Brave New World is the long-anticipated reunion album featuring the return of Maiden
powerhouses Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith. Due to the high emotion surrounding the
Maiden's return to their golden-era lineup, this album faced almost impossibly high expectations
of the sort that are rarely if ever fully met. But amidst all of this hype, Iron Maiden has exceeded
all expectations and produced an album that is the equal of any album since their golden era
of the 80s.
At first glance, Brave New World is a progressive album which fits most closely into
the same category as
Somewhere In Time and
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.
Although the guitar and bass synths have been jettisoned in favour of a real keyboard (played by
Steve Harris himself), the overall style and mix of the synthesizers are similar. Likewise, the guitar
sound has returned to that of the late 80s and Bruce's vocals are once again in top form. Yet upon
further introspection, Brave New World seems to be an amalgamation of many different
elements drawn from each of the albums since the late 80s – the occult themes of
Seventh Son..., the social awareness and politics of
No Prayer For The Dying and
Fear Of The Dark, the personal introspection of
The X Factor and the emotional depth of
Virtual XI.
Brave New World is somewhat of a misnomer in that the album blazes very little
new ground, but instead reiterates the brilliant genius which has carried Iron Maiden
throughout their career. All of the best elements from the previous 15 years are combined
into one amazing album which is sure to please both old and new fans alike, as well as
put to shame certain other formerly heavy metal bands who have abandoned the true path.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the album is Janick "underrated" Gers,
who has fully arrived into his own golden era and, in my opinion, is fully the equal of Dave and
Adrian in both songwriting and musicianship, even in places surpassing them. His songs
are beautifully composed and his guitar solos brilliantly inspired in both complexity and
emotional depth that was only hinted by
The X Factor and
Virtual XI.
Taken as a whole, Brave New World has all of the elements of an instant Iron Maiden
classic, including the deep intelligent lyrics, nonstandard song structures, masterful musicianship,
as well as a return to the complex artistic genius of Derek Riggs. If I could change anything about
Brave New World, I would have written more and longer guitar solos and more interplay
between the three guitars, as well as improved the quality of the photos in the CD booklet.
Yet these are only minor points in the face of this excellent album which has lived up to and
surpassed all of my expectations.
Here is what Bruce said about the album's title in an interview with C. Bottomley for
VH1.com:
The Huxley thing was simply because I thought Brave New World was
a cool title for the record, because it sets up this kind of enigma in your head.
Like, 'What's it about?' But having hit on a title, I then went,
'Well, we'll write the song about the book'. And so I re-read
the book, and I was pretty scared about how bang-on he was.
I remember reading about the extinction of these beautiful cranes in Japan, where the crane's
like a national symbol, and nobody cared. And they asked, 'Do you care about all these
cranes dying, 'cause of pollution?' And they went, 'Well, we have pictures of them
in the museums, we don't care whether they really exist – just as long as the pictures
of them exist in some way.' This is fuckin' Brave New World.
Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson's comments are extracts taken from an interview by Essi Berelian for
Classic Rock Magazine and can also be found as "Bruce's Track By Track Guide
To Brave New World" on the official tour programme.
The Wicker Man (Smith, Harris, Dickinson)
This fast-paced song musically reminiscent of
'Aces High'
is an excellent album and concert opener. The opening riff and Nicko's precise hammering
are the signs that the Iron Maiden of the Golden Era is back. The song itself has a quick tempo,
with heavier parts and rhythm changes typical of Maiden, and Adrian Smith does a great solo.
The lyrics seem to highlight the general apathy of our modern society and our egoistic disinterest
in what is happening in the world until something actually happens to us and we get "knocked
to our feet". Watching "the world explode every single night" refers probably
to those who watch the evening news and who have an overload of grisly images of wars and sufferings,
and who become gradually de-sensitised and de-humanised.
This selfishness is further portrayed by the refusal to pay the "ferryman",
most probably
Charon,
who according to the Greek mythology was ferrying the souls of the recently departed across the river
Acheron, and not the
Styx
as many may think, from the land of the living to that of the dead – incidentally, Styx
was the name of Bruce's very first band (nothing to do with the famous American rock band, though).
The image seems once again to emphasize the fact that the modern world is more and more inhabited
by zombies whose feelings are either dead or dying.
There can be few, if any, film fans in the world who haven't watched, at least once, a low-budget
offering from Britain which popped up as a B-movie in 1973 – The Wicker Man.
From such lowly beginnings, the film has steadily grown in reputation in the intervening years
to become one of the principal cult movies of the last 30 years. Most aficionados are also
aware that the film circulates in a number of different versions, but there is much confusion and
mis-information about the exact differences between the various cuts. But first, let's find out why
more than one version exists in the first place...
The symbol of the new rise of the wickerman, a figure of paganism, might imply that we are slowly going
back to ancient "evil" ways. The
ritual
was once performed as a fertility rite for the land in former Celtic tribes, where a giant wicker man
was burned with living beings inside, mostly farm animals but also sometimes humans too,
then the ashes were spread on the fields as fertiliser. Technically, the system was good
as the ashes would contain a lot of elements beneficial to the crops, mostly a fair amount
of nitrogen from the animals, but there are nowadays many very efficient fertilisers
on the market that render this method quite fortunately obsolete.
The
1973 British film The Wickerman, starring Christopher Lee and Edward Woodward,
should be mentioned as the original source of inspiration for both the song and the video.
This film was made in
various versions and remains nowadays a cult film for the fans of the genre.
