The Talisman

How good is The Talisman on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    11
brother2 said:
What an useless intro. However, the rest of the song is pretty   :edmetal:.

Holy shit I gobble donkey balls. The intro is fantastic, you almost feel as if you were on the ship. Simply enchanting.
 
Like the man above says...  :ok:

...and Janick is the fourth best songwriter in this bunch.
 
I hear a little crack in Bruce's voice at 8:35-8:37. Anyway imho westward part is the best chorus in the album.  Bruce sounds great and enthusiastic in the chorus.
 
Full Lyrics
________________________________________________

When I stand and look
about the port
and contemplate my life will I
ever see my countrymen again
As the captain calls us on the deck
I take my things and walk
To the harbourside I glance back one last time

Fleeing our nation our problems we leave behind
Ships by the tenfold sail out on the tide
We are pleased to be out and embracing the open sea
Free from our troubles
And more free from thee

Inheritors unfulfilled reason behind us
We flee from what is not what is will be
We flee the earth and face our harsh reality
Will death be low mist that hangs on the sea

We run from evil tongues rash judgements selfish men
Never to be seen on these shores again

As we sail into oceansize
And lose sight of land
A face of contemptment
Around in the air
We're off now to seek all our fortunes
To the land of our dreams

Riding the waves and the storm is upon us
The winds lash the sails but the ropes keep them tight
Off in the distance a dark cloud
Approaching
None could imagine what there was to come
No there's no going back
No there's not a second chance
As we strap onto the side
We pray to God that we won't die

As we ride the rough seas
As we soak from the ocean waves
I just hope for all our lives
And pray that I survive

Four ships are lost in the stormy conditions

The spirits of the sunken crews
Their phantoms follow us

Spirits sails they drive us on
Through the all consuming waves
Cold mortality no weapon
Against these ever raging seas

Four leagues and ten and we hit storms again
We just can't get away from the eye of the storm

The birds outsoar the raging storm
But we cannot escape it
Abandoned earth that we now crave
Is many leagues from safe

Holding on for our dear lives
And we're praying once again
Rotten luck or just jonahed
The talisman is in my hand

Limbs fatigued trembling with cold
Blinded from the sea spray salt
Clasping anything we can hold
Heaven's rain upon us falls

Twenty days without a meal
And ten without fresh water still
Those that didn't die in storms
The scurvy rest did slaughter

Westward the tide
Westward we sail on
Westward the tide
Sail by the talisman

We approach the other side
Of the ocean with the tide
In our favour just for once
Welcome greeting our new land
The elation in our hearts
The excitement in our veins
As we sail towards the coastline
Of our golden promised land

Weary limbs fatigued away
I have no life left in me
No more strength and nothing
Left to give
Must find the will to live

Never thought that we could make it
Truly sight of shores divine
The sickness I am dying from
Never wanted it to end this way

Westward the tide
Westward we sail on
Westward the tide
Sail by the talisman
________________________________________________
 
So anyone know if there is a story behind this (great) lyric?
Is there is a Talisman, or is simply a symbol of hope?
 
This song is so sweet on the ears it made me cry earlier today.

I am interpreting the lyrics in two ways...its either about asylum seekers or those escaping persecution in Europe and fleeing to America during pre-revolutionary times. However, I am probably wrong on both accounts. It could also be an account of a duped traveller who bought the dreams of far off riches by the conman in el dorado. Again I may be way off. What an icredible track...kind of makes the ocean experience in ROTAM seem like a paddleboat in a puddle in comparison. 
 
Yeah, I noticed that too.

'DSail by the talisman'

Ah well, what can you do. It isn't too big of a deal, I can live with it.

Which reminds me... am I allowed to say that the booklet art is really damn awesome yet? I'm just not sure how many people have/don't have it, and if booklet details are counted as a spoiler. On the safe side, the art inside the booklet is
a series of awe-inspiring science-fiction landscapes. Real classy stuff  :)

Also, the band picture is very well done, and very 'fitting'. In addition,
Janick Gers looks like a freaking demon of the netherworld, it looks as if he's about to kill damn near everyone on earth or something. Good pose, Janick  :bigsmile:
 
He looks so sinister! But the entire band picture suits the feel of the album really well, especially Bruce's pose.
 
Here we go...and kudos to you guys, as this isn't an easy song to pick lyrics out of...

Corrections in RED below...


LooseCannon said:
When I stand and look about the port and contemplate my life
Will I ever see my countrymen again?
As the captain calls us on the deck, I take my things and walk
To the harbourside I glance back one last time

Fleeing a nation, our problems we leave behind
Ships by the tenfold sail out on the tide
We are pleased to be out and embracing the open sea
Free from our troubles and more free from thee...

Inheritors unfulfilled reason behind us
We flee from what is not what is will be
We flee the earth and face our harsh reality
Will death be low mist that hangs on the sea

We run from evil tongues, rash judgements, selfish men
Never to be seen on these shores again
As we sail into oceansize and lose sight of land
Face of contentment around in the air

We're off now to seek our fortunes, to the land
Of our dreams...

