This song is about Skinheads. At the time in England, Skinheads were not racists, but punks and anarchists. They usually wore boots, which is how Sabbath got the title. Regarding the rest of the words, guitarist Tony Iommi said, "We smoked a lot of dope, so that might be why some of the lyrics are a bit unusual."
The lyrics were inspired by an incident after a Sabbath concert in 1970. The band was attacked by a bunch of Skinheads after the show, injuring Tony Iommi and forcing them to cancel their next performance. "We got into a scrap in Western-Super-Mare, these skinheads came to get us - and back then to call someone a 'fairy' was not a very nice thing," bassist Geezer Butler recalled to Uncut magazine. "So, Ozzy came up with 'fairies wear boots' because of those skinheads."
The intro is called "Jack The Stripper." It is listed as its own song on US versions of the album.
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