This song is called 'The Wicker Man' because there's one line in the song which mentions
The Wicker Man as in The Wicker Man of the cult 70s movie. And the song is, I think,
the best single Maiden have had out in donkeys years. It's a really rocking single. Basically
the feel of it is so up in term of the vibe you could almost be listening to an Offspring track during
one or two bits of it as far as I was concerned. I was just thinking about when I stand up in front
of x thousand people singing, just thinking about the buzz I get out of it; I'm thinking about the buzz
I used to get when I was a kid and I used to go to rock festivals you really felt you belonged to
something bigger than yourself on that one day. You also felt in some ways that you could change
something; you could change the world a weeny bit that day 'cos you're all in that field. And that's
what's the song's about, hence the chorus, 'Your time will come'. You suddenly feel
you are a part of everything.
Sgt. Howie travels to Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl.
He discovers that the locals are weird and unhelpful, and becomes determined to get
to the bottom of the disappearance.
A sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers
there's a larger mystery to solve among the island's secretive, neo-pagan community.
'The Wicker Man' was one of the first Iron Maiden songs I heard. When I first heard it,
it was a bit too heavy for my tastes, especially as the only Maiden stuff I knew back then was
the Number Of The Beast album. During the course of time, I grew quite attached to it,
however. I am now also able to appreciate the song being something of a renaissance cry
for the band after Adrian and Bruce returned. This is by no means meant to be a negative view
on the Blaze era; but still, Adrian and Bruce seemed to take something undefinable with them
when they left, and brought it back when they returned.
The song kicks in with a strong and wonderful metal riff not only announcing Iron Maiden
wanting to resurrect their old glory, but also them wanting to return as the leading lights of a new
Heavy Metal movement twenty years after they had already been successful with it. Viewing back
on this after four years, one cannot deny the fact that they were successful to a certain extent.
Metal is well on its way back, even if its general popularity still leaves to be desired.
Lyrically, the song is a bit obscure. It seems to be about death and afterlife – a reocurring
theme in their music – viewed from a mystical to mythological point of view. The mentioning
of the ferryman does not need to mean it is about Greek mythology. There are more than enough
people who believe in this particular form of descendance into the underworld today.
Perhaps not so clear but also quite obvious is that the song may be about our 'elbow-society'
in which the strongest person succeeds in his goals at the cost of the weak. This arrogance
goes so far that these people even feel they can defy and escape death. But even their
"time will come.".
The prominently featuring wicker man ritual may imply the move from the Christian moral
to the wilder and more ruthless days of paganism. Since Christianity does not play such
a prominent and positive role in Maiden's discography, this is rather unlikely. The line
"Brothers and their fathers joining hands and make a chain" is
too positive a picture to be criticism. The rise of Christianity brought very much pain
to the people following the pagan cults, and destroyed systems that worked very well
for their age. This arrogance of Christianity is just as big as that of the people profiting
from today's 'ellbow society', so the wicker man may well be a symbol of a better age.
The song is a brilliant opener, both live and in the studio. Only
'Be Quick
Or Be Dead' comes really close to the opening qualities. Bruce's voice does not sound
very convincing if it was meant to announce the return of the golden years, but it is nevertheless
much better than before he left Maiden. The drums on this song disturb me a little. They sound
too much reminiscent of the later atrocities Lars Ulrich would do to his drums, and I'm very glad
Maiden did not further maintain this trash can sound. The guitar solo is very dramatic at first,
but is disturbed by the horrible drum sound. The middle section was not necessary the way
it is, but it becomes good again. The finishing 'woa-oh' is probably a great audience participation
number, but not really necessary. It still did manage to annoy my mother so much she started
hating Maiden for almost four years!
As is a must for openers, this song is exciting and an absolute treat live. The general excitement
it provides just by being fast-paced and loud also prevents listeners from noticing how little depth
there is in this song. A very good but not great song, and perfect for a single.
With an acoustic intro building up into a manic crescendo, this is another maritime epic in the same
vein as
'The
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner'. The instrumental part summons up images of a ship struggling in
the middle of a storm. During this particular part, Nicko's fast foot gives the impression of a double-bass
drum. This spurred a polemic among the fans, some of them saying that it was the first time that he used
double-kick mechanism. In fact, Nicko has never used a double pedal so far. He uses instead a technique
called "cradling the pedal", i.e., hitting toe-heel alternately, thus giving this impression
of a double-kick. His speed and technique place Nicko among the best rock drummers ever.
The lyrics are a metaphor of life, with the ship sailing West towards the setting sun representing death.
The "ghosts of navigators" could be an allusion to all of those who go through life
without really realising it, being therefore "lost" and not in control of their navigation.
This sentence could also refer to our forebears who have sailed the sames 'seas' as us and whose
memory still remains. In any case, "nothing's real until you feel" is probably an advice
to experience life to the full, with its ups and downs, or run the risk to have wasted this short time between
the cradle and the grave.
I wrote the thing, the verse and the chorus, with Jan and he came up with this riff, and I just got
this thing in my head of, like, Vikings! Like smashing through the seas, big boats and pioneers.
Then I thought about navigation. So being a vaguely arty bloke on occasions it struck me as a
metaphor for life. So suddenly I had a plot for the song. It was a great big epic sea-faring journey
and the journey was life and the navigator was us as we were writing it. Steve said, "That's
a really cool middle bit, and we can have this bit in it too" and I really liked it. I don't know
if he was on the same wavelength as me but it sounds to me like a big storm 'cos I've already got
the navigator lashed to the helm as not to be tempted by the sirens on the rocks trying to distract
him. Trying not to be distracted by all the ghosts of his subconscious, the ghosts of his failed aspirations,
and also his own fears, that it may all be pointless when he gets there and he does it because he must.
That's the only answer he can give.
Bruce Dickinson
I definitely get a sense of this one being based on Homer's epic The Odyssey,
where Odysseus is trying to sail home to Greece after the Trojan War. He offends Poseidon,
who them makes the journey last ten years.
Encountering the Sirens, beautiful women whose voices could lure mariners to their deaths,
Odysseus told his crew to tie themselves to their boat –
"I steer between the crashing rocks, the sirens call my name.
Lash my hands onto the helm..."