Riding the waves and the storm is upon us?
The winds lash the sails but the ropes keep them tight
Off in the distance a dark cloud approaching
None could imagine what there was to come

No, there's no one going back
No, there's not a second chance
As we strap on to the side
We pray to God that we won't die

As we ride the rough seas, as we soak from the ocean waves
I just hope for all our lives and pray that I survive
Four ships are lost in the stormy conditions
The spirits of the sunken crews, the phantoms follow us

Spirits sails they drive us on
Through the all consuming waves
Cold mortality no weapon
Against these ever raging seas

Four leagues and ten and we hit storms again
We just can't get away from the eye of the storm
The birds outsoar the raging storm but we can not escape it
Abandon earth that we now crave
Is many leagues from safe


Holding on for our dear lives
And we're praying once again
Rotten luck or just Jonahed
The Talisman is in my hand
Limbs fatigued trembling with cold
Blinded from the sea spray salt
Clasping anything we can hold
Heaven's rain upon us falls

Twenty days without a meal
And ten without fresh water still
Those that didn't die in storms
The scurvy rest is slaughter

Westward the tide!
Westward we sail on!
Westward the tide!
Sail by the Talisman!

We approaach the other side of the ocean with the tide
In our favour just for once, welcome greeting our new land
The elation in our hearts, the excitement in our veins
As we sail towards the coastline of our golden promise land

Weary limbs fatigued away
I have no life left in me
No more strength, and nothing left to give
Must find the will to live

Never thought that we could make it
Truly sight of shores divine
The sickness I am dying from
Never wanted it to end this way

Westward the tide!
Westward we sail on!
Westward the tide!
Sail by the Talisman!

Westward the tide!
Westward we sail on!
Westward the tide!
Sail by the Talisman!

AND....in a funny twist of typosl, the last line of the song actually reads like this..."DSail by the talisman" :lol:
 
Forostar said:
This is for me the worst song.
I would have agreed a couple of days ago. The biggest problems for me was the boring intro ("When I stand and look -> ...I glance back one last time" sounds relatively good, though) and Bruce's voice. It has been a grower, Bruce's voice annoyed me a lot first, but now I actually find the song has great atmosphere and the voice doesn't bother me at all. Intro remains boring, otherwise a great song. The solo has great atmosphere also, though at 6:45 the atmosphere is almost ruined in my opinion.
The song is no match for Starblind, though!  :lol:
 
Re: The Talisman - an alternative point of view

OK, I realize many people love this song. I respect that. Nevertheless, some people may not like what I'm going to write now. I'll overdo it a bit (perhaps also because this is the only song I have complaints about) but like this you'll understand how this works for me when I hear it.

Apart from the fact that I find the music unoriginal, and somewhat boring and uninspired, especially the short instrumental parts later on (not the solo part), I have even more problems with the vocals. Let me put it straight:

This song has annoying vocals. I'll explain exactly what I don't like about them:

First the intro. Bruce tries (on purpose) to sing like an old man with some particular accent. Even if I might understand the purpose, I dislike it. The weird thing is that currently I am working on some project myself, which also features an "old" voice (done by a 35 year old friend of mine), but that's not sung but spoken. Maybe the way of singing annoys me as well. It sounds a bit ridiculous, like an old man trying to sing for the first time. I have to laugh a bit about it. Later, this laughing turns into something close to terror.

The accents and tones in the following syllables are stomach cringing:

Riding the waves and the
storm is upon us.
The winds lash the sails but
The ropes keep them tight.
Off in the distance a
Dark cloud approaching.
None could imagine what
There Was to come.

....

As we ride the rough seas,
As we soak from the ocean waves,
I just hope for all our lives
And pray that I survive.

Four ships are lost in the
Stormy conditions.
The spirits of the sunken crews,
Their phantoms follow us.

......

Four leagues and ten and we
Hit storms again.
We just can't get away from
The eye of the storm.

The birds outsoar the raging storm
But we cannot escape it.
Abandoned earth that we now crave
Is manyleagues from safe.

.....

Con-stant-ly these same freaking notes. 22 times! First of all, I find it very repetitive.

Khan said:
Not a lot of twists and turns in this song....but it doesn't need them. it just kicks you in the teeth and continues on pummeling you, long after you've given in....and you say "thank you sir...may I please have more?".

I rather say: Thank you sir...I've had enough.

Secondly, it doesn't feel right. A strange note. Maybe Bruce is trying to impersonate a sailor who is in terror, and this is how he would have sounded. Despite the marvelous empathy Bruce created, I find it hard to bear.

Now let's go to the chorus:

Weeeeeestward the tide.
Weeeeeestward we sail on.
Weeeeeestward the tide.
Saaaaaaaail by the talisman.

......

Weeeeeestward the tide.
Weeeeeestward we sail on.
Weeeeeestward the tide.
Saaaaaaaail by the talisman.

Weeeeeestward the tide.
Westward we sail on.
Weeeeeestward the tide.
Sail by the talisman.

Here Bruce sounds more like a drunken sailor or like an elephant walking in porcelain cupboard, loudly wailing in the process.

Somehow I can't believe what I'm hearing. I guess 'Arry must have thought up these insane vocal melodies.
I am 99% sure that this song will never be played. It's very tough for the vocal chords (and my ears), and the rest of the album is simply better, every single track.

(I don't dislike the entire track, I like all the parts with lyrics which I have not listed.)

mozzle said:
He said in an interview he did 80-90% of the vocals for this song in one take.

Ah, that explains.

Travis_AKA_fonzbear2000 said:
different vocal parts than any Maiden song ever.

Indeed.

The Mid-Distance Runner said:
This song is so sweet on the ears it made me cry earlier today.

Me too.

OK, start killing me, but I'll tell you this: I probably love the rest of the album more than you guys.  :D
 
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