Dance of Death

[Anonymous]

Here, you can read other visitors' comments on 'Dance Of Death' as well as post your own. Any contribution to the commentary will be much appreciated, may it be cultural references relevant to the song (links to related websites, interpretations that may have been overlooked in the Commentary, and the like) or personal essays related to the topic of the song. Just be aware that messages that are either off-topic or too wacky may be deleted.

 

[Forostar]

'dance Of Death'

It's my favourite song of the album, probably because of the harmonies and the driving rhythm.

However:
One thing I don't understand why Ingmar Bergmans film (THE inspiration for the song) "The Seventh Seal", is not mentioned in the commentary.

Both the official biography and the tourbook name the film as the source of inspiration.


Link to film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050976/?fr=c2...vbg__;fc=1;ft=2

 

[Forostar]

'dance Of Death'

Here is more info behind this track, found on the web. By the way, the whole interview (more than a year old) is pretty interesting, also handling about other songs!

source:

[a href=\'http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html[/a]



Q50 When you were co-writing the track ‘Dance Of Death’, did you come up with that catchy ‘devil’s trill’?

There was something I put together quite a while ago and I played it to Steve and he really… he liked it a lot and he came in with some melody ideas for it, for the different… vocal melodies and stuff. And then he came in with a couple of thematic melodies which run through it as well. And so he was just putting different ideas together. It was basically the same as it is now, with a few little bits and pieces added. And the idea originally was a movie I saw years ago – ‘The Seventh Seal’, Ingmar Bergman movie. It’s a really old famous movie. I think it was done about ’57 or something like that, black and white, and what struck me, there was a knight in there who was looking for something in the world that would be worth surviving for and Death comes for him and he wants to survive long enough to find some faitih and some humanity in this world of plague and wars that he lives in and he begs Death tolet him live long enough to find this faith and hope and Death plays chess with him, and it’s kind of an allegorical tale and it’s very… I find it a fascinating tale. And at the end, Death comes for him and he takes him away, him and this little troupe that he’s with. And the end of the movie – which I’m told was something that they just stuck in at the very end and all the actors had gone home and they had to… it was something that Ingmar Bergman just had an idea for. And the end of the movie, they do the Dance Of Death into the distance and you see them dancing over the mountains, and it just struck a chord with me. For a long time I’ve thought about doing something about that, and so I took that idea into Steve and he took it on a completely different tangent, he went somewhere else with it and expanded it and came up with some amazing words, and it’s quite an epic song and it’s thematic in content, and I think there’s very few bands can do those kind of songs any more, or allow themselves to do it. And we perhaps have a little bit of freedom. I think with that song and with ‘Paschendale’, there’s not too many bands who can do songs like that.

 

[gor]

'dance Of Death'

[img src=\'http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v155/gorbeast/DanceofDeath.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]

 

[IronDuke]

'dance Of Death'

a few historical notes, as always:

The Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) , was originally a poem written in the 1300's. As with many medieval poems, it was in dialogal format; in this case between Charon/Death and a cross section of the populace.
The poem became quite popular, and eventually was 'illustrated' in various murals and relief carvings throughout Europe, especially at burial sites. Death was usually represented by a skeleton, and would lead the newly-dead victims in a sinister dance or musical piece. The idea was that the dead would rise in skeletal form and tempt the living into their realm. I think Goethe was inspired to write a song or a poem based on the Danse Macabre images in a small German town, but I can't remember for sure.

I haven't been able to find an electronic version of the original poem, so if anyone happens to be a better e-searcher than me and comes across it, please post it here for the benefit of all interested.

As for the song itself, I'm not sure. The main body of the song is great (up there with Fear of the Dark, in my opinion), but the introductory chords and lyrics just don't stir me the way other Maiden songs do.

In all fairness, however, I've had a strong bias against Dance of Death even before I heard it for the first time. I associated the song with the album named after it, naturally. The album art really disappointed me - it was a complete shift away from the great art we've come to love. I figured the album, and this song in particular, would be lacklustre.
I was, of course, mistaken, but a slight twinge of bias still remains.