Poseidon placed many obstacles in Odysseus's way, some real and some imagined.
"Nothing's real until you feel..."
The Odyssey is one of the most influential books in the entire history of Western Civillisation
(I would place it second to only the Judeo-Christian Bible). It taught Greeks, and by extension
the entire West, what it meant to belong to a place. Odysseus spends 10 years trying
to get home to his polis, which demonstrated his loyalty to his city (a key element of Greek society).
He passed up riches, women, and bliss to simply get home.
It is fitting that Iron Maiden pay homage to a work of such far-reaching influence with an excellent song
such as this.
Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked
the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners
and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life
and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished
through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them
from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove,
from whatsoever source you may know them.
An epic is a long narrative poem in an elevated style that deals with the trials and achievements
of a great hero or heroes. The epic celebrates virtues of national, military, religious, political, or
historical significance. The word "epic" itself comes from the Greek épos,
originally meaning "word" but later "oration" or "song."
Like all art, an epic may grow out of a limited context but achieves greatness in relation
to its universality. It typically emphasizes heroic action as well as the struggle between
the heros ethos and his human failings or mortality.
A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words,
CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield,
the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY.
Huxley wrote Brave New World "between the wars"—after the upheaval
of the First World War and before World War II. British society was officially at peace,
but the social effects of the Great War, as it was then called, were becoming apparent.
Huxley and his contemporaries wrote about changes in national feeling, questioning
of long-held social and moral assumptions, and the move toward more equality
among the classes and between the sexes.
Based on the
1932 novel by
Aldous Huxley [1894–1963], this is once again a classic-to-be of Iron Maiden. A soft intro
gives way to powerful riffs and singing, and the catchy chorus is ideal for crowd participation
à la
'Fear
Of The Dark' during the concerts. The song ends as it started in an acoustic and melancholic way.
The story that inspired the lyrics of the song takes place in what was at the time of Huxley's writing
a futuristic world state with the motto: "Community, Identity, Stability". Every inhabitant
of this state consumes daily doses of an anti-depressive drug called soma, babies are conceived
and born in specialised laboratories, and the most popular form of entertainment is the "feelies",
a movie that can not only be watched but also felt with the senses of touch and smell. The main character
in the book revolts against this system that controls every single aspect of human life and ends up
becoming a sort of circus attraction (the "Savage") for the rest of the world. When we take
a look at the current state of our planet, it becomes quite obvious that Huxley was disquietingly right
and that what he described as Utopia was very close to the world we live in nowadays. Today's Western
society with its constant search for entertainment, sometimes to the extreme, and gradual extinction
of individuality is the proof that Huxley's imagination in the 1930s was in fact a form of prediction of
what was yet to come.
The title itself is taken from Shakespeare's 1612 play
TheTempest, in which the character of Miranda exclaims:
O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
That has such people in't!
– Act V, Scene I
The woods decay, the woods decay and fall, The vapours weep their burthen to the ground, Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath, And after many a summer dies the swan.
Although there are, as Bruce rightly mentions below, no "dying swans" in Brave
New World, Huxley did also write a book published in 1939 and called After Many a Summer
Dies the Swan. In this novel, Huxley ironically analyses American culture, mostly what he saw
as its narcissism, superficiality, and obsession with youth (already then!). The title originates from a line of
Lord Tennyson's poem
Tithonus,
about a character of the Greek mythology to whom Zeus gave eternal life but not eternal youth.
In Huxley's novel, a Californian millionaire hears about an English nobleman who discovered a way
to vastly extend the human life span. He then travels to England and finds the nobleman still alive,
but he has degenerated into an ape-like creature; the millionaire decides to extend his life anyway.
This is another fine example of narcissism, although this one is on an individual scale whereas
Brave New World extends it to the entire society.
'Dying swans twisted wings, beauty not needed here'. I don't recall there being any dying
swans in Brave New World the book. But I wanted an image that represented the tragedy and sadness
of what Brave New World had done. Dying swans, twisted wings, you know, the agony, the death.
Brave New World doesn't want to see that. It has no use for either the life or the death. All it has use
for is the image because in the book, if you want excitement you go to the viddies; it's Aldous Huxley's
premonition of virtual reality and I'm taking that and throwing it out there for
discussion.
Bruce Dickinson
This is one of those songs that instantly resonates with me, and I have hitherto
not been able to understand why. Textual analysis, therefore, might be useful in explicating
its meaning.
As an environmentalist, the song presents an image of a planet after some kind of holocaust
(be it nuclear, environmental, or just old fashioned genocide).
After the disaster chaos reigns, there is nothing in life to strive for except survival.
Dying swans twisted wings, beauty not needed here
Lost my love, lost my life, in this garden of fear
The swans, a traditional symbol of purity and beauty, are not needed in the new world, they serve
no purpose and are, by definition, weak. Purity has no use in a land where only the strong survive.
The ruthless and grotesque thrive because of their brute strength.
I have seen many things, in a lifetime alone
Mother love is no more, bring this savage back home
The protagonist has, obviously, been able to live through the horrors, but only at the expense
of losing the essence of what makes him human. The purest love, from mother to child,
is non-existent, and sorely missed. "This savage" wishes to turn back the clock
to the way things were (and presumably are now). In short, he misses his mommy and childhood.
Innocence is gone, and the cold hard realities of life set in.
Wilderness house of pain, makes no sense of it all
Close this mind dull this brain, Messiah before his fall
What you see is not real, those who know will not tell
All is lost, sold your souls to this brave new world
The key lines in this stanza are 2 and 4. In the chaos, people have turned away
from religion (the Messiah about to fall). By religion I don't mean Christianity or Islam or Buddhism,
I mean they have stopped believing in a better future. There is no hope, as indicated by the fourth line,
for those people who have bought in to this brave new world.
