Khan
Trooper
This song is VERY reminiscent of Fear Of The Dark, in how it's constructed. Slow beginning that takes more time to build than FOTD, but builds in intensity slowly and brilliantly until it kicks in. The slow building part goes like this...
"Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
Of the thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
Had one drink but no more
I was rambling enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move
Feeling scared I fell to my knees
As something rushed me from the trees
Took me to an unholy place
That is where I fell from grace
Then they summoned me over to join in with them
To the dance of the dead
Into the circle of fire I followed them
Into the middle I was led
As if time had stood still
I was numb with fear but still I wanted to go
And the blaze of the fire did no hurt upon me
As I walked on to the coals
Then I felt I was in a trance
and my spirit was lifted from me
And if only someone had the chance
To witness what happened to me
And I danced and I pranced and I sang with them
All had death in their eyes
Lifeless figures they were undead, all of them
They had ascended from hell"
Then it kicks in sort of like Fear Of The Dark, (with a hint of The Clansman in the beginning as it starts to kick in), with a ripping section where I really can't understand a lot of the lyrics just yet. A good portion of this section is instrumental. Best I can tell, the solos in this part are Adrian and Janick. Both are killer solos, but Adrian's is fucking terrific! Ah fuck it...listening for the 3rd time and Janick's solo fucking rips too!! I tried hard to listen for Dave in it, but I couldn't hear him for sure. I think I'm pretty good at picking out their styles through my years of listening to Maiden...but the middle part of the solo MIGHT be him. It's late and I'm exhausted, so maybe it'll be clearer tomorrow. Best I can tell, Bruce is singing about dancing with them and his spirit is over his undead body watching...then his spirit and body rejoined....the undead all joined in with him...and they looked away at one point, and he ran like hell from them. Be kind...it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep from listening to this song over and over!
It comes out of the solos and into the following lyrics...
"When you know that your time has come
At least you know, you'll be prepared for it
Say your last goodbyes to everyone and drink and say a prayer for it
when you're lying in your sleep
when you're lying in your bed
when you wake from your dreams
and you're dancing with the dead
when you're lying in your sleep
when you're lying in your bed
when you wake from your dreams
and you're dancing with the dead"
Then it slows back down and finishes with the following lyrics at the end...
"to this day I guess I'll never know
just why they let me go
but I'll never go dancing no more
till I dance with the dead"
It's a FUCKING killer song, and as much as I hate to jump on the "new song" bandwagon like this, I think it's ALREADY one of my favorite Maiden songs. It's fucking great and, if this is any indication of the album, then DOD is going to be fucking STELLAR!!!!
"Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
Of the thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
Had one drink but no more
I was rambling enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move
Feeling scared I fell to my knees
As something rushed me from the trees
Took me to an unholy place
That is where I fell from grace
Then they summoned me over to join in with them
To the dance of the dead
Into the circle of fire I followed them
Into the middle I was led
As if time had stood still
I was numb with fear but still I wanted to go
And the blaze of the fire did no hurt upon me
As I walked on to the coals
Then I felt I was in a trance
and my spirit was lifted from me
And if only someone had the chance
To witness what happened to me
And I danced and I pranced and I sang with them
All had death in their eyes
Lifeless figures they were undead, all of them
They had ascended from hell"
Then it kicks in sort of like Fear Of The Dark, (with a hint of The Clansman in the beginning as it starts to kick in), with a ripping section where I really can't understand a lot of the lyrics just yet. A good portion of this section is instrumental. Best I can tell, the solos in this part are Adrian and Janick. Both are killer solos, but Adrian's is fucking terrific! Ah fuck it...listening for the 3rd time and Janick's solo fucking rips too!! I tried hard to listen for Dave in it, but I couldn't hear him for sure. I think I'm pretty good at picking out their styles through my years of listening to Maiden...but the middle part of the solo MIGHT be him. It's late and I'm exhausted, so maybe it'll be clearer tomorrow. Best I can tell, Bruce is singing about dancing with them and his spirit is over his undead body watching...then his spirit and body rejoined....the undead all joined in with him...and they looked away at one point, and he ran like hell from them. Be kind...it's 2:30 in the morning and I can't sleep from listening to this song over and over!
It comes out of the solos and into the following lyrics...
"When you know that your time has come
At least you know, you'll be prepared for it
Say your last goodbyes to everyone and drink and say a prayer for it
when you're lying in your sleep
when you're lying in your bed
when you wake from your dreams
and you're dancing with the dead
when you're lying in your sleep
when you're lying in your bed
when you wake from your dreams
and you're dancing with the dead"
Then it slows back down and finishes with the following lyrics at the end...
"to this day I guess I'll never know
just why they let me go
but I'll never go dancing no more
till I dance with the dead"
It's a FUCKING killer song, and as much as I hate to jump on the "new song" bandwagon like this, I think it's ALREADY one of my favorite Maiden songs. It's fucking great and, if this is any indication of the album, then DOD is going to be fucking STELLAR!!!!