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'dance Of Death'

Here is more info behind this track, found on the web. By the way, the whole interview with Gers (more than a year old) is pretty interesting, also handling about other songs!

source:

[a href=\'http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html\' target=\'_blank\']http://www.cavemanproductions.com/IMivs.html[/a]



Q50 When you were co-writing the track ‘Dance Of Death’, did you come up with that catchy ‘devil’s trill’?

There was something I put together quite a while ago and I played it to Steve and he really… he liked it a lot and he came in with some melody ideas for it, for the different… vocal melodies and stuff. And then he came in with a couple of thematic melodies which run through it as well. And so he was just putting different ideas together. It was basically the same as it is now, with a few little bits and pieces added. And the idea originally was a movie I saw years ago – ‘The Seventh Seal’, Ingmar Bergman movie. It’s a really old famous movie. I think it was done about ’57 or something like that, black and white, and what struck me, there was a knight in there who was looking for something in the world that would be worth surviving for and Death comes for him and he wants to survive long enough to find some faitih and some humanity in this world of plague and wars that he lives in and he begs Death tolet him live long enough to find this faith and hope and Death plays chess with him, and it’s kind of an allegorical tale and it’s very… I find it a fascinating tale. And at the end, Death comes for him and he takes him away, him and this little troupe that he’s with. And the end of the movie – which I’m told was something that they just stuck in at the very end and all the actors had gone home and they had to… it was something that Ingmar Bergman just had an idea for. And the end of the movie, they do the Dance Of Death into the distance and you see them dancing over the mountains, and it just struck a chord with me. For a long time I’ve thought about doing something about that, and so I took that idea into Steve and he took it on a completely different tangent, he went somewhere else with it and expanded it and came up with some amazing words, and it’s quite an epic song and it’s thematic in content, and I think there’s very few bands can do those kind of songs any more, or allow themselves to do it. And we perhaps have a little bit of freedom. I think with that song and with ‘Paschendale’, there’s not too many bands who can do songs like that.

http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?topic=15589.0

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

This song, as well as the album, grew on me over the past couple years. We bought it in 2003, listened to it like once, then put it away

Same thing happened here. This song really grew on me.

Everything about this song basically rules  Beautiful intro, great folk-like melody, and the verse riff "...as i danced with the dead...", with the orchestra in the background is just brilliant. Harmonies, all three axemen excel here, Adrian is constantly great on this album, IMHO his best guitar solos outside the 86-88 period can be found on this record.

Janick's solo also amazed me, i don't usually like his type of soloing, but this one is damn great 

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Janick's solo also amazed me, i don't usually like his type of soloing, but this one is damn great 

Are we really talking about the third solo here? I find it the worst of the three, and definitively not one of Jan's best. Well, tastes differ, as always.

 

[Deleted member 7164]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Yeah, it's third one. He took a more melodic approach, with a nice Murray style legato run at the ending. I guess i prefer melody over speed, that's why this one stands out for me more than his other work.

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Most solos on Virtual XI are very melodic as well, perhaps even more than on DOD and nowadays. The Clansman and When Two Worlds Collide, for example, very nice solos if you ask me.

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Lol, I didn't know there was a film called Dance of Death, starring Boris Karloff!

Check this link for another picture (I can't put it here):
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3728186368/tt0063097

 

[Dead Boss]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

This was first Maiden song I've heard and it's one of my favourite. It's certainly best song on album. I like that main riff, and the melodic part(Dave?) after damn great solos, orchestra in the background gives me shiver, simply great song.

 

[Prance]

Re: 'dance Of Death'

It's my favourite song of the album, probably because of the harmonies and the driving rhythm.

However:
One thing I don't understand why Ingmar Bergmans film (THE inspiration for the song) "The Seventh Seal", is not mentioned in the commentary.