Dragon kings, dying queens, where is salvation now
Lost my life lost my dreams, rip the bones from my flesh
Silent screams laughing here, dying to tell you the truth
You are planned and you are damned in this brave new world
The dragon can have multiple meanings – it could be a reference to the serpent
of the Bible (in medieval literature snakes and dragons were often interchangeable).
If this is to be believed, then the "king dragon" is Satan, and the "dying queen"
could be Eve after she ate the forbidden fruit. She did not physically expire, but her soul died a little inside
for disobeying God. Eve and Adam lost their (and humanity's) chance at salvation, casting humanity
into a brave new world in which we are all "planned and damned".
If this is indeed the case, then the "brave new world" is Earth and the Apocalyptic event
I wrote of earlier is that of the expulsion from Eden – a subtle biblical allusion which demonstrates
the complexity and depth of Iron Maiden's lyrics.
Alternatively, the dragon could just be a beastification (if that's a word) of the evils which plague
the new society. If biblical allusions are discounted, it does allow for an interesting hypothesis
about the album Brave New World – the argument for a recurrent theme
in at least four songs, almost creating a tetrarchy of plot.
'The Mercenary' could be viewed as the beginning of the apocalypse, with a small number
of people triggering the series of events which would lead to the ultimate disaster in
'Out of the Silent Planet.' 'Brave New World' shows the post-apocalypse era in which all
that makes humans good and pure is gone. Finally, hope for the future is restored
in 'The Fallen Angel;' the chosen one, whoever that might be, has been sent by God
to act as a scourge – he will purify the world of its evils so that it may be saved.
Im not suggesting Brave New World is a theme album, I just think there is a continuity
of though among at least four of the songs.
Dying swans twisted wings, bring this savage back home
Let us pray we never experience a complete end of civilization such as depicted, because
once the "savage" is gone, we can never bring him back home. We have the ability
to destroy the planet – lets be sure it is never used.
Brave New World is a 1932 dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley, set in London
in the 26th century. The novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology,
eugenics and hypnopædia that combine to change society. The world it describes
could in fact also be a utopia, albeit an ironic one: Humanity is carefree, healthy, and
technologically advanced. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated, all races are equal,
and everyone is permanently happy. The irony is, however, that all of these things have been
achieved by eliminating many things — family, cultural diversity, art, literature, religion
and philosophy.
Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963)
was a British writer who emigrated to the United States. He was a member of the famous
Huxley family who produced a number of brilliant scientific minds. Best known for his novels
and wide-ranging output of essays, he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing,
and film stories and scripts. Through his novels and essays Huxley functioned as an examiner
and sometimes critic of social mores, societal norms and ideals, and possible misapplications
of science in human life.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith,
his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly
through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent
a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
In 1984, Orwell creates a technologically advanced world in which fear is used as a tool
for manipulating and controlling individuals who do not conform to the prevailing political orthodoxy.
In his attempt to educate the reader about the consequences of certain political philosophies and
the defects of human nature, Orwell manipulates and usurps the utopian tradition and creates a
dystopia, a fictional setting in which life is extremely bad from deprivation, oppression,
or terror. Orwells dystopia is a place where humans have no control over their own lives,
where nearly every positive feeling is squelched, and where people live in misery, fear,
and repression.
Although he is mentioned in the lyrics, this song is not quite only about Steve's father, but mainly about
life and what might eventually be beyond it. The image of the departed father is mostly there to highlight
that the main thread between life and life after death is the memories of those who left
("And in a moment the memories are all that remain, And all the wounds are reopening
again"). After all, there is no certainty of any kind of survival of the conscious self –
or soul for those who are religious – but what is sure is that the departed ones that we have
loved still live in our memory.
The song is also about being ashamed of what is going on in the world ("And as you look all
around at the world in dismay"). History repeats itself seemingly endlessly and horrors still
happen regardless of the lessons of past events ("...do you think we have learned? Not if you
look at the war-torn affray"). This seems to follow what was hinted at in
'The Wicker
Man', that no one seems to care anymore and that the ones who do care haven't got much weight
in front of all this adversity.
Once again, like in
'No
Prayer For The Dying', the question of the meaning for life arises ("Will we ever know
what the answer to life really is?"). Only this time, it is not asked to some god who is very
unlikely to answer anyway but in a more general way ("Can you really tell me what
life is?").
Steve Harris summed up perfectly the meaning of this song in an interview with Johnny B. soon after
the album was released:
"Basically it is saying that we are all made up of blood and tissue and there is good
and bad in the world, some people are unlucky in life... things like that all rolled into one."
The music gives this excellent brooding feel of the one who reflects on the ways of the world, and the
Celtic touches here and there add to this almost magical atmosphere. The chorus is perfect during the
concerts, creating a bond between the band and the audience... like "Blood Brothers".
'Blood Brothers' is a little masterpiece that's Steve's song 100 per cent. In singing it
I can tell you what I think it's about. It's about Steve's relationship with his father who died;
it's a very personal song so this song is about Steve and his father being blood brothers,
like, forever the lines go. 'Just for a second a glimpse of my father I see, and in a
movement he beckons to me, and in a moment the memories are all that remain, and all
the wounds are reopening again, we're blood brothers'. So it's kind of bitter sweet
and very loving and at the same time very melancholic. It's a lot of very, very mixed emotions
and musically there's a few Celtic
nods.
Bruce Dickinson
The Mercenary (Gers, Harris)
This fast song brings the tempo back up again after the quiet ending of 'Blood Brothers'. There is not
much to say about the music, except that it's a traditional Maiden fast track.
According to Bruce, the song is basically about a bounty hunter, but they apparently didn't want to call it
'The Bounty Hunter', probably because 'The Mercenary' sounded better as a title for this song.
The lyric are in the same
vein as those of
'The
Assassin', about somebody who hunts and kills for a living.
