The lyrics deal with the subject of the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during that period.

"[5] Guitarist William Weaver has also claimed to have written the signature riff and then presented the music to Rhoads in a studio session.

[citation needed] AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey described the main guitar riff as "a classic, making use of the full minor scale in a way not seen since Ritchie Blackmore's heyday with Deep Purple.

In 2021, it topped Metal Hammer's readers' poll of the Top 50 Ozzy Osbourne songs, with the magazine informing that it is Osbourne's most played song, with over 1150 live performances, over 18 million plays on YouTube, and more than 500 million on Spotify (as of March 2023).

[14] The master ringtone was certified double platinum and had by September 2010 sold 1,750,000 downloads.