Geezer Butler explains why he never swears

He also discusses the origins of his 'Geezer' moniker

Black Sabbath legend Geezer Butler
Author: Scott ColothanPublished 21st Oct 2021

Black Sabbath legend Geezer Butler has explained why he never swears.

The 72-year-old Black Sabbath co-founder, bassist and lyricist recently appeared on the On the RAGS Podcast, which is co-hosted by his wife Gloria, to discuss his so-called “softer side.”

During the wide-ranging 40-minute chat, Geezer was asked why he doesn’t use swear words, and he explained it down to his strict Irish Catholic upbringing in Birmingham in the 1950s and 1960s.

"When I was a kid, 'cause I had very, very strict Irish Catholic parents. There were seven kids in the house (and) none of us were ever allowed to swear,” Geezer said.

“When I went out the house, I used to have the worst mouth in the street on me. And this one day I was calling everybody all these swear words and everything, and somebody complained about my language, and the police came to frighten me, to the house.

“My dad belted the hell out of me with his leather belt. That's what stopped me swearing. And he said to me, 'It makes you sound really, really ignorant, 'cause only thick people swear because they can't think of a proper English word to say.'

“That stuck in my mind. And when I went to swear, I'd think of a different word. And it expanded my vocabulary."

Black Sabbath in 2011

Born Terence Michael Joseph Butler, the heavy metal icon also commented on where he got his ‘Geezer’ name from.

"It came because when I was at school, my brother was in the army, and he was based with a lot of Cockneys. And people in London call everybody a 'geezer',” he said.

“It means just a man — like, 'Hello, mate.' It's just like somebody calling you 'dude' over here (in America). In England, it'd be 'geezer.'

“My brother used to come home from leave from the army, and he'd be going, 'Hello, geezer. How are you, geezer?' And so, because I had looked up to my brother when I was about seven years old, I'd go to school calling everybody a geezer. And so that's how I got cursed with it."

Back in July, Geezer Butler released a CD box set called ‘Manipulations of the Mind – The Complete Collection’ featuring his three solo albums - ‘Plastic Planet’ (1995), ‘Black Science’ (1997), and ‘Ohmwork’ (2005) – and a fourth disc containing unreleased demos, studio outtakes, single edits and three live tracks.

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Eric Carr's real name: Paul Charles Caravello


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Joey Tempest's real name: Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson


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Mikkey Dee’s real name: Micael Kiriakos Delaoglou


Jonathan Cain’s real name: Jonathan Leonard Friga


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