It was brought to my attention that the lyrics were maybe based on the 1987 film
Predator, with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In this film, a creature called "Diablo"
by the natives is hunting down humans in some South American jungle to "make trophies
out out of men". All this seems to make sense, but as none of the band members has
mentioned this in any interview I've read, I doubt that the film actually inspired the song.
That's a good solid track not a huge amount to say except that they're mercenaries and
they're generally a bad thing; they're generally cruel and heartless fiends who cynically kill people
for money. A fairly conventional tuneful Maiden rocker comparable to a sort of 'Die With Your Boots On'
type thing.
Bruce Dickinson
Dream Of Mirrors (Gers, Harris)
This is yet another song based on reoccurring premonitory, re-occurring dreams, pretty much like in
'Infinite
Dreams'. The similarity between the two songs is striking when you examine the following lyrics:
"...scared to fall asleep again, In case the dream begins again"
– 'Infinite Dreams'
"Scared to fall asleep and dream the dream again"
– 'Dreams Of Mirrors'
Steve Harris is known for having these dreams which, without being particularly premonitory, inspired
many Iron Maiden songs
('The
Number Of The Beast' comes to mind). He actually said himself in an interview with Johnny B.
that the song was about the dark side of things, about people's thoughts and the suffering that may
result from them, mostly at night.
Musically, it is a brilliant piece with a manic semi-instrumental part in the middle. The music matches
the lyrics to perfection, giving the soft and disquieting tones of the one who is plagued by his dreams
and who wonders about their meaning.
I think it's a cracking song. It's pretty lengthy. The chorus is fuckin' blinding! One of the
best choruses I think Steve has ever written, and one of the best lyrics he's ever written too.
'I only dream in black and white'. I mean straight away, fucking great! Shit, who dreams
in black and white? Wow, do I? Is that weird? 'I only dream in black and white, I only dream
because I'm alive, I only dream in black and white, to save me from myself!' I was like,
'Oh man he's a tortured motherfucker, Steve is sometimes', and he does have these dreams and
deja-vu things and out of body things going on for
him.
Azazel is an enigmatic name from the Hebrew scriptures, possibly referring to
a fallen angel or Satan. The word's first appearances are in Leviticus 16,
when in the ritual for Yom Kippur the scapegoat is to be taken to Azazel and
cast into the wilderness, but this text by itself is unclear as to the actual identity of Azazel.
Inspired by the age-old theme of Good versus Evil, this fast track has a brilliant Thin Lizzy-like intro
followed by a powerful verse and a very catchy chorus.
Azazel, the fallen angel mentioned in the song, refers to the scapegoat that was sent to the desert
by the ancient Hebrews. This goat was symbolically carrying all their sins and was given to the demon
Azazel in a gesture of atonement. The name comes from the Hebrew "azazel" which literally
means "goat of departure". It is formed from the words "ez" meaning goat and
"azal" meaning "to go away", hence the "escape goat". This
ceremony is described in the bible
(Leviticus 16).
Some think that the name of Azazel also refers to Satan himself and according to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Azazel was the personification of uncleanness and in later rabbinic writings was sometimes
described as a fallen angel.
That one, I assume, is about sort of being chosen as a human sacrifice, so it's deep and dark.
I think Steve was having a dark patch when he wrote the lyrics to that one. Steve's got a lot of dark
patches on this record! Adrian wrote the basic song and it's got a pretty catchy little chorus. But I hope
we don't have too many people flying out of windows if it's a single because the chorus is 'Could it
be the end of my world, all the things that we cherish, there's nothing left, but to face this all on my own,
because I am the chosen one!' Aaaaaaaah! People chucking themselves out of windows! Like in
The Omen people hurling themselves out of windows.
Damiaa-a-a-an!
Det. John Hobbes is convinced that when killer Edgar Reese is executed, all of his troubles
are over. But when people he knows and people on the street start to sing the same tune that
Reese sang in the gas chamber, and those same people taunt him, he is told that maybe
the cursed fallen angel Azazel is behind it all. Azazel is cursed to roam the Earth without a form,
and he can switch bodies by any contact, making him hard to track. When Hobbes is forced to kill
a man possessed by Azazel, he must clear his name while protecting his family and others
from the evil, vengeful Azazel.
Azazel is the chief of the Se'irim, or goat-demons, who haunted the desert and to whom
most primitive Semitic (most likely non-Hebrew) tribes offered sacrifices. The Old Testament
states that Jeroboam appointed priests for the Se'irim. But Josiah destroyed the places
of their worship, as the practices accompanying this worship involved copulation of women
with goats.
With an atmosphere reminiscent of
Lawrence Of Arabia, the 1962 film with Peter O'Toole, this song is probably one of the best
on the whole album. Although the lyrics are pretty straightforward and just deal with the people of the desert,
it is an epic quite similar to
'To Tame A Land'.
The music brings up images of the desert and of its immense wastelands of sand, and the arrangements
are fantastic, mostly during the quiet instrumental part where the keyboards sound like a whole orchestra
playing (it never fails to send some shivers down my spine). This is a real masterpiece!
The instrumental part of 'The Nomad' has been borrowed from
Beckett's 'Life's Shadow', a song featured on their one and only self-titled 1974 album.
Obviously, it has been re-arranged to fit Iron Maiden's style and sound, but the similarity is
absolutely unmistakable. Incidentally, 'Life's Shadow' also contains lyrics that Steve Harris used for
'Hallowed
Be Thy Name'. Some may consider this plagiarism, but I doubt that Maiden would have used
this material without prior consent of the original artists. Besides, there's nothing wrong with a little
inspiration from another band when you write such a great piece of music. In any case, Beckett may
have released only one album, but they sure influenced Steve a lot!
