War Pigs by Cake: All the Bad Rhymes of the Original With None of the Redeeming Qualities
Gosh, that doesn't leave much to be said. I really should have used a different header.
Black Sabbath's War Pigs may be a classic, but it was never a very good song.
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
I don't care how many people love Black Sabbath, this song is poorly written. They rhymed "masses" with "masses." Destruction/construction, burning/turning, power/hour, sins/wings...wait what? When a song relies so heavily on a basic, phonetically straight-forward rhyme scheme, any deviation sticks out like a sore thumb.
It all makes sense when you take into account how the song was re-written from a song called "Walpurgis," which the record company deemed "too satanic." It's difficult to write a song to an existing tune, the only reason someone would do this is if they already had an extremely solid base. Black Sabbath did have a solid base for War Pigs. The song sounds good -- when it's played by Black Sabbath. The problem is, Cake probably only did a cover of this song because of the lyrics. It may agree with Cake's preferred message, but not their style. War Pigs didn't survive the genre switch. Black Sabbath's metal riffs were the only good part, and that's something Cake can't reproduce.
Chances are you haven't actually heard this song, so here it is on YouTube.