’s lyricist Bob Daisley took Ozzy’s initial song title and ran with it. Instead of celebrating the dark and occult, the lyrics take a questioning tone. Daisley specifically wanted to ask Crowley directly what he was thinking and doing, rather than just writing a pro-Satanism track. Lyrics like “Mr. Crowley. What went on in your head? Did you talk to the dead?” point to Ozzy questioning the legitimacy and tragic nature of Crowley’s lifestyle. The line “Was it polemically sent?” refers to Crowley’s habit of signing his correspondence with “Polemically Yours,” with polemic meaning controversial.
In his Rolling Stone interview he talked about it:
“I never did this black-magic stuff. The reason I did “Mr. Crowley” on my first solo album [Blizzard of Ozz, 1980] was that everybody was talking about Aleister Crowley. Jimmy Page bought his house, and one of my roadies worked with one of his roadies. I thought, “Mr. Crowley, who are you? Where are you from?” But people would hear the song and go, “He’s definitely into witchcraft.”
“Ozzy had that title, “Mr. Crowley.” And obviously what he meant was it was supposed to be about Aleister Crowley, the black magician. But I wanted to look at the darkness and question Aleister Crowley. “Aleister, what were you thinking?” You know. All this darkness and negativity. So that was a snag that I put on it. In the “was it polemically sent?” line, “polemic” means controversial, and Aleister Crowley was very controversial in his day. He used to sign books or his autograph “Polemically Yours, Aleister Crowley.” So that’s why that word’s at the end of the song.” – Bob Daisley
The song’s title is an obvious reference to Aleister Crowley, an English occultist known for creating the Thelema movement. Some people consider Thelema to be nothing more than a philosophy, but many consider it to be a new type of religion altogether. The main theme is summed up in its main “law” or principle: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will.” Crowley was also a ceremonial magician. Contrary to popular belief, he did not think he could cast fireballs or summon demons. Ozzy even asks in the song “Did you talk to the dead?” and later claims “you fooled all the people with magic.” However, Crowley considered “magick [sic]” to be nothing more than “the science and art of change to occur in accordance with will,” according to his book on the subject. The basic idea behind this is that followers of Thelema needed to to discover their True Will, basically to embrace their destiny and embrace nature in perfect harmony. Those who reached True Will are said to have overcome all of their negative flaws and characteristics, establishing a strong connection with the divine.
At one point in the song Ozzy accuses Crowley of “waiting on Satan’s call.” However, this association with Satanism is false and entirely unjust. He was not a Devil worshipper in any sense. In fact, Crowley pretty much rejected all of Western religion and is known to have stated that he didn’t even believe the Devil exists. He instead placed his focus on Western esotericism, with a leaning towards non-religious ideals. In the most basic sense Crowley embraced non-conformity in his beliefs, instead choosing to be a free-thinker drawing his ideas from science, occult beliefs, and even philosophy from the past. He did have belief in deities from the ancient world, though, likely an influence from his time spent in Egypt. One passage from Crowley’s Magick (Book 4) in particular is thought to have been what triggered his association with Satan.
Interestingly, the origins of Bahpomet himself date back to the Crusades. When members of the Knights Templar were being tried during the Inquisition, it was claimed they were commiting blashphemy by worshipping an idol of this goat-like deity. Again, it is somewhat difficult to explain what exactly Crowley thought Baphomet was in relation to his teachings. Maybe he was just a pervert or a sexual deviant, or maybe the man was out of his mind. Regardless, this claim in the belief of Baphomet, which he refers to as literally a divine hermaphrodite and a key figure in the performance of sex magic, is what landed the occultist into hot water. After reading this passage from his book and then seeing what supposed representations of Baphomet is thought to have looked like, it’s easy to see how devout Christians in the early 1900s made the leap that Aleister Crowley was worshipping Satan. Crowley was a man that refused to give in to the social norms of the day. This made him an outcast within society and rumors were spread wildly over the following years.
So with the short history lesson aside, it’s clear from the lyrics that Ozzy’s view of Aleistar Crowley is based more on misinformation and his rumored link to Satanism than the actual truth of the man. Ozzy claims to have written the song after reading one of Crowley’s books. Having recently done so myself, I must say I agree with Ozzy when he asked “I want to know what you meant.” Crowley’s writings can be very vague and esoteric at times, and he even admitted that a lot of his early works, particularly The Book of Law, were based heavily on his time in Egypt. As a result, many of the concepts he tries to explain went beyond his full comprehension. That being said, “Mr. Crowley” is an amazing song, especially the long organ introduction and guitar solo from the late great Randy Rhoades. It has and will always remain one of my favorite heavy metal songs of all time.
Despite the song being a critique of Crowley’s lifestyle, Christian groups often mistook it as an endorsement of Satanism, which contributed to Ozzy’s controversial “Prince of Darkness” image. In interviews, Ozzy clarified that he was never into black magic, but was simply fascinated by who Crowley was and the massive cultural buzz surrounding him at the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Crowley
https://americansongwriter.com/the-occult-inspiration-behind-ozzy-osbournes-mr-crowley/
https://unmask.us/songwriters-n-p/ozzy-osbourne/
https://deadentertainment.com/2018/04/06/dead-beats-mr-crowley-by-ozzy-osbourne/