It's 'Carry On Follow That Camel' is what Nomad is! It is about the bedouin,
the warrior tribes of the desert. I don't think there are any great layers of hidden meaning to this
other than what it's about. I mean when Steve wrote songs about Alexander The Great they were
basically about Alexander The Great and that's it! The lyrics are there to basically tell you about
nomads and about how mysterious and strange they were, how they were pretty nifty and jolly fearful
people and that's what it is. The big picture is the effect the song has. Well, it's not really a song,
it's a nine-minute piece. So you don't view it in terms of a five-minute rock
song.
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO, Legion of Honour,
professionally known as T.E. Lawrence and, later, T.E. Shaw, but most famously known
as Lawrence of Arabia, gained international renown for his role as a British liaison officer
during the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918.
"Tuareg" is an Arabic word widely used by the French, meaning
"abandoned by the gods". According to other sources, it could be
derived from Targa, the name of a city in south Libya (it belongs to the south
Libyan region called Fezzan). Targa could be the old name of Fezzan too
(there are different opinions).
Out Of The Silent Planet (Gers, Dickinson, Harris)
Supposedly inspired by the 1956 science-fiction film
Forbidden Planet with Leslie Nielsen, this is another great Maiden song that starts quietly
to build up into a powerful track. There's a very nice Celtic-sounding intro then the song starts in a
musical explosion. It ends like it started in softer tones, with the little Celtic melody of the beginning.
It is interesting to note that the film
Forbidden Planet, mentioned by Bruce as the basis for the song, is itself an adaptation of
The Tempest, the play written by Williams Shakespeare and in which appears the
"Brave New World" quote. However, I have seen this film several times and I find it
hard to make a link with the song. This song is lyrically reminiscent of
'Public
Enema Number One' in its apparent political meaning, and the lyrics seem to me to deal with
the current state of our planet and can be analysed almost line-by-line.
"Withered hands, withered bodies begging for salvation" is a phrase that summons
pictures of famines and death-camps, the awful images that are shown in their almost unbearable uglyness
on the news and various other TV programmes. It highlights the misery of too many people on the planet.
These people are "Deserted by the hand of gods of their own creation", which could
be that of their "worshipped" leaders. In many under-developped countries, the governments
take power through violence, and usually also end in violence, the period in-between being spent in luxury
for the few at the top, while the people still struggle to survive. Another meaning of this sentence could be
that whatever god we may worship, it is only an illusion, and that any religion is a fallacy. Action is always
better than prayer, although religion is also an excellent way to manipulate the masses and make them
forget about their poor living conditions.
"Nations cry underneath decaying skies above" could refer to atmospheric pollution
or even to the infamous hole in the ozone layer, or could be also a "poetic" view that the
heavens above are in a no better condition than the earth below.
"You are guilty, the punishment is death for all who live". Well, doesn't anything
that lives die one day? Maybe the "punishment" for not looking after our environment
is increasing pollution and natural disasters that will eventually lead to the complete extinction of the
human species.
"The killing fields, the grinding wheels crushed by equilibrium". This is yet another
vision of war, wherever it happens and whoever is involved. I am not sure about what the
"equilibrium" referred to may be. Could it be the second law of thermodynamics, which
states more or less that order tends towards chaos? In other words, that "what is will eventually
cease to be". Anyway, this particular sentence is not clear to me and remains open to interpretation.
"Separate lives no more disguise, no more second chances" could be a warning
that we'd better "get our act together" before it's too late and we reach the point of no return
to extinction.
"Haggard wisdom spitting out the bitter taste of hate" refers probably to all those
who encourage hatred against whoever looks or thinks differently. This "haggard wisdom"
makes me think of religious leaders who fuel the disdain against those who do not share their religion.
May they be Jews, Christians, or Muslims, the fanatical extremists are the ones who spread hate by
giving words of "wisdom" they claim to hold from some dubious god.
"I accuse you before you know the crime it's all too late" may be directed
at the human species in general, who is in its vast majority unaware of the depredations it is doing
on the planet. The crime is the destruction of the planet, and it will be too late to turn back by the time
the Earth becomes a "silent planet".
Although there probably isn't any relation with the song,
Out Of The Silent Planet is also the title of a a book written by
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963),
who is mostly known for
The Chronicles Of Narnia. In this particular book, the Earth is known as the
"Silent Planet" because no communication can pass between it and the rest of the universe.
The lyrics "out of the silent planet we are" would also make sense within this context.
That's a fairly straightforward romp through sci-fi territory and a sort of 'Run To The Hills'
revisited vibe. Certainly by halfway throught the song 'cos I certainly wanted to get into the old gallop
bit from the get go and Steve was like "Let's not give it to 'em straight away". It's based
on the sci-fi classic The Forbidden Planet which is monsters from the id and this is basically
monsters from the id. Again that was the inspiration for it anyway, a bunch of aliens who have
destroyed their planet and now they've left their silent planet and they're coming
to get us.
With The Tempest, Shakespeare turns to fantasy and magic as a way to explore
romantic love, sibling hatred, and the love of a father for his child. In addition, The Tempest
examines many of the topics that Shakespeare had focused on in his earlier plays, topics
such as the attempts to overthrow a king (Macbeth, Richard II,
and Julius Cæsar), nature versus nurture (The Winters Tale
and King Lear), and innocence (Twelfth Night).
Hi everyone, If you are a constant visitor of this site you may have noticed that
on the commentary on 'Out of the Silent Planet', Maverick states that the line "The
killing fields, the grinding wheels crushed by equilibrium" is open for interpretation.
Well, here goes a minor take on the entire song and a long explanation for this one particular line.
I think the only "sci-fi" element in the song is the fact that they say "out
of the silent planet we are". Aside from that they seem to describe very human topics
and problems. The song seems to describe a war... pure and simple. "The killing fields"
are a clear picture of that. Even clear is the first stanza "withered hands and withered bodies
begging for salvation." Who in agony doesn't cry out for help (supernatural or otherwise)?
