"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" starts out with a more progressive sound and riff. The lyrics and sound to the song appears to be inspired by the band's frustration with their former manager and the sense of betrayal they had felt at times. The song deals with a person who is betrayed and lied to, and disenfranchised from what seems to be his native society(1st 2 lines, last stanza "Everything around you, what's it coming to").

Velvet Revolver and former Guns 'N' Roses guitarist Slash has stated that "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" is his favorite Black Sabbath riff and song. When at the 2005 Download Festival, where both Velvet Revolver and Black Sabbath were playing, Slash stated that he would be "Putting in a request with the band for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."

The song has been dropped from Black Sabbath's sets. It was rarely played live in the '70s, and when the band reunited they only performed the first half in completion, with Ozzy dropping out of the song and not singing the final two verses. By the year 2000, it was dropped from their set entirely, until it emerged a few years later when the band played the riff a few times as an introduction to "Paranoid."

"Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was covered by Bruce Dickinson with Godspeed for the 1994 tribute album Nativity in Black. It was also covered by Anthrax and their version appears on their greatest hits album entitled Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985-1991).