Epics songs

LooseCannon

LooseCannon

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Okay guys...I was wondering how you guys define Epic songs? Obviously everyone can give an example of them, such as Phantom of the Opera, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alexander the Great, Sign of the Cross, The Clansman...

But exactly what makes these songs epics?

For me it's a combination of the following:

Length. In order for a song to be an epic it has to be long, at least 7 minutes. Looking at the classic definition of epic poetry we find that those too have to be long.

Combination of music: All the classic Maiden epics given above are similar in that they have various sections of music, slow, fast, solos. A straight rocker, even if it was that long, wouldn't be an epic.

Lyrical content: Epics should be about something with meaning. For instance, I honestly don't consider "The Angel and the Gambler" to be an epic, because the lyrics don't tell either a tale or a very powerful story.

Those are my three criteria. So what do you mates think? And I'll give an example of an underrated epic here, namely The Unbeliever.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Sep 15 2003, 08:26 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Sep 15 2003, 08:26 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] Okay guys...I was wondering how you guys define Epic songs?  Obviously everyone can give an example of them, such as Phantom of the Opera, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alexander the Great, Sign of the Cross, The Clansman...

But exactly what makes these songs epics?

For me it's a combination of the following:

Length.  In order for a song to be an epic it has to be long, at least 7 minutes.  Looking at the classic definition of epic poetry we find that those too have to be long.

Combination of music: All the classic Maiden epics given above are similar in that they have various sections of music, slow, fast, solos.  A straight rocker, even if it was that long, wouldn't be an epic.

Lyrical content: Epics should be about something with meaning.  For instance, I honestly don't consider "The Angel and the Gambler" to be an epic, because the lyrics don't tell either a tale or a very powerful story.

Those are my three criteria.  So what do you mates think?  And I'll give an example of an underrated epic here, namely The Unbeliever. [/quote]
An epic is in fact a song that tells a story, but Maiden fans often uses it as a word for a classic song. So what makes a song an epic? LooseCannon made very good points with his comments, but I think that an epic should be a bit emotional too. It's gonna be about something big and mighty, or based on a book or movie. But LooseCannon made the most important points in his post.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-kickerofelves+Sep 15 2003, 09:15 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(kickerofelves @ Sep 15 2003, 09:15 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] must be written soley by Steve Harris [/quote]
Sure, that leaves in lots of classics...but newer ones like The Nomad, Dream of Mirrors, Dance of Death, and Paschendale are all of a sudden disqualified, and I'm sure that those are considered epics.
 
For me a song is epic, if theres a
intro-theme-outro AND a historical background!

Paschendale is epic for me too!

Be(a)st regards,
Maidenaustria
 
Length is definitely a factor.

I think the main aspects are diversity, and telling a story. (No Angel and the Gambler then).
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Robbiedbee+Sep 16 2003, 08:19 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Robbiedbee @ Sep 16 2003, 08:19 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] Length is definitely a factor.

I think the main aspects are diversity, and telling a story. (No Angel and the Gambler then). [/quote]
Hm, also good point of view....

Be(a)st regards,
Maidenaustria
 
i think that epic song must contain long intro, historical background, and long lenght

i think epic song is not song called "classic". classic is classic not epic song. epic songs are classics (ok this is said this so laim but you get the point [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--] )
 
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