Why Iron Man Speaks to Me

“Nobody wants him, he just stares at the world…”
— Black Sabbath, Iron Man

This song hit differently when I heard it again as an adult.

Not just because of its iconic riff.
Not just because it sounds like pain turned up loud.
But because the story — of a man who tried to save the world and was punished for it — mirrored something inside me.

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The Wound of Being Misunderstood

The lyrics speak of someone who was once human,
but is turned into something else.
He becomes iron — cold, hardened, emotionless.

But here’s the thing:
He didn’t start that way.
He was changed by what he saw.
By a world that didn’t believe in him. That rejected him. That feared his truth.

There’s a deep grief in being misunderstood while trying to help.
It’s the kind of grief that slowly armours you.

That armour becomes your identity.

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A Symbol of Childhood Wounds

I think that’s why Iron Man resonates with me emotionally.
It’s about someone becoming the thing they were accused of being —
not because it was who they were, but because of the way the world responded.

I know what it feels like to be punished for the truth.
To be seen as the villain when you were just a hurting child
trying to survive in a world that made no sense.

Sometimes people fear what they don’t understand.
Especially when it threatens the roles they’ve assigned to others.

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Becoming Iron

There were moments in childhood I felt frozen.
Moments I went quiet.
Moments I felt like my very presence was wrong — like something monstrous.

That’s what Iron Man captures:
The disconnect between intent and interpretation.

He comes back to help.
But he’s feared.
He’s cast out.
He’s iron now.

And what’s left is rage.
That deep, buried rage from never being truly seen or loved.

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But I’m Not Iron Anymore

The difference is — I’m not made of metal.
Even when I feel cold, even when I disconnect — there’s warmth underneath.

And that warmth isn’t gone.
It’s just been waiting.

That’s why this song doesn’t leave me stuck in pain — it shows me what happens when you don’t process it.
When the world breaks you, and you get stuck in that shell.

I don’t want to live as Iron Man.
But I honour the part of me that needed to be him to survive.

Because now I get to choose a different story.

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