"Nations cry under decaying skies above" – I agree that this may refer
to pollution, yet keeping it in the context of war it could mean darkened skies from bomb explosions
and/or rubble. Now to explain what "equilibrium" they are talking about... There are
three major Sociological theories but pertaining to the quote we will only use two: Functionalism
and Conflict theory. Functionalism sees society as this huge "body" that is able
to function thanks to its "organs" or institutions and citizens working harmoniously.
It keeps the status quo. Conflict Theory obviously says that the powerful are powerful at the expense
of the weak. So... The grinding wheels are "society" seen as a well oiled machine
through functionalism, however they are crushed by equilibrium... A revolution brought forth
by those who believe in conflict theory, that there is huge inequality and are asking for their piece
of the pie. And it fits the theme of war potrayed throughout the song.
Hey Onhell. You present an interesting turn on the lyrics of 'Out of the Silent Planet'.
However I disagree. I see this song as a continuation of
'2 Minutes
to Midnight'. In a post-nuclear conflict world we would see the skies darkened by nuclear fallout.
The line "no more second chances" suggests that our nuclear holocaust
has eliminated mankind almost totally. Silent planet would then suggest that our race
has fallen silent.
Other lines such as "killing fields" describe the actual war, while
"I accuse you" may refer to the beginning of the war, or perhaps
it is the remnants of humanity unable to resolve their differences even after we have
been pushed to the brink of extinction.
Not that I'm saying your interpretation is wrong. Just not the way I see it. I think my political science
prof would love you, though.
'Out of the Silent Planet' was not about aliens invading our planet. The silent planet
was Earth, the three earthlings journeyed to Mars. We were the silent planet because the evil one
had entered our planet and thus earth was no longer in communication with the good dieties
of the other planets.
The divine goodness differentiated between the two "evil" earthlings, one was broken,
and thus was eliminated, the other was bent, and thus not eliminated because there was salvation
available to him.
Of course, if Bruce said this song was based on the Forbidden Planet then we might
as well be discussing The Witch, The Lion, And The Wardrobe for all the C.S. Lewis
books. I had wondered if the song was based on C.S. Lewis's book Out of the Silent Planet.
For me it is, I really don't worry about the literal meanings of the lyrics as it is such a kick ass song!!
TMANMERLIN
– 6th January 2004
I just read the commentary on this song, and I think it's really well-done –
to me it spells out quite well what issues the song is digging at (as I see it). The one line
in particular that I read differently, though is the "I accuse you..." bit.
I've always thought of this as being in the voice of that "haggard wisdom spitting
out the bitter taste of hate." I imagine the "haggard wisdom" being
in control – say in the form of a council of elders, or the US Senate, for instance
– and here accusing some decent person of some heresy against the state.
It's a moment straight out of Kafka's The Trial, as I see it: you don't know what
you've done wrong, and no one will tell you or bother with any evidence against you,
but you're going to suffer for it anyway...
zgodt
– 9th February 2004
I must agree here with the 'War' interpretation, specifically that of a nuclear war.
When Oppenheimer heard of the first successful use of the Atomic Bomb, he is reported to have
quoted from the Vedas (Hindu Holy Texts) "Lo, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
The power unleashed by the splitting of atoms is so great that a less secular civilisation would believe them
to be Gods. All life on Earth is in danger of being "deserted by the hands of Gods of our
own creation." Indeed, all peoples of all nations would "cry underneath
decaying skies" in the event of such an awe- and fearsome force.
The second verse only reaffirms this view. During the Cold War the only thing keeping the USSR
and America from bombing each other into oblivion was the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction
(MAD – a fitting acronym). Under this principle, neither side was willing to strike the other first,
the reason being that while they could easily destroy the enemy, it could not be done before the enemy
had launched a counter-attack equal in scale. There were no "second chances",
and "before you know the crime it's all too late", that is to say that once the bombers
were in the air (or, later, missiles launched) there was no recalling them.
Scared yet?
Our planet will be silent (dead, burnt, nuked, use whatever word you like) in the event of a conflict
of this scale, and these "demons of creation" are responsible.
As I opened this post with Oppenheimer, it is fitting that I close with Einstein, his comrade in
the Manhattan Project:
"I know not with what weapons World War III shall be fought, but World War IV
will be fought with sticks and stones."
These are powerful lyrics. Nuclear warfare is one of possible interpretations.
But I see several unlikely lines.
Demons of creation could refer both to human inventions misused, but paralleled by feelings
of disillusionment with religion. More in this line – and the strongest verse in my opinion:
"I accuse you, before you know the crime it's all too late."
A clear accusation of God.
God is like a prosecutor and judge in one in a Kafkian courtroom – man
is predestined to commit crimes and be punished. That seems to me like a clear criticism
aimed at a religious dogma – the original sin.
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate (Murray, Harris)
A heavy intro rhythm opens a pretty lengthy standard Maiden song, with a long instrumental before
a quiet end. Right at the end, Nicko can be heard saying: "Awww... I fucking missed it!",
as he thought he'd messed the end of the song, although he hadn't.
The vocal line on:
I will hope, my soul will fly, so I will live forever
Heart will die, my soul will fly, and I will live forever
is reminiscent of:
All my life ... I've run astray, let my faith ... slip away
All my life ... I've run astray, allowed my faith ... to drift away
The lyrics deal essentially with the free will of a person to turn good or bad, and that, although
"we all like to put the blame on society these days", it is everyone's choice
to decide on how to lead his life. The question of when the path is determined arises ("At
what age begin to learn of which way out we will turn"), along with that about what determines
how things will turn out ("But what makes a man decide, take the wrong or righteous
road"), but the final decision, conscious or not, belongs to each individual and
"the trail is there to burn".