Both the official biography and the tourbook name the film as the source of inspiration.
:  It is a fantastic song and very spiritual!

Prance

Link to film:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050976/?fr=c2...vbg__;fc=1;ft=2

 

[____no5]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Bruce's interpretation during the first 2 1/2 minutes of the song,
brings me in mind an imaginary narration of Shakespearean actor -and that's a compliment of course!
Especially after 1:09, the whole atmosphere thrills me to the bone

The only inconvenient (Hi, Per) thing about the song is the lyrics :
While some individual words /phrases chosen, are very original and interesting,
(e.g 'to chill the bones' -'I'd one drink but no more' -'as if time had stopped still' -'my free spirit' etc)
yet the story itself is not so original as it reminds a little the story of The Number of the Beast,
let alone that the deliverance comes very fast and without much explanations :
By luck then a skirmish started And took the attention away from me

I believe that the scenario should be a bit more developed to have a perfect song
4 1/2 stars

Are we really talking about the third solo here? I find it the worst of the three, and definitively not one of Jan's best. Well, tastes differ, as always.

Yeah, it's third one. He took a more melodic approach, with a nice Murray style legato run at the ending. I guess i prefer melody over speed, that's why this one stands out for me more than his other work.

Ok let's verify this

1st solo : 4:32 -5:00 -must be Adrian, am I right ??
2st solo : 5:00 -5:14 -Murray by the method of inductance
3rd solo : 5:45 -6:13 -Gers

Gers solo
part I 5:45 -5:51 I don't like it at all, yet
the part II 5:51 -5:59 is simply divine
and from 5:59 -5:13 is ok and it ends with the classic 'nonsence' Gers style

 

[Suicidehummer]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Anyone else think the ending s a bit redundant?...

"To this day I guess I'll never know
Just why they let me go"

Didn't he say he escaped because a "skirmish started" and it took the attention away from him?

"But I'll never go dancing no more
'Til I dance with the dead"

Didn't he just dance with the dead? Isn't that what the song was about?

 

[LooseCannon]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

The first comment means that he doesn't know why the fight began, and why they didn't come after him; the second means that he won't dance again till he dies.

 

[____no5]

Re: 'dance Of Death'

...
However:
One thing I don't understand why Ingmar Bergmans film (THE inspiration for the song) "The Seventh Seal", is not mentioned in the commentary.

Both the official biography and the tourbook name the film as the source of inspiration.
...

How's that ??  Only the verse 'By luck then a skirmish started And took the attention away from me' could be a link*,
and of course the dance of the death itself (what an extra-ordinary scene)

*And it's not 'by luck' that jocker and his family escape, it's strategically prepared by the knight...

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Hehe it took you 5 and a half years to react?

What do you exactly mean by "how's that?"

I am serious, it's in the official biography and the tourbook. And if you read this topic you'll find more info on it.

 

[____no5]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

Hehe it took you 5 and a half years to react?

It's all five to me 
No, seriously, when I first read the post I hadn't seen the film yet, and when later I saw the film -last year I think- I wasn't remembering that post...
By the way, I got astonished by the power of that movie, yet no-one of my friends /woman seemed to appreciated it that much...

What do you exactly mean by "how's that?"

I am serious, it's in the official biography and the tourbook. And if you read this topic you'll find more info on it.

No I read it, Janick mentions it, of course. But by seeing purely the story plot of the film & song this is not evident at all.
I mean the film is so deep, the jocker and the knight are the same person
while in the song there is not this contradiction /magic /symbolism; everything is happening fast.
Very poorly written.

 

[Forostar]

Re: 'Dance Of Death'

My opinion is somewhat different.  

Looking at the Bruce's performance I think the song contains some beautiful drama (he's very much into it!) and the music contains spectacular guitarwork (melodies and solos I find better than in Paschendale), tight drum patterns and really nice tempo changes.

Don't forget that the film was the idea, and the lyrics don't have to follow it exactly.