Somehow, this song seems to be related to
'Judgement Day',
on the
Man On The Edge single. As it goes, it indicates that our deeds during our present lives
will influence our "after life". This concept appears in the three main monotheistic religions
of the world, where there is the punishment of Hell for those who misbehaved and the reward of Heaven
for those who had a "virtuous" life. This particular notion can also be found in Buddhism,
where it is believed that the next reincarnation is influenced by the way the former life was led. Obviously,
Steve is convinced that he behaved like a decent human being, as his "soul will fly"
(reminiscent of
'Hallowed
Be Thy Name''s "Catch my soul it's willing to fly away") and he "will
live forever". If there is any such this as an "after life", I'd agree with him,
although he is most likely to "live forever" through his work, and I am sure that his
compositions will still be played long after his demise.
Another Steve lyric. It almost sounds like a UFO track in places. It was quite an
unusual thing we did on the vocal on this 'cos it's more of a rock'n'roll/hard rock rythm going down
and we actually put a harmony on the entire verse. So it's quite an unusual sound for Maiden.
It's basically about karma. In other words what goes around comes around and you reap what
you sow and only you take the responsibility for it. There's the hope if you've done the right stuff,
otherwise down you go
to the pit of hell!
Bruce Dickinson
The verses seem to discuss the age old argument in psychology of Nature vs. Nurture.
Nature theorist claim you are born good or evil. Nurture people claim a loving family will curve
the most evil of desires or a dysfunctional, abusive family would corrupt the best of people.
Though now most shrinks agree that we are a little bit of both. Only in rare cases does a person
from the projects with a crackwhore mother and alcoholic father break the cycle and end up
being good doctors or counselors and someone from a "good" family end up
a homeless drug-addict. They also discuss the pressures of society such as peer pressure
to do drugs or drink alcohol before the legal age. "When a person turns to wrong is it
a want to be, belong?". There seems to be a pondering on the mystery of
the self "what makes a man decide between the wrong or rightous road?"
What does motivate us? Only we know. There is a respect for choice and individuality as they claim
that we all have the right to choose the path that we want. And hence we can't blame society
for we are responsible for our own actions. "We all like to put the blame on society
these days".
The chorus is of a more religious nature, as Maverick posted on the commentary of this song,
Harris seems to be depicting what happens when you lead a "good" life, your heart
dies but your soul lives forever and that he will get there through making his own choices.
There is one thing that puzzles me about this song. What exactly does the expression
"The Thin Line Between Love And Hate" itself mean?
Is it a reference to the fact that there really is such a thin line, or does it refer to the fact that this line
is very thin?
If the former is the case, then what is that thin line, what is its nature and in what relation
do we stand to it?
We are all seeking for balance in our life. If we tend too much to an extreme of any sort, it is likely
that we will never be able to find full happiness. To keep it in this context, feeling only one of two extremes
(love or hate) is very unlikely to bring us anywhere.
Being a hateful person is a bad thing. If you hate everything and everyone, you tend to see everything
in a negative way and you will feel uncomfortable with everything. Hatred veils our views of the world
in a way that we are unable to see the good things in life, and unable to enjoy anything.
On the other hand, if we simply "love" everything, this is very likely to make us unhappy
as well. If we see everything in a pink light, we will consciously or unconsciously ignore everything
that is bad. This way, the problems in the world will go unsolved and grow bigger, and might eventually
destroy us all.
The song points out that we must find a balance between both, that we need to find this
"Thin Line", the "Grey space between black and white". There are
not two paths, as we might be inclined to think, but three. There is nothing wrong with a bit
of hate towards the bad things in this world, but we need enough love to counterbalance it.
Likewise, too much love will likely make us lose touch with reality, and we will need some
negative feelings to properly fight all the bad in the world. Love is not synonymous with happiness.
Often enough, love can make us very unhappy. If we love someone, or something, we are very vulnerable,
and if this loved someone or something dies or gets destroyed, this can have terrible consequences
to ourselves.
We are very tempted to go into one extreme, however, as it is much easier than to find
the balance, which is a quest we are undergoing all our life, and more often than not, it seems
that we are unable to win that struggle.
On the other hand, this line between love and hate is very thin, indicating that love and hate
lie very close together – thus it is very easy to lose the balanced, grey path. Likewise, love
can often turn to hate and vice versa. If a loved someone disappoints you in a hurtful manner,
it can happen that your deep, positive emotions can turn into deep negative emotions.
This can go so far that we are ready to kill someone who we have once loved.
It gets a bit more complicated the other way around. If we really hate someone, we would never,
ever admit that we love them. But it is often the case that once this hated person dies, we feel
something missing in ourselves. We "loved to hate" them, and our feelings were
very strong. We just never admit, not even to ourselves, that exactly this hatred could actually
have been a twisted sort of love.
On the other hand, this might also be the case with love. The more you love someone, the more
you hate some things they do, because they don't comform with the image you have of them,
or what you might want them to do.
Human emotions are a very complicated subject, and I think none of us are even close
to comprehend their entire nature.
The more you love someone, the more you hate some things they do, because
they don't comform with the image you have of them, or what you might want them
to do.
Perun
True, with the exception of the premise. Sometimes, when you lose someone
you love deeply, you discover how you miss even those little things that you hated before.
The Huxley thing was simply because I thought Brave New World was
a cool title for the record, because it sets up this kind of enigma in your head.
Like, 'What's it about?' But having hit on a title, I then went,
'Well, we'll write the song about the book'. And so I re-read
the book, and I was pretty scared about how bang-on he was.
With an acoustic intro building up into a manic crescendo, this is another maritime epic in the same
vein as
'
With an atmosphere reminiscent of
Lawrence Of Arabia, the 1962 film with Peter O'Toole, this song is probably one of the best
on the whole album. Although the lyrics are pretty straightforward and just deal with the people of the desert,
it is an epic quite similar to
'
